Kenya led a strong African performance at the 2025 World Championships which ended in Tokyo on Sunday (21 September), finishing second to the USA on the medals table with 7 gold medals in their total haul of 11. Eight African countries won a total of 23 medals during the week.
Kenya’s female distance athletes won six of the seven golds, including those from all of the distance events from the 800m to the marathon. Emmanuel Wanyoni’s victory in the 800m was Kenya’s sole gold in the men’s competition.
Botswana continued their upsurge in track and field, finishing fifth on the medals table, their two gold medals coming courtesy of their talented 400m athletes.
Here’s how Africa fared in Tokyo.
Day One
Beatrice Chebet got Africa’s medal hunt off to a golden start with a thrilling 30:37,61 victory in the 10 000m, outsprinting Italian Nadia Battocletti in the final straight as she did in Paris last year.
The Italian’s 30:38,23 for the silver medal was a national record for her country while defending champion, Ethiopian Gudaf Tsegay, took bronze in 30:39,65. African athletes filled four of the top five and six of the top eight positions.
Nigerian Chukwuebuka Enekwechi fell just 42 cm short of making it onto the men’s shot-put podium, his 21,52m earning him fifth place behind gold medallist Ryan Crouser of the USA (22,34m).
South African placed 6th in the 4x400m mixed relay, behind the American quartet whose 3:08,8 is a new championship record.
Day Two
Kenyan marathoner, Peres Jepchirchir, took the marathon gold at the 2021 Olympics in Japan and again proved her marathon mettle on the biggest stage, outsprinting Ethiopian star Tigst Assefa by just two seconds – her second global marathon silver following her loss to Sifan Hassan at the Paris Olympics.
Jepchirchir won in 2:24:43 with Uruguayan Julia Paternain surprising to take bronze ahead of early leader, American Susanna Sullivan.
French athlete Jimmy Gressier caused one of the championship’s biggest upsets by snatching a last-gasp gold medal, his fast finish edging out Ethiopian Yomif Kejelcha by just six hundredths of a second in 28:55,77. Swede Andreas Almgren took bronze, half a second ahead of Kenyan Ishmael Kipkurui.
In an unprecedented display of depth of talent, less than 4 seconds separated the top ten athletes, with South African Adriaan Wildschutt finishing 10th in 28:59,47.
African athletes filled half of the eight-strong field in the men’s 100m final but it was the Jamaicans who reigned supreme. Fast-finishing Oblique Seville overtook his compatriot Kishane Thompson towards the finish to win in 9.77 sec, relegating pre-race favourite, American Noah Lyles, to third.
Olympic 200m champion, Letsile Tebogo of Botswana, was disqualified for jumping the gun while South African Gift Leotlela ran his lifetime best of 9,87 in the heats and finished a competitive 9,95 for fifth in the final.
Day Three
Just three hundredth of a second separated gold and silver in the marathon photo-finish with Tanzanian Alphonce Simbu winning his country’s first-ever World Championship gold medal in 2:09:48, edging out Germany’s Amanal Petros in a closer finish than that of the men’s 100m final.
Europe-based athletes have closed the gap in men’s distance running on their African rivals but could not prevent Simbu’s win. Italian Illiass Aouani took bronze.
Swiss athlete Ditaji Kambundji’s 100m hurdles gold medal in her life-time best of 12,24 (a national record) flew in the face of pre-race predictions, while Nigerian Tobi Amusan’s strong finish (12,29) earned her the silver ahead of American Grace Stark.
Moroccan Soufiane El Bakkali was strong favourite to emulate his Olympic gold medal in the 3000m steeplechase, but fast-finishing New Zealand athlete, Geordie Beamish, spoilt his party celebrations, winning by just 0.07 sec in 8:33:33. 19-year-old Kenyan, Edmund Serem, clinched bronze.
