2025 Worlds Day 1: Chebet wins 10k, Crouser’s toughest victory, & hello, Gift Leotlela

TOKYO – World record holder. Olympic champion. And now world champion. Beatrice Chebet has officially done it all in the women’s 10,000 meters after using a savage close to win the first track final of the 2025 World Athletics Championships on Saturday night at Japan’s National Stadium.

Chebet’s run was one of the highlights on day 1 in Tokyo, alongside an epic gut-it-out win from Ryan Crouser in the shot put (his fifth consecutive global title) and a surprise in the men’s 100m prelims, where South Africa’s Gift Leotlela led all qualifiers by running a 9.87 personal best.

Below, eight takeaways from the first day of action in Tokyo. We also covered the wild men’s steeple prelims in a separate article here.

*Full results

Shortly after the action was over, we recorded a live podcast with our reactions. Get it ad-free as a podcast as a Supporters Club member or watch it with ads below.

Beatrice Chebet is in the midst of one of the greatest stretches ever by a woman’s distance runner

Chebet entered Worlds as one of the biggest favorites in any event and delivered, though Italy’s Nadia Battocletti deserves props for making Chebet work for it as Battocletti took the silver medal for the second consecutive year. Chebet closed in a sensational 27.11 (60.09 final 400) to win gold in 30:37.61 on a muggy night in Tokyo while Battlocletti was almost as good, with a 27.71 final 200 (60.44 final 400) to take 2nd in 30:38.23. 2023 champion Gudaf Tsegay of Ethiopia was 3rd in 30:39.65.

Chebet and fellow Kenyan Agnes Ngetich strung things out a bit by running the third 1600 in 4:40 (29:10 pace), but were unable to gain complete separation, even in the hot and humid conditions (80 degrees, 75 dew point): Battocletti, Tsegay, and 2023 bronze medalist Ejgayehu Taye still remained as a five-woman pack hit halfway in 15:16.

So the Kenyans backed off, with 72- and 73-second laps giving way to 77s and 78s and even an 81 (33:45 pace) on lap 19. Eventually, Tsegay had had enough and pushed hard with 1k to go, but her move only succeeded in dropping Taye. She would hold the lead until midway through the final lap, when Chebet made what is becoming her signature move with 200 meters to go. It was not quite as ridiculous as her 26.6 final 200 to win the DL 5,000m opener back in April, but 27.11 was enough to blitz Tsegay and hold off a game Battocletti, who was the only one to respond to Chebet’s move.

Chebet’s last three years is one of the best stretches we have ever seen from a female distance runner: she has won two World XC golds, two Olympic golds, set two world records on the track (the first woman ever under 14:00 for 5,000 and 29:00 for 10,000) and one on the roads (13:54 for 5k), and now has her first world title on the track. She has the endurance to win World XC and run 28:54 for 10k but the speed to close races in 26.6 for the final 200. She appears to have no weaknesses, yet she is not a lock in the 5,000 in Tokyo as she will be up against fellow distance legend – and close friend – Faith Kipyegon, the world record holder and four-time defending champion in the 1500 meters.

Chebet is looking forward to the challenge. She expects a Kenyan celebration, one way or another.

“If Faith wins, I will celebrate her,” Chebet said. “If I win, of course she will celebrate me. That’s how the sport is. You have to celebrate your colleagues.”

Nadia Battocletti earns another silver, thinks she is in shape to run around 14:00/29:00

The 25-year-old Battocletti was one of the biggest surprises of last year’s Olympics, finishing 4th in the 5,000 and 2nd in the 10,000, finishing just .10 behind Chebet. On paper, Battocletti did not look like a contender again in 2025 – her 14:23 season’s best was nearly 20 seconds slower than those of Chebet, Ngetich, and Tsegay. But look a little deeper and the signs were there.

For one, Battocletti has a big kick – anyone who watched the Olympics would know that. For another, 14:23 may not be close to the fastest in the world in 2025, but it was an 8-second pb for Battocletti, who has also run pbs in the 1500 (3:58) and 3,000 (8:26) in 2025. She ran another pb of 30:38 tonight to earn the silver.

Battocletti believes she can run even faster in the 10,000 but has not had the opportunity to do so – her only 10,000 races since the start of last year have been the European, Olympic, and World finals.

