Costa Rican athlete Juan Diego Castro managed to qualify for the finals of the 2017 IAAF World U18 Championships in the 800 meters track running that is being held at the Moi International Sports Centre in Nairobi, Kenya; the tenth and last edition of the biennial international athletics competition for Under-18 athletes.

In a history for the country, the young athlete finished third in the semi-final heat with a time of 1:51.68, just behind Melese Nberet from Ethiopia (1:51.50) and Charaf Zahir (1:51.66) from Morocco.

Castro took off from lane 8 and showed a lot of courage since the competitors tried to block him in, he was able to get away and closed with a great sprint to finish the competition with the best time he’s had this season.

“It was a very tactical race, I had a slow first lap and then a strong close, my trainer has been working with me and preparing me to close strong.  I will give it my all on Saturday for Costa Rica”, said Juan Diego after the competition.

The final will be disputed on Saturday, July 15 at 10:38 a.m. local time, this is a very tough competition considering that it is usually dominated by African athletes.