2025 World Athletics Championships – Men's 1500 metres
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The men's 1500 metres at the 2025 World Athletics Championships was held at the National Stadium in Tokyo on 14, 15 and 17 September 2025.[1] Isaac Nader of Portugal won the event in 3:34.10, followed by Jake Wightman of Britain and Reynold Cheruiyot of Kenya.[2] Several publications noted the unpredictability of the final, with many big names failing to advance, as well as Nader's surprise victory.
15 September (semi-finals)
17 September (final)
| Men's 1500 metres at the 2025 World Athletics Championships | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Venue | National Stadium | |||||||||
| Location | Tokyo, Japan | |||||||||
| Dates | 14 September (heats) 15 September (semi-finals) 17 September (final) | |||||||||
| Winning time | 3:34.10 | |||||||||
| Medalists | ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
Summary
Competitors in the event included defending champion Josh Kerr, 2022 champion Jake Wightman, and 2019 champion Timothy Cheruiyot, as well as 2020 Olympic champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen and 2024 Olympic champion Cole Hocker. Entering the event, Azeddine Habz of France held a world leading time of 3:27.49.
Qualification for the semi-finals and final was based on place only, with the first six finishers in each heat or semi-final qualifying for the next round. Neither Ingrebrigtsen, who had dealt with an Achilles tendon injury earlier in the season, nor Habz advanced to the semi-finals.[3] In both semi-finals, the time of the sixth-place finisher was within 0.3 seconds of the winning time. 2023 bronze medalist Narve Gilje Nordås missed qualifying for the final by 0.01 seconds, as did Raphael Pallitsch. Hocker was disqualified after making contact with Robert Farken in the home stretch of his semi-final.[4] Farken and Federico Riva were subsequently advanced to the final by the referee and the Jury of Appeals, respectively.
Final
Coming off the start line, a wall of about 6 competitors looked at each other trying to decide who would be relegated to lead. Laros became the nominee. Kerr notably made a beeline to the inner lane near the back of the pack. With his training partner on the front, Timothy went from the back of the pack to the front to form a wall that would last the first 650 metres when Timothy took his turn to lead the next lap. 950 metres into the race while being passed by Farken, Kerr jumped up and winced, even taking one step inside the curb. He started running awkwardly. The defending champion was out of the running.
As they approached the bell, the pack tightened up to 4 wide behind Cheruiyot and Laros. Finally on the backstretch, Wightman sprinted around the wall into the lead. With Wightman ahead, no other competitor got past the wall until the halfway up the home stretch, when Reynold edged ahead. Sprinting from fifth place, Isaac Nader went past all of them, catching Wightman 2 metres before the finish line. Reacting to the surprise challenge, Wightman made a desperate dip for the line, later falling to the track, tripping Reynold in the process. Nader looked up at the scoreboard confused until seeing the confirmation that he had won.[5] Nader's winning time was around five seconds slower than the two previous runnings of the event at global championships.[2] Writing for Reuters, Mitch Phillips described Nader as a "shock winner".[6] The determined defending champion, Kerr still managed to finish in 4:11, fighting through the injury.[7]
Records
Before the competition records were as follows:[8]
| Record | Athlete & Nat. | Perf. | Location | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| World record |  Hicham El Guerrouj (MAR) |
3:26.00 | Rome, Italy | 14 July 1998 |
| Championship record | 3:27.65 | Seville, Spain | 24 August 1999 | |
| World Leading |  Azeddine Habz (FRA) |
3:27.49 | Paris, France | 20 June 2025 |
| African Record | Hicham El Guerrouj (MAR) |
3:26.00 | Rome, Italy | 14 July 1998 |
| Asian Record |  Rashid Ramzi (BHR) |
3:29.14 | 14 July 2006 | |
| European Record |  Jakob Ingebrigtsen (NOR) |
3:26.73 | Fontvieille, Monaco | 12 July 2024 |
| North, Central American and Caribbean record |  Cole Hocker (USA) |
3:27.65 | Paris, France | 6 August 2024 |
| Oceanian record |  Olli Hoare (AUS) |
3:29.41 | Oslo, Norway | 15 June 2023 |
| South American Record |  Hudson Santos de Souza (BRA) |
3:33.25 | Rieti, Italy | 28 August 2005 |
Qualification standard
The standard to qualify automatically for entry was 3:33.00.[9]
Schedule
The event schedule, in local time (UTC+9), was as follows:[1]
| Date | Time | Round |
|---|---|---|
| 14 September | 09:35 | Heats |
| 15 September | 21:30 | Semi-finals |
| 17 September | 22:20 | Final |
Results
Heats
The heats took place on 14 September. The first six athletes in each heat ( Q ) qualified for the semi-finals.
