Courtesy of Taiki Ishikawa
As the summer comes to a close, track and field fans around the world are celebrating the pinnacle of the sport: the 2025 World Athletics Track and Field Championships. After a thrilling Olympic Games in Paris last year, the athletes headed to Tokyo to decide who the best runners, jumpers, and throwers are in the world this year. The event was held from September 13-21, and featured more than 50 men’s and women’s events combined, pitting 2202 athletes from 198 teams against each other. In case you haven’t been watching, or are new to the world of track and field, here are some of the most notable performances, upsets, and unexpected results from Tokyo.
Men’s 1500m
The men’s 1500m final was highly anticipated. The field was still world class, but was missing the likes of the highest ranking middle distance runners in the world. Jakob Ingebrigsten, a two time Olympic champion and two time World champion, dealt with injury all season, leading to his early elimination in the first round of the 1500m. The reigning Olympic 1500m champion, Cole Hocker, was also eliminated early after a contentious disqualification in the semi-final round. Yared Nuguse, the 2024 Olympic 1500m bronze medalist and American record holder over the mile distance, didn’t even make it on the flight— he missed the American team by two places. Josh Kerr, the 2023 1500m world champion, was in the final this year, but eased up unexpectedly after contracting an injury. Without the favorites leading the charge, the door was left wide open for some other strong names. The spotlight this year has been on Niels Laros, the Danish athlete who has won four meets on the international Diamond League circuit. In the last 50m however, Laros fell back, and a relatively unfamiliar face was crowned. Isaac Nader of Portugal crossed the tape first in 3:34.10, followed by the 2022 world champion, Jake Wightman. In third was Reynold Cheruiyot of Kenya. Not many had these three on their bingo card, but the result goes to show that track and field shows no mercy for those at the top, and sometimes the underdogs can make the biggest impact.
Women’s 400m
Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, the American woman on a seemingly unstoppable record setting tear, delivers again in the Women’s 400m final. McLaughlin-Levrone has historically been a 400m hurdler, but moved to the 400m flat to experiment with a new distance. Ultimately, she proved her strength in both events. Her time of 47.78 was good enough to set the second fastest time ever run by a woman, a new American record, and a mere 0.18 seconds off the world record set by East Germany’s Marita Koch in 1985. Since 2019, she has set the world record six times in the 400m hurdles and collected eight global medals, seven of which were gold. The competition was no slack either, with the silver medal position going to Marileidy Paulino of the Dominican Republic, who also dipped under the 48 second mark. In third was Salwa Eid Naser of Bahrain. McLaughlin-Levrone has now dominated two events in the long sprints— only time will tell what she has in store next.
Men’s Steeplechase
The steeplechase headlines of the past few years have been dominated by two names: Soufiane El Bakkali of Morocco and Lamecha Girma of Ethiopia. Together, the two have amassed more than eight World Championship medals, three Olympic medals, and a 3000m steeplechase world record. Heading into the final, a safe bet would have been placed on one of those two. However, track and field is often full of surprises, and the men’s steeplechase was one of this year’s most entertaining. The race was missing a few big names, like America’s 2024 Olympic silver medalist, Kenneth Rooks, but a new king was crowned by the end of the 3000 meters. George Beamish of New Zealand took home the title after a gritty last home stretch sprint. Beamish produced his patented kick to hunt down El Bakkali in the last 50 meters, just as he did to win the men’s 1500m gold at the World Indoor Championships in 2024. The next few spots were assumed by the Africans, with El Bakkali taking second, and Samuel Firewu of Ethiopia taking third. Girma faded to fifth, while the fan favorite Ryuji Miura of Japan took eighth. Daniel Michlalski, the only American in the final, claimed ninth.
Women’s 4x100m
Team USA won gold in the women’s 4x100m relay in a fitting way to finish off of the championship. The United States currently holds the world record in the event, and retained their title for the fourth straight year of senior global championships. The group comprised four all-star athletes in their own right: Melissa Jefferson-Wooden, Twanisha Terry, Kayla White, and Sha’Carri Richardson. For Jefferson-Wooden, these championships cemented her status as the best in the world in women’s sprinting, winning both the 100m and the 200m individually, and taking the lead leg of the relay. After this, she becomes the second woman in history to complete the trifecta at a World Championship. Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, the first woman to complete the feat, earned the final medal of her career in this race for Jamaica. But Richardson anchored team USA to a victory in 41.75, ahead of Jamaica’s 41.79, and Germany’s 41.87. After this performance, the Americans have gained another leg on their Jamaican rivals.
Men’s Pole Vault
Any critics of Armand Duplantis have been silenced yet again after the final of the Men’s Pole Vault. In his third World Championship victory, Duplantis bested the world record for the 14th time. His height of 6.30m (20 ft, 8 inches) marks his fourth world record this year. He now has eight senior championship titles to his name, including three World Indoor titles, and two Olympic titles. After him, Emmanouil Karalis of Greece took silver, improving his 2024 Olympic bronze, and Kurtis Marschall of Australia improved his personal best to take third. Top American, Sam Kendricks, missed the podium by one spot. By all accounts, this was one of the deepest fields of all time, with the top seven places all clearing 5.90m or higher. But when all was said and done, Duplantis jumped nearly a foot higher than the next best competitor. He has already shown his greatness in championship settings— and he’s done it all by 25 years old. With the level of competition getting better every year, and the World Championships and Olympics producing new stars every year, a question remains: how much higher can he go?