High-flying Swede, Armand Gustav (Mondo) Duplantis, stole the show on Day Three with his remarkable 6.30m clearance in the pole vault, 16 cm higher that of the world’s next best vaulter – Ukranian Sergey Bubka, who cleared 6,14m more than thirty years ago.
Day Four
Athletes from Africa featured in just one final on the fourth day of the Championships, but there was never a doubt that Kenyan super-star, Faith Kipyegon, whom many rate as the best 1500m athlete of all time, would clinch the gold. She duly did so emphatically, winning in 3:52,15 – over two seconds ahead of her compatriot, Dorcus Ewoi. Australian Jess Hull finished a close third.
Day Five
In yet another action-packed last-gasp final, Portugese athlete, Isaac Nader, snatched gold out of the grasp of Britain’s Jake Wightman in 3:34,10 to win the men’s 1500m by just two hundredths of a second.
Kenya’s two Cheruiyots, Reynold and Timothy (not related), were in the mix to the finish, crossing the line just 0,15 sec and 0,4 sec behind Nader, with South African Tshepo Tshite just a second back in 9th.
Twice winner of the Diamond League Final, 21-year-old Kenyan athlete, Faith Cherotich, lived up to her pre-race favourite billing and defended her title by winning the 3000m steeplechase in championship record time of 8:51,59 – five seconds clear of Kenyan-born Bahrain athlete, Winfred Yavi. Ethiopia’s Sembo Almayew took the bronze.
Day Six
The men’s 400m final proved a triumph for Botwana with exciting newcomer, 21 year old Collen Kebinatshipi, racing clear of early leader, Zakithi Nene of South Africa, to take gold ahead of Jereem Richards (Trinidad and Tobago).
The second of Botswana’s three finalists, Bayapo Ndori, rounded out the podium with Nene finishing fifth.
American Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone won the women’s 400m final in 47,78 – the fastest time in forty years and a championship record. Dominican Republic’s Marileidy Paulino also dipped under 48 seconds, setting a national record of 47,98 with Nigerian-born, Salwa Eid Naser of Bahrain, third.
Kenya’s Julius Yego fell a metre short of a podium position in the men’s javelin, finishing 6th . Keshorn Walcott of Trinidad and Tobago won the event with a throw of 88,16m.
Senegal’s Saly Sarr also placed 6th in the triple jump, achieving a lifetime best of 14,55m, some 0,4m short of Cuban athlete Leyanis Hernandez’ winning throw.
Day Seven
Olympic 200m champion, Letsile Tebogo of Botswana, gave it his best shot at that distance, but missed the podium by just one hundredth of a second (19,65) to the fast-finishing Jamaican, Bryan Levell. American Noah Lyles held off his compatriot, Kenneth Bednarek to win gold in 19,52.
American Melissa Jefferson-Wooden became the first woman ever to clinch the 100 / 200 m double at the World Championships, blitzing to a 21,68 victory over British athlete Amy Hunt in the 200m.
Africa’s sole representative in the race, Ivory Coast’s Marie-Josee Ta Lou-Smith, has enjoyed a long history as one of the world’s top sprinters, her 7th position in 22,62 underlining her consistency.
Olympic 400m hurdles champion, Rai Benjamin (USA), added the World Championship gold to his collection, winning in 46,52 ahead of long time rival Alison dos Santos of Brazil. Former Mauritanian athlete, now running for Qatar, Abderrahman Samba, edged out Nigerian Ezekiel Nathaniel at the finish to take the final podium position.
There was no stopping Dutch star, Femke Bol, in the women’s 400m hurdles. She outran American Jasmine Jones to take the gold in a brisk 51,54.
In the men’s triple jump, Algerian Yasser Triki narrowly missed out on a medal with a 4th placed leap of 17,25m, 0,7m behind winner, Pedro Pichardo of Portugal, whose 17,91m is a world-leading distance this year.
