The Speedway Under-21 World Championship is an annual

speedway Speedway may refer to: Racing Race tracks *Edmonton International Speedway, also known as Speedway Park, a former motor raceway in Edmonton, Alberta *Indianapolis Motor Speedway, a motor raceway in Speedway, Indiana Types of races and race cours ...

event held each year organized by the

International Motorcycling Federation International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...

(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 The European Individual Speedway Junior Championship is an annual speedway event organized by the European Motorcycle Union (UEM) since 1998. Championship History Between 1977 and 1988 the FIM) held the Speedway European Under 21 Championship ...

was founded by the European Motorcycle Union (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 The European Individual Speedway Junior Championship is an annual speedway Speedway may refer to: Racing Race tracks *Edmonton International Speedway, also known as Speedway Park, a former motor raceway in Edmonton, Alberta *Indianapolis Motor ...

was created in 1998 by the European Motorcycle Union (UEM) but this is not linked to former European Under-21 Championship.

Maksym Drabik Maksym Drabik (born 22 February 1998) is an international speedway rider from Poland. Speedway career Drabik won the gold medal at the World Under-21 Championship in the 2017 Individual Speedway Junior World Championship and the 2019 Individ ...

(

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...

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 Emil Damirovich Sayfutdinov (russian: link=no, Эмиль Дамирович Сайфутдинов; born 26 October 1989) is a Russian motorcycle speedway rider and member of the Russia national speedway team. He is a three times World team ch ...

from

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

( 2007 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 Darcy Stephen Ward (born 4 May 1992 in Nanango, Queensland) is an Australian former motorcycle speedway rider who won the 2009, 2010 and 2011 Australian Under-21 Championships as well as the 2009 and 2010 World Under-21 Championships. His ...

from Australia ( 2009 and 2010) 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 The World Championship of Speedway is an international competition between the highest-ranked motorcycle speedway riders of the world, run under the auspices of the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM). The first official champions ...

. *

Per Jonsson Per Jonsson (born 21 March 1966 in Stockholm, Sweden) is a former speedway rider who won the Speedway World Championship in 1990, and finished runner-up in 1992. Career In 1985, his second season with the Reading Racers, the team won six major ...

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 humanity on Earth, astrophysicist ...

Gary Havelock Robert Gary Havelock (born 4 November 1968, in Eaglescliffe, County Durham, England) is a former speedway rider who was World Champion in 1992. For several years he captained the Redcar Bears in the Premier League. He is the son of former speed ...

in 1992 *

Jason Crump Jason Philip Crump (born 6 August 1975) is an Australian international motorcycle speedway rider. He is a three-time Speedway World Champion, a World Cup winner and a former World Under-21 Champion. In a 21-year career in Speedway, Jason ...

in 2004, 2006 and 2009 * Bartosz Zmarzlik in

and

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...

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