World Athletics Championship is the world’s premier track and field competition for senior athletes organised by the IAAF (International Association of Athletics Federations). The 2025 edition in Tokyo, Japan marked the milestone 20th World Championships since the first World championships were held separately from the Olympic Games in 1983. It saw a new global medal champion in Cordell Tinch, who won the 110m hurdles; Nicola Olyslagers crowned her second outdoor world high jump title; and Cole Hocker returned to form to win 5000m gold.
It was a dramatic final day at the championships in Tokyo with one world record and seven championship records broken or equalled. Australia’s Nicola Olyslagers won her second world outdoor high jump title with a clearance of 2.00m, while Poland’s Yaroslava Mahuchikh and Serbia’s Angelina Topic were tied on countback for silver. The men’s 3000m steeplechase also produced an exciting finish with Geordie Beamish (New Zealand) running down Soufiane El Bakkali of Morocco to win the gold medal in a new world-leading time, with Amanal Petros of Tanzania in third place.
Melissa Jefferson-Wooden became only the second female sprinter to complete a sprint treble at World Athletics, adding the 200m and 4x100m relay titles to her earlier 100m victory. The South Carolina native is bidding to add to her haul at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, and she will face a challenge from fellow United States sprinter Noah Lyles. But Jefferson-Wooden says she’s used to big goals, having grown up in Georgetown and attended a small Division 1 college program in her early years.