The Speedway Under-21 World Championship is an annual speedway event held each year organized by the International Motorcycling Federation (FIM) since 1977. As of 2022, the title was awarded to the winner of the SGP2 category at the FIM Speedway World Championship.

History

Between 1977 and 1987 the Championship was the called Individual Speedway Junior European Championship (European Speedway Under 21 Championship), open only to European riders. In 1979, the Championship allowed riders from other continents to compete, but was renamed to the Speedway World Under 21 Championship in 1988. A new competition was named Individual Speedway Junior European Championship was founded by the

European Motorcycle Union FIM Europe (Formerly the Union Européenne de Motocyclisme (UEM) or European Motorcycle Union) is the FIM-affiliated organisation responsible for motorcycle sport within Europe. In response to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, FIM Europe suspe ...

(UEM) in 1998, only open to European competitors. Originally it was called the European Under-21 Championship (from 1977-1987) but changed its name in 1988 when it was made open to all nations. To confuse matters a new European Individual Speedway Junior Championship was created in 1998 by the

(UEM) but this is not linked to former European Under-21 Championship. Maksym Drabik (

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and

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

), along with Emil Sayfutdinov from Russia (

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

and

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

) and Darcy Ward from

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

(

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

and

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

) are the only double U-21 World Champions.

Age limits

The minimum age of a rider to compete is 16 years of age (starting on the date of the rider's birthday). The maximum age is 21 years of age (finishing at the end of the year in which the rider celebrates his 21st birthday).

World Champions

The following World Junior champions went on to win the Speedway World Championship. * Per Jonsson in

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...

* Gary Havelock in

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

* Jason Crump in

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

and

Bartosz Zmarzlik Bartosz Zmarzlik (; born 12 April 1995) is a Polish motorcycle speedway rider and three-time World Champion (2019, 2020 and 2022). He has been decorated with the Order of Polonia Restituta, V class. Biography Born in Szczecin, Poland, Zmarzlik i ...

and

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

Past winners

European Championship (1977-1987)

World Championship (since 1988)

One-day final (1988–2009)

Final series (since 2010–2021)

SGP2 (2022–)

Medal winners per nation

References

{{International speedway Individual 21