Tokyo Welcomes the World’s Best Athletes
By Dáire McConville
The 2025 World Athletic Championships brought together the world’s best athletes at track and field for nine days in the Japanese capital city Tokyo. This being the 20th Athletic Championships, the biennial event was held in The Japan National Stadium, a stadium only too familiar to many of the competitors as the place that held the delayed 2021 Olympic Games.
Approximately 2000 athletes competing from 200 countries were spread across the 49 events in a jam-packed schedule, showcasing some of the fastest sprinters, highest jumpers, and farthest throwers in the world, with a record number of nations taking home silverware. From photo finishes to record-breaking feats throughout the championships, it was an unforgettable event. As the sport continues to grow in both talent and intensity, Tokyo 2025 proved to be a powerful reminder to why athletics is so compelling.
The event highlighted many top athletes, continuing to excel and dominate in their area of expertise. Sweden’s Armand ‘Mondo’ Duplantis lit up the third night of the Tokyo skyline when he broke the pole vault world record for the 14th time in his career, breaking his own record with a jump of 6.30m, a full 30cm higher than the second-place athlete, securing a third straight world title. [1] The Swedish athlete is now the 2x Olympic and 3x World champion in his discipline, unstoppable in his pursuit of excellence.
Faith Kipyegon of Kenya delivered a masterclass in the women’s 1500m as she earned her fourth world title in the event, pulling away with ease down the home straight. The race that has brought the athlete to souring success as a 3x Olympic Champion and a 2x world record holder has won a gold medal in the 1500m at the 2017, 2022, 2023 and now 2025 World Championships, only missing out in 2019 by not competing due to giving birth to her first child. An unstoppable athlete, mother, and teammate.
It was a dominant meet for team USA as they racked up by far the largest medal tally with a total of 26, 15 medals ahead of second place Kenya. The medal tally included 16 gold, 5 silver and 5 bronze. In doing so the American squad broke national records and obtained the top position for both a male and female athlete from sprinters Melissa Jefferson-Wooden and Noah Lyles, each taking home 3 medals.
Lyle became an 8x world champion when he equalled Usain Bolt’s record of four 200m titles, and Melissa made history as she became the first American woman to successfully win the 100m-200m double at a single world championship, reeling in the gold.
In the distance event, Cole Hocker found redemption and bounced back as he achieved gold in the 5000m, a tactical race following his disqualification in the 1500m earlier in the week. And as if it felt like team USA could not win any more, the final race-day rain did not put a dampener on the yanks squad. They soared to victory in four different relay events, securing gold in both the male and female 4x 100m as well as female and mixed 4x 400m relay.
Irish athlete Kate O’Connor continued her line of success in 2025 when she claimed silver in the heptathlon with a national record tally of 6714 points. She becomes only the sixth world medalist for Ireland, last achieving success 12 years ago in the 50km walk event, overtaking veterans in the sport like Katarina Johnson-Thompson who had to settle for a rare shared bronze medal position. Following on from a 14th place at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, Spring into Summer brought O’Connor European bronze and World Indoor silver, before a gold medal at the World University Games, an upwards trajectory that was difficult to compete against in Tokyo.
Coached by her own father Michael O’Connor, the Dundalk athlete produced stellar performances delivering five personal bests out of the seven disciplines: 100m hurdles, high jump, javelin, 200m and final 800m, despite suffering a knee injury in only the second event high jump. O’Connor was welcomed home to family and friends in Dublin airport, but not before tackling her way through a few cameras before she could escape. ‘These medals don’t come around all that often, I suppose you never know when you’re going to get the opportunity again to win one, and I was never going to let that opportunity pass’. Speaking to RTÉ News, the athlete also spoke about how much it meant to her, ‘I think it’s going to take a few days, maybe weeks for this to settle in’. [3]
The World Championships in Tokyo once again displayed the absolute best of athletics delivering standout performances from Duplantis’ dominance on the pole vault to Kipyegon’s continued track reign. The US once again asserting its strength on the track and the Irish squad flying home with their first world medal in 12 years. A championship that highlighted national success and sportsmanship, it is a well-needed rest in store for most athletes before the focus shifts to the 2026 season.
References
[1]- https://www.reuters.com/sports/swedens-world-record-breaker-duplantis-takes-tokyo-gold-2025-09-15/
[2]- https://worldathletics.org/en/competitions/world-athletics-championships/tokyo25
[3]- https://www.rte.ie/news/ireland/2025/0924/1535116-kate-oconnor/
