From the website of IAAF below the preview of both 10km U20.

10km U20 men

More importantly, they’ll be up against three similarly matched Chinese race walkers, including world U18 champion Zhang Yao.

Before he won the world U18 title in 2017, Zhang won the Asian U20 title in 2016. But despite those major successes, he isn’t unbeatable. After winning in Nairobi last year, he was beaten twice on home soil by fellow Chinese U20 race walkers.

He appears to be back to his best, though, and clocked a big PB of 40:32 in Huangshan in March. He is joined on the Chinese team by Wang Zhaozhao, who has a PB of 40:42, and Sun Shuai, who set a PB of 40:41 last year. The formidable trio will have both individual and team honours on their minds when they take to the start line on Saturday afternoon.

But Japan also boasts three sub-41-minute race walkers. Hiroto Jusho – born on exactly the same day as Zhang – smashed his PB by more than two minutes to win the Japanese U20 title in 40:14, the fastest time in the world this year.

Takumi Suzuki finished second in that race in 40:21, while Sho Sakazaki clocked a PB of 40:30 in Wajima last month. Japan certainly has the strength to challenge for individual and team honours, provided the young talents can cope with all the pressure that comes with their first major international championship.

Ecuador’s David Hurtado has every reason to feel confident as he heads to Taicang. Following his disqualification at the 2016 World U20 Championships, he has been undefeated at 5km and 10km, both on the roads and on the track.

His streak has included victories at the South American Youth Championships, the Pan-American U20 Championships and the Pan-American Cup. He also set a South American U20 record of 39:41 last year, giving him the fastest PB of all the U20 entrants in Taicang.

Following an eighth-place finish at the World U18 Championships and a runner-up finish at the European Race Walking Cup last year, Mikita Kaliada has taken a big step up this year. The 17-year-old Belarusian clocked a PB of 40:39 last month, making him the fastest European in the field.

Spain’s European U20 silver medallist Jose Manuel Perez will also have high hopes in Taicang, as will Korea’s Kim Mingyu, Ethiopia’s African U20 champion Yohanis Algaw and Australian U20 champion Declan Tingay.

Mexico won team gold in Rome two years ago. They might struggle to retain that title in Taicang, but their leading entrant, 15-year-old Cesar Cordoba, appears to be a promising future prospect and will still be young enough to take part in the 2020 edition in Minsk.

Jon Mulkeen for the IAAF

10km U20 women

The U20 women’s 10km race at the last edition of the biennial tournament in Rome witnessed a thrilling duel in the final 300 metres between Ma Li and her compatriot Ma Zhenxia, who was the world U18 champion and Youth Olympic champion.

As the youngest athlete in the field, Ma Li just missed out on delivering a surprising victory and had to concede a narrow defeat by only six thousandths of a second.

Both of the Chinese finished with a 45:25 clocking in Rome, which marked the first time any race at any World Cup had seen leading race walkers finish on the same second.

In spite of the close defeat, the silver medal gave a huge boost to her confidence and Ma Li started to forge her dominance among her peers in China. She has won a series of junior titles nationwide over the past two years, including the 10km gold medal at the Chinese National Games last year and the victory in the qualification event for the World Team Championships two months ago in Huangshan, where she bettered her personal best to 44:15.

Ma is currently second on the 2018 world U20 list but is the fastest of the athletes toeing the line in Taicang, which makes her the top favourite for the individual gold.

In their defence of the team title, Ma will be joined on the Chinese team by Li Wenxiu, who trailed half a minute behind to finish second in Huangshan, and Yang Weiwei, who owns a PB of 44:21.

Turkey’s Meryem Bekmez is another sub-45-minute race walker in the field. She set her PB of 44:58 last year in Antalya and has enjoyed a flying start to this season, winning all four of her races so far, including two at 5000m and two over 10km. She clocked a season’s best of 45:09 in February.

More importantly, Bekmez has significant experience in international competitions. She is the European U18 champion and world U18 silver medallist.

As Bekmez’s compatriots Ayse Tekdal and Kader Dost both have improved their 10km career bests in 2018, Turkey could be the biggest threat to the hosts in the team event and Bekmez stands a good chance of earning two medals in Taicang.

Alegna Gonzalez of Mexico, authorised neutral athlete Yuliya Lipanova and Japan’s Nanako Fujii are also serious contenders in the individual event.

Gonzalez won the 10,000m race walk gold at the 2017 Pan American U20 Championships in 44:43:89 and scored a 10km victory this February in Monterrey in 45:20, three seconds shy of her PB set in Lima last year.

Lipanova trimmed more than two minutes off her PB to finish second in Sochi in 45:32, while Fujii also bettered her PB to 45:42 last month.

On the track so far in 2018, Australia’s Katie Hayward boasts the top three quickest times with a season’s best of 45:48.45. She also claimed the 10km title at the 2018 Adelaide Race Walking Meet in 45:57.

Ecuador’s world U18 champion Glenda Morejon also has the potential to make it on to the podium, but the 17-year-old has yet to prove her form in 2018. Her most recent performance dates back to last October when she clocked a PB of 45:16 to win the 10km event at the Hauppauge Race Walking Championships in the USA.

Vincent Wu for the IAAF