“My dad (who is also Battocletti’s coach) [said] to me and also my staff and my [lactate] tests show me I can run near 14:00 and 29:00,” Battocletti said. “But I have to do it.”

Nikki Hiltz was “shocked” by Diribe Welteji’s suspension, but may now have to worry about another Ethiopian

Hiltz, a biological female who uses they/them pronouns, said they were shocked when they learned that Diribe Welteji, the 1500m silver medalist in 2023 and #2 seed in the 2025 Worlds field, was provisionally suspended for the meet as the AIU appeals her sample evasion case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

“Shock, surprise,” Hiltz said of their reaction. “Anything like that happens in the sport, it’s like, woah.”

We asked Hiltz whether they thought Welteji’s suspension increased their medal odds in Tokyo; Hiltz admitted it did but is trying to stay focused on the process and running the best 1500 they can.

“I just try to focus on myself,” Hiltz said. “I just want to run a 1500 that I’m proud of. She’s a great competitor and has run 3:51 this year, so yeah, totally, that bumps me up a bit. But I’m just trying to focus on process and not outcome and just run three 1500s that I’m proud of.”

The timing of Welteji’s suspension was also convenient as it came too late for Ethiopia to promote a replacement, so there were only two Ethiopians in Saturday’s first round – and one of them, 18-year-old 3:57 woman Saron Berhe, was only 9th in her heat and failed to advance.

The bad news for Hiltz is that the one remaining Ethiopian, Freweyni Hailu, looked very good today – better than Hiltz in fact, as Hailu won their heat in 4:01.23 while Hiltz had to work a bit in the final 100 to take 2nd in 4:01.73.

Hailu, the 2024 World Indoor champ at 1500 and 2025 World Indoor champ at 3000, was initially named to Ethiopia’s 5,000 team and as a reserve in the 1500. But she ended up running the 1500 instead of Birke Haylom after Haylom struggled in the DL final. Hailu was controversially left off the Ethiopian Olympic team last year, but she is a serious medal contender as she owns a 3:54 pb and was 4th at the 2021 Olympics in Tokyo.

Americans Left Looking for Answers in the 10,000m (LRC’s Weldon Johnson wrote this takeaway)

Ten years ago, Emily Infeld shocked everyone, especially Molly Huddle, as she grabbed a bronze medal at the 2015 World Championships in Beijing. On Saturday night in Tokyo, Infeld was back at Worlds but a long way from the podium, finishing 14th in 31:37.65. Elise Cranny was just ahead of her in 12th in 31:40.07, while Taylor Roe rounded out the American contingent in 18th (32:12.00) in her first global championship.

(LRC Archives 2015: Agony & Ecstasy in the Women’s 10,000: Molly Huddle Gives the Bronze Away to Emily Infeld as Vivian Cheruiyot Wins Gold Once Again – LetsRun.com)

What was once a strength for U.S. women now feels like a chasm. Infeld reflected on how much the level has risen globally in the last decade.

“These last 10 years, the level is just really raised by the women. We’re seeing women running sub-29 and it’s hard for us to close that gap… right now the women’s game is just at a whole other level and it seems like there’s a big gap from the top three, four to everyone else in the field,” she said.

Cranny admitted she feels stuck searching for answers, “I feel a little bit at a loss as to how to bridge the gap because it’s like I want to be up there and it’s super frustrating. I feel like I’m getting a lot of global experience,” she said, noting this was her fifth straight team.

“It’s like man, how do we bridge that gap, like how do we get up there to be like Grant [Fisher] and Cole [Hocker] and Yared [Nuguse] and everyone that medalled.”

Infeld’s medal in 2015 was the third medal in nine years at 10,000m for the Americans (Kara Goucher silver in 2007, Shalane Flanagan silver in 2008). Since then, the highest an American woman has finished in a world or Olympic final was Alicia Monson’s 5th in 2023.

Ryan Crouser makes it five in a row in his “most challenging” Worlds final ever

Because of COVID delays, track has had an unprecedented five World or Olympic championships in the last five years, starting and ending in Tokyo. Four athletes entered the 2025 championships with a chance to sweep all five titles: Crouser (shot put), Soufiane El Bakkali (steeple), Mondo Duplantis (pole vault), and Faith Kipyegon (1500). All four were in action on Saturday night (h/t Rob Walker for the stat), and it’s so far, so good for those chasing the five-peat: El Bakkali, Duplantis, and Kipyegon all advanced from their prelims while Crouser threw 22.34m for gold.

