Record number of nations win medals in Tokyo

A RECORD number of nations won medals at the World Athletics Championships Tokyo 25 from September 13-21, during the most impactful edition of the sport’s flagship event in history.

A total of 53 nations made it on to the medal table after nine action-packed days of competition at the 20th running of the World Championships. This surpasses the previous record of 46 that was set at Osaka 2007 and equalled at Budapest 2023.

One world record, nine championship records and nine area records were set or equalled, and there were a series of historic firsts, including the first-ever World Championships medals for Samoa, St Lucia and Uruguay, and a first-ever World Championships gold for Tanzania.

The world record was set by Sweden’s Mondo Duplantis, as he improved his pole vault mark to 6.30m. As well as the historic firsts by Alex Rose (Samoa), Julien Alfred (St Lucia), Julia Paternain (Uruguay) and Alphonce Felix Simbu (Tanzania), other highlights include:

• US sprinter Melissa Jefferson-Wooden completing a sprint treble in the 100m, 200m, and 4x100m.

• Two other athletes achieving double gold in individual events: Kenyan distance runner Beatrice Chebet and Spanish race walker Maria Perez.

• Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone winning the 400m in a championship record of 47.78 – the second-fastest time in history – to become the only athlete in World Championships history to win gold medals in the 400m (2025) and 400m hurdles (2022).

• Ethan Katzberg winning the hammer with a championship record of 84.70m – the farthest throw in the world for 20 years.

A total of 1,992 athletes took part from 193 different countries and the Athlete Refugee Team.

Away from the many magnificent performances on the track, field and on the road, the championships achieved record reach as the most widely covered and impactful World Championships in history.

“What we have seen over the past nine days here in Tokyo is an indelible and compelling celebration of human sporting endeavour,” said World Athletics President Sebastian Coe.

“Tokyo has set the stage for some of our sport’s most extraordinary performances.

“This has been a championships for the ages and we are profoundly grateful to the people of Japan for hosting our showcase championships for the third time.

“Following the Olympic Games in 2021, I made a promise to the people of Tokyo that we would bring our sport back to the National Stadium as soon as we could. I am delighted that we kept our promise and that Tokyo kept its promise to fill the stadium with noisy fans.”

President of the Local Organising Committee Mitsugi Ogata also reflected on the great performances – by national and international athletes – and the emotion of seeing the stadium full, four years on from a Tokyo Games devoid of crowds.

“Over the past nine days, we have witnessed so many unforgettable moments,” he said. “There was never a quiet moment in the stadium. As we said: ‘Every second, SUGOI’, which was the slogan for this event. We delivered on that promise.”

Ogata also highlighted the various initiatives that formed part of the championships programme, including those related to Kids’ Athletics and sustainability.

“One of the greatest achievements of this championship, I believe, is reaching new audiences,” he added.

A total of 619,288 fans attended the World Championships in Tokyo – more than the 581,462 who were there for the Tokyo 1991 World Championships – with sell-out evening sessions across the week.

TBS saw huge TV audiences as the championships captured the nation’s attention. There was a peak of more than 12 million viewers in Japan on the opening day, and audiences were well over 10 million for each evening session. The vast majority of evening sessions surpassed both the Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024 Olympic Games TV audiences for athletics.

As well as witnessing the sport’s current stars making history, the championships welcomed a series of athletics legends, including Usain Bolt, the face of the inaugural World Athletics Ultimate Championship in Budapest in 2026 – the next major global outdoor track and field championships after Tokyo.

Some 300 VIPs, athletes and media attended the Ultimate Media Party on September 11 to mark the one-year-to-go milestone to this new and unmissable championship in Budapest.

Twenty-six athletes at the Tokyo World Championships won their place at next year’s Ultimate Championship, joining the 26 athletes who automatically qualified after becoming Olympic champions at last year’s Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

World Athletics