Moon Edges Morris At Final Bar; Portugal's Isaac Nader Catches Jake Wightman At The Line To Win Men's 1,500; Faith Cherotich Wins Steeplechase; Mattia Furlani Soars To Long Jump Gold; Teen Sprint Sensation Gout Gout Debuts

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

Photos by Logan Hannigan-Downs

INTERVIEWS

TOKYO – The thin line between gold and silver in the women’s pole vault rested on pegs 16 feet and three-quarters of an inch (4.90 meters) above the ground at Japan National Stadium.

And it wobbled.

That it stayed put, on Katie Moon’s final attempt, meant a fourth global gold medal. She is the first woman to win three consecutive world titles.

Fellow American Sandi Morris, who was first over 4.85m, was unable to clear 4.90m and earned silver for the fifth time in her career (1 Olympics, 4 World Championships).

"It was incredible, it was such a battle," Moon said. "I knew it was going to be. I kept telling myself I would need to jump over 4.90m to win. I knew Sandi (Morris, USA) was in a good shape. I am just happy and relieved it ended up the best for me. You never know whose day it's going to be."

Moon said she stared up at the bar for an extra couple of seconds and looked at both pegs to make sure the bar did not fall. 

Morris has enjoyed a successful year after a series of setbacks in 2023 and 2024. For that, and the silver, she was grateful. 

"Sure, it's bittersweet walking away with another silver, but there's a lot worse things than silver medals at the World Championships, so I will take that," Morris said. 

Moon's gold is the seventh so far in Tokyo for the U.S. team, which leads the medal count with 10. Kenya is next with seven after picking up its fourth gold in the women's 3,000-meter steeplechase. 

Tina Sutej of Slovenia took bronze in the women's pole vault. American twins Amanda and Hana Moll both went out at 4.75m and tied for sixth. 

Unexpected Champion Wins Men’s 1,500

In a men's 1,500 meters final that featured three former champions, one of whom was a few strides away from writing an amazing comeback story, 26-year-old Isaac Nader of Portugal sprinted through traffic and nabbed the victory in 3:34.10. 

Nader was sixth with less than 200 meters to go and fifth with 80 left. 

Much like New Zealand's Geordie Beamish in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, he had the wheels at the end when it mattered most. 

Great Britain's Jake Wightman, who won the world title in Eugene in 2022, had endured a spate of injuries in recent years that prevented him from being in contention for more. 

But Thursday night's race seemed to be playing right into his hands. Wightman had the lead and a little bit of daylight entering the final straightaway, but there were a handful of runners, including Nader, trying to catch him. 

Nader's expression after he crossed the line indicated he was just as shocked as everybody else. He came into the World Championships No. 8 in the world rankings. 

"In the last 100 I fully believed in myself. I knew Jake would be fighting until the end, so I went all in for a dive. This was probably the first time I did it in my career, but I couldn't risk losing a world title. Clearly, it paid off in the end. I have no words for what happened, but I believed in myself and so did my family and girlfriend," Nader said. 

Nader has decent credentials, including a PR of 3:29.37, but didn't compete at Budapest in 2023 or Paris in 2024. 

Josh Kerr, the 2023 world champion and 2024 Olympic silver medalist, was one of the favorites going into the race. It is unclear what happened to him, but with 600 meters to go he began hobbling and finished last. 

Another favorite, Niels Laros of The Netherlands, was unable to find his signature kick and finished fifth. 

U.S. champion Jonah Koech finished 13th. He was the only American in the race after Cole Hocker was disqualified in the semifinal round for "jostling" other runners as he fought to gain a clear path to the finish line in the homestretch. 

Wightman, whose father Geoff is part of the British broadcasting team, finished .02 seconds behind Nader. 

"I did not see what was happening in the race, I was fully focused on my own race, the last 200, and I was just trying to win it so badly. To get that close, it is bittersweet," Wightman said. "But I am glad to come out with something. It has been a very long time. That I am still at the level I want to be is very (gratifying)."

Faith Cherotich Breaks Championship Record

Kenyan Faith Cherotich had a final burst at the end to separate from Winfred Yavi of Burundi and Sembo Almayew of Ethiopia to win the women's 3,000-meter steeplechase in a World Championships record time of 8:51.59. 

Uganda's Peruth Chemutai, the Tokyo Games gold medalist in 2021, suffered a fall and did not finish. 

Cherotich finished third, behind Yavi and Chemutai, in Paris last year.

"Improving from bronze to gold is amazing to me. I was confused at the start because both me and Winfred are very strong. I didn't know how it would go but I was ready for it," Cherotich said. "The pace of the race was slow, but I believed in my kick. In the last 400, 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."

A trio of young Americans making their first appearances on the global stage finished ninth, 10th and 14th. 

North Carolina State's Angelina Napoleon was ninth in 9:17.44, Kaylee Mitchell was 10th in 9:18.66 and Lexy Halladay-Lowry was 14th in 9:34.03. 

Italian Mattia Furlani Wins Long Jump

Mattia Furlani jumped a career best 8.39 meters (27-6.50) in the fifth round to move into the lead of the men's long jump and he was able to hold on for the gold medal for Italy.

"This is a most special evening," Furlandi said. "I worked so hard and put so much determination into getting a medal. I did not start the best way. At the beginning, I had a small problem with my run-up, but as usual I tried to stay calm and save the best for last. I am in great shape tonight and I was confident I could do it. Now, I am here with this gold medal."

Jamaica's Tajay Gayle jumped 8.34m for the silver and China's Yuhao Shi went 8.33m for the bronze in a very close competition. 

Notably absent at the end was Greece's Miltiadis Tentoglou, who finished 11th and suffered with cramps in both calf muscles during the competition. 

American Isaac Grimes was 10th (7.85m). 

Favorites Roll Into Finals Of 400-Meter Hurdles

Femke Bol and Dalilah Muhammad lined upside by side in one of the semifinal heats of the women's 400-meter hurdles; Rai Benjamin ran next to Alison Dos Santos in one of the men's semis. 

All the favorites made it through. The U.S. will have three women competing for medals on Friday with Muhammad, Jasmine Jones and Anna Cockrell all qualifying. 

Benjamin, the Olympic champion, will be in the final with Norway's Karsten Warholm and Dos Santos, the top three finishers in the historic 2021 Olympic final.

Teen Star Gout Gout Makes Championship Debut

If not for Cooper Lutkenhaus, the teen star with the most buzz coming into Tokyo was the 17-year-old sprinter from Australia named Gout Gout. 

He made his first appearance at a global championship on Wednesday and safely made it out of the first round of the men's 200 meters by running 20.23 seconds for third place in his heat. His time was the 12th fastest. 

Americans Noah Lyles and Kenny Bednarek both breezed through the round. In the women's 200 meters, Americans Melissa Jefferson-Wooden, Anavia Battle, Brittany Brown and McKenzie Long all advanced to the semifinals. 

Curtis Thompson had the seventh-farthest throw in qualifying for the men's javelin to earn a spot in the final. 

Anderson Peters of Grenada threw a season's best 89.53m (293-8) to lead all qualifiers. 

In the men's triple jump, Salif Mane of the U.S. made the cut for the finals with the 10th best mark in qualifying.