Day Eight
‘The best 5000m race ever’ is what commentators yelled as Beatrice Chebet drew clear of her friend and compatriot, Faith Kipyegon, down the home straight to win by 0,7 seconds in 14:54,36 with the impressive Italian Nadia Battocletti taking bronze.
Both Chebet and Kipyegon were bidding for double gold, having won titles earlier in the week, Chebet over 10 000m and Kipyegon in the 1500m. Former champion, Ethiopian Gudaf Tsegay, also dipped under 15 minutes, her 14:57,82 earning her fifth position.
Kenyan Emmanuel Wanyoni underlined his status as the world’s top 800m athlete with a thrilling victory in the two-lap event, setting a championship record of 1:41,86. Fast-finishing Algerian Djamel Sedjati, edged out Canadian Marco Arop by a whisker to take silver in 1:41,90.
A lifetime best in her final throw in the women’s javelin final by Latvian Andete Sietina denied Olympic silver-medallist, Jo-Ane du Plessis of South Africa, a championship medal. Sietina’s throw of 64,64m earned her silver behind Ecuador’s Juleisy Angulo (65,12), relegating Du Plessis to fourth (63,06).
Day Nine
Botswana’s men’s 4x400m relay team of Bhekempilo Eppie, Letsile Tebogo, Bayapo Ndori and Collen Kebinatshipi won a thrilling over a fired-up American quartet – the first time an African nation has won this event.
Winner of the individual 400m gold, Kebinatshipi, anchored his team to a last gasp victory in wet conditions in 2:57,76 as American 400m hurdles gold medallist, Rai Benjamin, and South Africa’s Zakithi Nene crossed the line simultaneously in the fight for silver, both timed at 2:57,83.
Just two thousandth of a second separated the two, with the South Africa’s bronze the country’s sole medal of the Championship.
For South Africa, former Olympic gold medallist and current world record holder, Wayde van Niekerk’s run was a revelation as he closed a 10m gap on Botswana and the USA down the home straight in the third leg to clock 43,26 – the fastest of the competition and Van Niekerk’s most impressive performance since the Rio Olympics.
Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone anchored the American team to gold in the women’s 4x400m relay ahead of Jamaica and the Netherlands.
With the much-vaunted South African 4x100m team absent from the final after a clash with the Italian team in the semis and failing to beat a tough reinstatement target time running solo, African teams were largely absent from the men’s and women’s short sprint relays. But a young Ghanaian team pointed to the future with a strong showing in the men’s competition.
Sprint super-heroes American Noah Lyles and Canadian Andre de Grasse went head-to-head down the home straight in the final leg of the men’s 4x100m relay before Lyles bagged his second gold of the competition. The Netherlands edged out Ghana for the bronze medal.
Regarded by many as the best sprinter of all time, Jamaican Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce closed out her remarkable career with a silver medal in the 4x100m relay. Melissa Jefferson-Wooden clinched her third gold of the championship as USA finished ahead of Jamaica and Germany.
26-year-old mother of two, Lilian Odira, upset the predictions to win the women’s 800m in 1:54,62, breaking the championship record which had stood since 1983, and relegating pre-race favourite, Britain’s Keely Hodgkinson to third, one hundredth of a second behind her teammate, Georgia Hunter Bell.
Drawing inspiration from Kenyan superstars Helen Obiri and Faith Kipyegon, Odira played the waiting game, taking the lead just 20 metres from the finish to clinch victory. 2023 champion, Kenya’s Mary Moraa was relegated to 7th with her ‘kid cousin’ Sarah Moraa fourth.
Future champion, 18-year-old Biniam Mehary of Ethiopia, led the men’s 5000m final at the bell but fell behind down the home straight as athletes from Africa were shut out of the medals. American Cole Hocker, winner of the 1500m gold at the Paris Olympics, swept to victory in 12:58,30, just 0,5 sec clear of Kenyan-born Belgian, Isaac Kimeli, with 10 000m winner, Jimmy Gressier third.
