By David Monti, @d9monti
(c) 2025 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved
TOKYO (17-Sep) — It was to be one of the top events at the 20th World Athletics Championships here at National Stadium, and the men’s 1500m final tonight lived up to that billing. However, the key protagonists were not those originally expected. Reigning Olympic champion Cole Hocker of the United States was disqualified from his semi-final heat for jostling and did not advance to the final; reigning world champion Josh Kerr of Great Britain crashed out of tonight’s final when he suffered a painful calf injury with about 550 meters to go and had to limp to the finish line; and two-time Olympic gold medalist Jakob Ingebrigtsen of Norway didn’t even get out of the first round.
Instead, fans were treated to an incredible race capped off by one of history’s best stretch runs by Portugal’s Isaac Nader. Nader, who won the Dream Mile at the Bislett Games in Oslo last June, was not tipped as one of the medal favorites despite solid credentials. But the 26 year-old had other ideas.
“In the last 100 I fully believed in myself,” Nader told the flash quotes team after his race.
Nader played his cards just right. He never featured at the front of the race, and stayed tucked in the pack. At the 800m mark, where Kenya’s Timothy Cheruiyot was the leader in 1:59.88, Nader was back in seventh place, and remained in seventh at the bell. When Britain’s Jake Wightman, the 2022 world champion, made his bid for victory on the backstretch of the final lap, Nader was still in seventh with 200 meters to go, and just fifth with 100 meters to go. Wightman continued to lead with Dutchman Niels Laros and Kenyans Timothy and Reynold Cheruiyot right behind.
“I knew Jake would be fighting until the end, so I went all-in for a dive,” Nader continued. “This was probably the first time I did it in my career, but I couldn’t risk losing a world title.”
Wightman was in perfect position in lane one with a clear path to the finish line. Laros was over his right shoulder, also with a clear path, and Reynold Cheruiyot was out in lane two, also with a clear track ahead of them. Nader was behind Cheruiyot, still in fifth place with under 100 meters to go. Remarkably, Nader blasted the last 100 meters in 12.3 seconds, passing all four men in front of him, including Wightman, who was still leading with just three meters to go in the race. At the line, Nader’s advantage was just 2/100ths of a second, 3:34.10 to 3:34.12.
“Honestly, I came so close, so close,” Wightman told reporters. “I thought someone was coming and I did everything I could.” He continued: “The only way I could have topped that was with a win. There was nothing more I could have done.”
Reynold Cheruiyot, whom Nader passed with about 20 meters left in the race, got the bronze in 3:34.25. Timothy Cheruiyot, the 2019 world champion, finished fourth (3:34.50), and Laros got fifth (3:34.52).
With his win, Nader became the first-ever Portuguese man to win a world 1500m title, although Carla Sacramento won the women’s title in 1997.
“Some people criticized me and said I would never achieve this, but here I am: world champion and the first Portuguese man to win a global gold in the 1500m,” Nader said. “Unfortunately I wasn’t able to hear the Portuguese team cheering for me because the crowd here is so loud. This is just one of my dreams accomplished, the other will have to wait until 2028.”
The severity of Josh Kerr’s injury was not immediately known. A team official who spoke to Race Results Weekly said he was still being evaluated.
WATER JUMP PROVIDED STEEPLECHASE DRAMA
In the other distance final tonight, the women’s 3000m steeplechase, there were also a lot of fireworks on the last lap. Winfred Yavi of Bahrain, the world champion in Budapest in 2023 and the Olympic champion in Paris in 2024, seemed on her way to keeping her title when she had a two-meter lead over Kenya’s Faith Cherotich at the bell. Yavi had a half a second on Cherotich going into the final water jump, but the former Kenyan landed flat-footed in the water pit and lost her momentum. Cherotich powered out of the water, took the lead, and held it to the finish. The tiny Kenyan ran a championships record of 8:51.59, nearly five seconds ahead of Yavi.
“I am so happy to win today,” Cherotich said in her flash quote. “Improving from bronze to gold is amazing to me.” She continued: “In the last 400m, I said, ‘this is my moment.’ I remember my coach told me, ‘Faith, you can do it.’ He told me to not be afraid and to follow the best no matter who the best is, and I might be the winner.”
Kazakhstan’s Norah Jeruto had the bronze medal position for most of the final lap, but when she landed her final water jump she pitched forward and fell face down in the shallow part of the pit. As she tried to get up, Kenya’s Doris Lemngole tripped over her on her landing. That gave Ethiopia’s Sembo Almayew an opening to skip past her fallen rivals and sprint in for the bronze medal in 8:58.86, a personal best. Tunisia’s Marwa Bouzayani, who also benefited from the water jump chaos, took fourth in a national record 9:01.46. Lemngole and Jeruto finished fifth and sixth, respectively.
The United States team had three women in the final, and North Carolina State athlete Angelina Napoleon, who is only 20, did the best. She finished ninth in 9:17.44. Despite extending her track season well into September, she said that she would still run fall cross country for coach Laurie Henes.
“I’m definitely coming back for cross country,” Napoleon told Race Results Weekly. “Our team has big goals and we’re ready to achieve them.”
PHOTO: Isaac Nader of Portugal winning the 1500m title at the 20th World Athletics Championships in Tokyo (photo by Jane Monti for Race Results Weekly)
PHOTO: Faith Cherotich of Kenya passes Winfred Yavi of Bahrain out of the final water jump at the 20th World Athletics Championships in Tokyo (photo by Jane Monti for Race Results Weekly)
PHOTO: Norah Jeruto of Kazakhstan fell after jumping the final water barrier at the at 20th World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, tripping Kenya’s Doris Lemngole, and allowing Ethiopia’s Sembo Almayew to get the bronze medal (photo by Jane Monti for Race Results Weekly)
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