Chaos in steeplechase heats: Rooks bombs out, Michalski through, Beamish shines after fall

TOKYO — The steeplechase heats kicked off a sold-out evening session on day 1 of the 2025 World Athletics Championship in Tokyo and there was plenty of drama to start off the meet.

The shock came in heat 2 as Olympic silver medalist Kenneth Rooks was a total non-factor, fading to second-to-last in 8:45.57. That left training partner Dan Michalski as the lone American qualifier for Monday’s final, advancing with a gutsy third-place finish in heat 3 behind four-time defending global champion Soufiane El Bakkali and world record holder Lamecha Girma. The most impressive performance of the night belonged to OAC and New Zealand’s Geordie Beamish, who fell with less than a lap to go in heat 2, popped up instantly, and still cruised into the final looking every bit the contender despite it being his first race in nearly three months. World record holder Girma also fell in his heat and advanced to the final, but Girma fell much earlier.

Kenneth Rooks: “My fitness is not indicative of what happened today”

While Rooks was the shock performer in the steeplechase last year in a good way, this year he was the surprise disappointment.

He was looking for answers after the race, “To be honest, right now I want to take some time to process it, okay?” He then added that his  “fitness is not indicative of what happened today” and revealed he’d been battling both an SI joint issue and congestion that “started moving down into [his] chest.” He alluded to a larger problem but said he’d rather not get into it while the race was so fresh in his mind.

Michalski ran with confidence vs Girma and El Bakkali

Dan Michalski, who is one of the “dreams become reality” athletes of these championships, ran with a lot of confidence in heat #3, pushing the pace the final 1000m and leading until the final turn.

“I decided to just put myself up there and press a little bit from a K out and just so that I would feel the wind up,” he said. Even when passed late by the world champ and world record holder, he kept perspective: “It’s okay that they passed me in the last straightaway. I’ll survive, but it was really cool to get to share the track with them and to advance.”

Michalski was able to appreciate the moment of racing two of the greats in the sport in a sold-out stadium, but he has his own thoughts on the final. “I got to get a look at him [El Bakkali] before the final. I’m more than just happy to be here, but I really am happy to be here and it’s such an honor. I’m such a fan of sport. So, it was fun.”

Beamish is back!

Beamish, meanwhile, kept his cool after hitting the track on the first hurdle after the bell. Beamish clipped the hurdle on his own accord and went down. He popped up immediately and cruised to the final, making a gesture to the finish line of dusting himself off, by brushing his shoulder. He was obviously “happy to come through after being on the ground.” He then chronicled why he hasn’t raced in nearly three months since he did two steeples in three days in June, one which got him his auto qualifier for Worlds.

“I had a stress reaction in my femur… started running on the ground two months ago today…first time I honestly felt like myself in over a year.”

Beamish went into Paris last year injured, but is on the upswing here and said he’d rather be a little undercooked than overcooked. On what he thought during the fall he said, “No thinking, just doing.”

The schedule is fairly condensed in Tokyo, with just one rest day between the semis and final. But Beamish said that today’s race felt “easy” so he is optimistic about the final. We know how good Beamish’s kick is — remember, he beat Cole Hocker to win the 1500 at World Indoors last year — so if it goes slow, don’t be surprised to see him battling for a medal…perhaps even the gold.

Talk about the meet on our world-famous messageboard / fan forum:

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3. Nadia MF Battocletti