RunBlogRun presents
Conversations with Larry
Tokyo 2025
World Championships in Athletics
Day 3 Review,
September 15, 2025
Thumbnail graphics courtesy of Mattia Ozbot
The Tokyo 2025 World Athletics Championships were held on September 13-21, 2025 at the Tokyo Olympic Stadium. Big crowds at Marathon Field, big stadium crowds (56-57,000) and some spectacular performances on the third night. I enjoyed the company of my dear brother, Brian Eder, co-founder of RunBlogRun. We always dreamed of going to Japan together and we did. Our parents, Stan and Marilou Eder, would be so happy to watch us from heaven.
The finals on day 3 were amazing and full of surprises. Here we go.
- The men’s marathon was closer than many 100m finals. Alphon Felix Simbu of Tanzania edged out Amanal Petros of Germany both in 2:09:48 @ Ilias Acquani of Italy took bronze in 2:09:53. Clayton Young of the USA was ninth in 2:10:43. Reed Fisher of the United States was 28th in 2:15:17, and American CJ Albertson was 40th in 2:19:25. The conditions were hot and humid, plus the course was challenging. Japanese fans loved the marathon.
- Mondo Duplantis, that’s his world. Mondo set a WR of 6.30 meters (20ft, 8.03in), with Greece’s Emmanuel Karalis in 6.00m, with silver and bronze, Australia’s Curtis Marshall equaling his PB of 5.95m. American Sam Kendricks was fourth, just missing out on a medal with his season best of 5.95m.
- Oh Canada! Canada’s Cam Rogers won gold in the women’s hammer with a WL of 80.51 meters, while the Chinese athletes won silver and bronze. China’s Zi Zhao won the silver with 77.60 meters, PB, and China’s Jiala Zhang won the silver with 77.10 meters. DeAnna Price, USA, a former world champion who finished fifth at 75.10m, WR winner Anita Wlodarczyk was sixth with a throw of 74.64m. 2022 medalist Janey Kassanavid of the United States was tenth with 70.10 meters.
- The men’s race was full of surprises. The pace was pedestrian, covering 1k in 3 minutes and slightly faster in the second kilometer. Sufian El Bakkali and Lamecha Girma should have known better. Geordie Beamish (NZ), also the 2024 Glasgow 2024 world indoor 1500m champion, surged from 13th into the lead in the last 150m, running El Bakaali down the stretch. El Bakaali cried, knowing he had just missed out on his gold in a slow race. Beamish won in 8:33.88 to 8:33.95, the slowest men’s track and field win since the world championships began in 1983. (The previous slowest time was 8:25.13 by El Bakkali at Eugene 2022.) Geordie Beamish gave New Zealand their second gold of the Games, with their boot sponsor Running claiming their first gold at the Champs. WR’s Lamecha Girma was sixth and Kenya’s Edwin Serem gave Kenya one of the two men’s medals in Tokyo.
Geordie Beamish, New Zealand, going first from 11th, takes gold in the pole vault, surprising Sufian El Bakkali, MAR, photo by Dan Vernon/World Athletics - The women’s 100m hurdles is always tough to pick. Masai Russell had a great weekend in Tokyo and finished fourth. Switzerland’s Ditaji Kambundji, European Championship champion and World Indoor silver medallist, won gold in Tokyo by running NR 12.24. WR owner Tobi Amusan of Nigeria won the silver and Grace Stark of USA won the bronze.
This is our overview of all nine days of the 2025 World Athletics Outdoor Championships from 13-21 September 2025. This coverage was sponsored by NIKE Running. Please check out the Vomero 18, Vomero PLUS, Vomero Premium and Air Structure 26 at your favorite local NIKE running store or go to www.nikerrunning.com!
Special thanks Mike Dearingwho edits, curates and produces the podcasts Stronger Media Group LLC (RunBlogRun.com and: RunningNetwork.com)
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