How 'astonishing' 1500m final saw Jake Wightman pipped to gold and Josh Kerr injured mid-race at World Athletics Championships
Updated 17/09/2025 at 17:55 GMT+1
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Jake Wightman won Great Britain's first medal at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo as he claimed silver. But there was plenty more to the race as defending champion Josh Kerr suffered an injury and ended up limping across the line. Wightman looked as though he was going to win gold before Portugal’s Isaac Nader stormed up to beat him on the line.
‘Oh my word!’ – Wightman pipped on line by Nader in ‘astonishing’ men’s 1500m final
Video credit: TNT Sports
There was "astonishing" drama in the men’s 1500m final at the World Athletics Championships as Great Britain’s Jake Wightman was beaten to gold on the line and Josh Kerr limped home after suffering a mid-race injury.
With Norwegian star Jakob Ingebrigtsen and Olympic champion Cole Hocker both missing from the final, it seemed that defending champion Kerr would be among the favourites for gold.
But Kerr was towards the back of the pack for most of the race and then saw his hopes crushed by an injury with 600m remaining.
It was not clear what caused the injury but Kerr immediately started limping and fell back, eventually finishing over 30 seconds behind the rest of the field.
As Kerr toiled, his fellow Brit Wightman kicked into first place midway through the final lap.
Netherlands’ Niels Laros and Kenya’s Timothy Cheruiyot and Reynold Cheruiyot looked to be Wightman’s closest rivals as he led down the home straight.
But instead it was Portugal’s Isaac Nader who powered up from fifth place to just pip a diving Wightman - who took silver - on the line.
"Oh my word, astonishing running," said TNT Sports commentator Tim Hutchings.
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"Wightman defeated at the last and it was one of those names from the pack that always had a chance.
"Nader wins gold with a big, big kick. Wightman did everything he possibly could but Nader timed it to perfection."
As Kerr limped across the line, Wightman appeared shocked as he lay on the track and looked up at the confirmed result showing Nader beat him by two-hundredths of a second.
Wightman won the 1500m at the 2022 World Athletics Championships, but missed last year’s edition and the Paris Olympic Games due to injury.
His silver is Great Britain's first medal at this year's World Championships.
"Wightman did everything right until that moment where Nader just appeared as if from nowhere," said TNT Sports commentator Martin Gillingham.
"Wightman ran a superb race, he identified Laros as the man to beat and locked himself right on his shoulder throughout the first three laps and then hit the front.
"I thought at one point he thought he had got it won because he knew he got the better of Laros and it only appeared in the last 15m or so that he started to strain, but by then Nader is sensing the race is his because he knows he can get past the Brit.
"That’s just when Wightman saw him and by then it’s too late to react, even if you can."
There was no immediate clarity over what caused Kerr’s injury, with replays not appearing to show anything untoward.
"It’s not obvious, he hasn’t stood on the curb," said Gillingham. "You do wonder if it maybe was some cramp right down in the bottom of his calf muscle. His is the hard luck story."
Wightman himself was delighted with his silver, saying "for me this is a gold".
Shortly after the final, Wightman told the BBC: "It will take a while to process this. I'm a big believer that you get what you put in at some point. I'm just very, very happy that all the persistence has been well worth it.
"I felt like I had another gear through the rounds. All I'd said was that I would hit the front at some point. I did not know what would happen and I nearly got there.
"For me this is a gold. Just getting on the start line at a championship final is a gold.
"I went into it with a bit of freedom that whatever would happen, happens."
How to watch the 2025 World Athletics Championships
TNT Sports will broadcast 30 hours of live television coverage from the World Athletics Championships, available in addition to a daily highlights programme. Streaming subscribers will also be able to watch nearly 50 events live and on-demand via discovery+.
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