That is easily the shortest of Crouser’s six winning marks at global championships (he also won the 2016 Olympics), but there was a good reason behind it: this was Crouser’s first competition all season due to an elbow injury that was still bothering him tonight.

“This World Champs, I think, is probably the most special to me,” Crouser said. “Every World Champs is different, every Olympics is different, but this one was definitely the most challenging from a mental side, from a physical side.”

Crouser developed his elbow injury at the end of 2024 and it lingered throughout 2025. He had an MRI in May to assess the damage, but his elbow was so damaged that the contrast dye leaked down his forearm during testing.

“I had a fully compromised elbow capsule, so no synovial fluid, no lubrication in that joint,” Crouser said.

To make it to Tokyo, Crouser had to modify his preparations, specifically the amount and intensity of his throws in practice. When healthy, Crouser throws around four days a week, 10-30 throws per session, with one of those days a “hard” session where he tries to throw farther. This year, to protect his elbow, Crouser capped his sessions at six throws and did not throw “hard” until Saturday in Tokyo. Instead, he focused on mimicking competition conditions in other ways, trying to maximize his technical and mental gains on each throw in practice.

“Doing a lot of drills, a lot of meet-type of preparation, because I can’t get in the ring and just throw and throw and throw until I get it right,” Crouser said. “I’ve got six throws, I’ve gotta get it right as many times as I can on all six.”

At his best, we’ve seen Crouser break world and Olympic records. This was not peak Crouser, but it was a reminder of his greatness all the same: even a compromised Crouser is still the best shot putter in the world. Crouser was a bit concerned after the first round – he threw 21.41m, but the effort felt to him more like 22.40m. But he improved to 21.99m in round two and then 22.34m in round 5. That was farther than everyone else tonight, and also better than everyone else (save Crouser himself) at the 2024 Olympics as well. He is the shot put GOAT for a reason.

Gift Leotlela surprises everyone (except himself) with big 9.87 pb to lead all qualifiers in the men’s 100

In one of the most high-profile events of the championships, the men’s 100 meters, the fastest qualifier from Saturday’s prelims was a little-known 27-year-old from South Africa named Gift Leotlela. Leotlela has never made a global final (though he was 4th in his 100m semi at the Tokyo Olympics) but he’s got a good shot in Tokyo after running 9.87 to take .07 off his pb.

Leotlela had not broken 9.98 this year prior to Saturday, but he entered Worlds on a five-race win streak in the 100. Granted, these were mostly small meets in places like Johvi, Estonia, and Oulu, Finland, but Leotlela was winning them. He could sense something bigger coming.

“Beginning of the season, I was training really well, and I knew I just had to have that one race where everything clicks,” Leotlela said.

Leotlela was not the only man in his heat to run fast. Nigeria’s Kayinsola Ajayi, who was 4th at NCAAs for Auburn, was 2nd in a pb of 9.88 (previous pb: 9.92). And Jamaica’s Oblique Seville was 3rd in 9.93. That may not sound fast for a guy who has a 9.81 pb, but Seville, who usually starts fast, was nailed to the blocks – his reaction time was an awful .289. If you gave him Leotlela’s reaction time of .135 instead, Seville would have run 9.78.

Olympic champ Noah Lyles said he’s feeling “very, very, very good” after the first round

Lyles has been great in the 200 this year but not as great in the 100 as he returns from a foot injury in May. But Lyles was in very high spirits after comfortably winning his heat on Saturday in 9.95. Lyles said that he had been frustrated with his lack of progress earlier this year and was forcing things in practice, but he felt he turned a corner earlier this week and is very excited for Sunday’s semis and final.

“That was real easy, that was exactly what I wanted to see,” Lyles said. “Open strides. I really got into my acceleration. So each round is just going to get better.”

Sha’Carri Richardson shows signs of life

Defending world champ Richardson still hasn’t broken 11 seconds all year, and her start today was poor, something that has often plagued her in championship rounds. Even so, she closed well, running down Jamaica’s Shericka Jackson to win her heat in a season’s best of 11.03 (into a -0.8 headwind). The gold medal still looks like a battle between Melissa Jefferson-Wooden and Julien Alfred, but if Richardson can get a better start (still a big if), she could factor for the bronze.

Alfred led all qualifiers with her 10.93 on Saturday.

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