Heat 1
| Place | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Narve Gilje Nordås | Norway |
3:35.90 | Q |
| 2 | Josh Kerr |  Great Britain & N.I. |
3:35.98 | Q |
| 3 | Ethan Strand | United States |
3:36.27 | Q |
| 4 | Federico Riva |  Italy |
3:36.28 [.275] | Q |
| 5 | Stefan Nillessen |  Netherlands |
3:36.28 [.279] | Q |
| 6 | Tshepo Tshite |  South Africa |
3:36.36 | Q |
| 7 | Azeddine Habz | France |
3:36.62 | |
| 8 | Jochem Vermeulen |  Belgium |
3:37.33 | |
| 9 | Pol Oriach |  Spain |
3:37.43 | |
| 10 | Fouad Messaoudi | Morocco |
3:37.83 | |
| 11 | Jude Thomas |  Australia |
3:38.19 | |
| 12 | Charles Grethen |  Luxembourg |
3:41.18 | |
| 13 | Kazuto Iizawa |  Japan |
3:41.76 | |
| 14 | Kristian Uldbjerg Hansen |  Denmark |
3:47.58 | |
| 15 | Hugh Kent |  Guam |
4:03.84 | |
| [10] | ||||
Heat 2
| Place | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pietro Arese | Italy |
3:40.91 | Q |
| 1 | Isaac Nader |  Portugal |
3:40.91 | Q |
| 3 | Niels Laros | Netherlands |
3:41.00 | Q |
| 4 | Reynold Cheruiyot |  Kenya |
3:41.17 | Q |
| 5 | Ruben Verheyden | Belgium |
3:41.45 | Q |
| 6 | Foster Malleck |  Canada |
3:41.53 | Q |
| 7 | Hafid Rizqy | Morocco |
3:41.55 | |
| 8 | Elliot Giles | Great Britain & N.I. |
3:41.60 | |
| 9 | Paul Anselmini | France |
3:41.84 | |
| 10 | Adam Spencer | Australia |
3:42.17 | |
| 11 | Håkon Moe Berg | Norway |
3:42.24 | |
| 12 | Cathal Doyle |  Ireland |
3:42.60 | |
| 13 | Heithem Chenitef |  Algeria |
3:45.13 | |
| 14 | Ermias Girma |  Ethiopia |
3:46.62 | |
| 15 | Yeshnil Karan |  Fiji |
3:50.77 | PB |
| [10] | ||||
Heat 3
| Place | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cole Hocker | United States |
3:41.88 | Q |
| 2 | Robert Farken |  Germany |
3:42.06 | Q |
| 3 | Neil Gourley | Great Britain & N.I. |
3:42.13 | Q |
| 4 | Timothy Cheruiyot | Kenya |
3:42.20 | Q |
| 5 | Adrián Ben | Spain |
3:42.27 | Q |
| 6 | Raphael Pallitsch |  Austria |
3:42.40 | Q |
| 7 | Nuno Pereira | Portugal |
3:42.63 | |
| 8 | Cameron Myers | Australia |
3:42.75 | |
| 9 | Filip Sasínek |  Czech Republic |
3:43.17 | |
| 10 | Sam Tanner |  New Zealand |
3:43.37 | |
| 11 | Pieter Sisk | Belgium |
3:43.50 | |
| 12 | Charles Philibert-Thiboutot | Canada |
3:44.82 | |
| 13 | Ryan Mphahlele | South Africa |
3:45.22 | |
| 14 | Diego Lacamoire |  Argentina |
3:57.42 | |
| 15 | Filip Rak |  Poland |
4:14.93 | |
| [10] | ||||
Heat 4
| Place | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jake Wightman | Great Britain & N.I. |
3:36.90 | Q |
| 2 | José Carlos Pinto | Portugal |
3:37.09 | Q |
| 3 | Jonah Koech | United States |
3:37.11 | Q |
| 4 | Romain Mornet | France |
3:37.19 | Q |
| 5 | Samuel Pihlström |  Sweden |
3:37.25 | Q |
| 6 | Andrew Coscoran | Ireland |
3:37.32 | Q |
| 7 | Anass Essayi | Morocco |
3:37.70 | |
| 8 | Jakob Ingebrigtsen | Norway |
3:37.84 | |
| 9 | Joao Bussotti | Italy |
3:38.38 | |
| 10 | Carlos Saez | Spain |
3:40.61 | |
| 11 | Melese Nberet | Ethiopia |
3:41.54 | |
| 12 | Phanuel Koech | Kenya |
3:42.77 | |
| 13 | Yervand Mkrtchyan |  Armenia |
3:48.21 | |
| 14 | Mukesh Pal |  Nepal |
3:53.99 | |
| 15 | Kieran Lumb | Canada |
3:55.04 | |
| [10] | ||||
Semi-finals
The semi-finals took place on 15 September. The first six athletes in each heat ( Q ) qualified for the final.
