Griggs clocked a European Under-20 indoor mile record of 3:56.40 in March
Tyrone 17-year-old Nick Griggs produced an assured heat performance to qualify for Friday's 3,000m final at the World Under-20 Championships in Colombia.
Ireland's European Under-20 3,000m champion conserved energy as he finished fourth in 8:08.35 with the top six securing automatic qualification.
Kenyan Felix Kiptarus Korir won the heat in 7:58.12 ahead of ahead of two more Africans.
Heat two was won in even faster fashion by another Kenyan Edwin Kisalsak.
Kisalsak clocked 7:55.60 as he led home Eritrea's Habtom Samuel (7:56.70), Ethiopia's Diriba Girma (7:57.16) and Uganda's Rogers Kibet (7:56.18) to further emphasise the African strength in the event.
Heat one winner Korir finished ahead of Ugandan Dan Kibet (7:59.71) and another Ethiopian Melkeneh Azize (8:00.37) with fourth-placed Griggs well ahead of Japan's Hiroto Yoshioka (8:15.95) and Belgium's Noah Konteh (8:16.22) who filled the two remaining automatic qualifying positions.
Great Britain's Will Barnicoat missed out on qualification for the final in Cali as he could only finish eighth in Griggs' heat in 8:17.32.
Griggs' Irish team-mate Callum Morgan also saw his hopes end as he was 14th in heat two in 8:36.23, with a time of 8:13.49 clinching the last fastest losers spot.
The Tyrone teenager burst on the international scene by winning the European Under-20 3,000m in sensational style last summer.
Since then Griggs has produced a series of brilliant performances, including breaking the European Under-20 indoor mile record in March as he clocked 3:56.40 when losing narrowly to Olympic semi-finalist Andrew Coscoran in Dublin.
Griggs improved his 3,000m personal best to 7:53.40 at the Cork City Sports four weeks ago when he smashed the previous Irish under-20 record held by Darragh McElhinney.
The Tyrone teenager will face a massive task in taking on so many talented African athletes in Friday's final which will take place at 23:04 BST.
However, Griggs has shown already himself to be a fierce competitor in his athletics career and is unlikely to be intimidated by his opposition in the 15-strong decider.
