Israeli sprinter Blessing Afrifah won a surprise gold medal in the men’s 200-meter race at the under-20s World Athletic Championships in Colombia on Thursday, setting a new championship record.

Afrifah, 18, beat Letsile Tebogo of Botswana, the favorite to win, by six-thousandths of a second, finishing the race in 19.96 seconds, winning the second gold medal ever for Israel at the championship.

The victory marks a new championship record and only the fourth time in history that a sprinter under the age of 20 has finished a 200-meter race in under 20 seconds. It was also the first race in which two under 20 athletes both finished under 20 seconds.

“I have no words. I am very excited,” Afrifah told the Kan public broadcaster and added he did not expect the results: “This was my dream, and I am very happy it came true.”

Afrifah was born in Tel Aviv in 2003 to Ghanan migrants. His........

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