Heat 1
| Place | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Niels Laros | Netherlands |
3:35.50 | Q |
| 2 | Josh Kerr | Great Britain & N.I. |
3:35.53 | Q |
| 3 | Jake Wightman | Great Britain & N.I. |
3:35.56 | Q |
| 4 | Timothy Cheruiyot | Kenya |
3:35.61 | Q |
| 5 | Andrew Coscoran | Ireland |
3:35.65 | Q |
| 6 | Samuel Pihlström | Sweden |
3:35.71 | Q |
| 7 | Narve Gilje Nordås | Norway |
3:35.72 | |
| 8 | Ethan Strand | United States |
3:36.15 | |
| 9 | José Carlos Pinto | Portugal |
3:36.23 | |
| 10 | Ruben Verheyden | Belgium |
3:36.31 | |
| 11 | Romain Mornet | France |
3:36.35 | |
| 12 | Pietro Arese | Italy |
3:36.83 | SB |
| [11] | ||||
Heat 2
| Place | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Reynold Cheruiyot | Kenya |
3:36.64 | Q |
| 2 | Adrián Ben | Spain |
3:36.78 | Q |
| 3 | Isaac Nader | Portugal |
3:36.86 | Q |
| 4 | Jonah Koech | United States |
3:36.89 | Q |
| 5 | Neil Gourley | Great Britain & N.I. |
3:36.93 | Q |
| 6 | Tshepo Tshite | South Africa |
3:36.93 | Q |
| 7 | Raphael Pallitsch | Austria |
3:36.94 | |
| 8 | Stefan Nillessen | Netherlands |
3:37.12 | |
| 9 | Robert Farken | Germany |
3:37.52 | qR |
| 10 | Foster Malleck | Canada |
4:14.09 | |
| 11 | Federico Riva | Italy |
4:14.31 | qJ |
| — | Cole Hocker | United States |
DQ | 17.1.2 |
| [11] | ||||
Final
| Place | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
Isaac Nader | Portugal |
3:34.10 | |
 |
Jake Wightman | Great Britain & N.I. |
3:34.12 | |
 |
Reynold Cheruiyot | Kenya |
3:34.25 | |
| 4 | Timothy Cheruiyot | Kenya |
3:34.50 | |
| 5 | Niels Laros | Netherlands |
3:34.52 | |
| 6 | Robert Farken | Germany |
3:35.15 | |
| 7 | Federico Riva | Italy |
3:35.33 | |
| 8 | Adrián Ben | Spain |
3:35.38 | |
| 9 | Tshepo Tshite | South Africa |
3:35.50 | |
| 10 | Neil Gourley | Great Britain & N.I. |
3:35.56 | |
| 11 | Samuel Pihlström | Sweden |
3:35.74 | |
| 12 | Andrew Coscoran | Ireland |
3:35.87 | |
| 13 | Jonah Koech | United States |
3:37.00 | |
| 14 | Josh Kerr | Great Britain & N.I. |
4:11.23 | |
| [12] | ||||