The 2025 track and field season reaches its crescendo at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, Japan. Starting from Saturday, 147 medals will be awarded across 49 events in nine days.
Consider this your guide to who and what to watch. With at least four medal events on eight of the nine evening sessions, knowing where to focus matters.
And what better way to do that than by following the rivalries?
As Noah Lyles, the United States’ defending 100m and 200m world champion, said last month: “I love rivalries — as long as they’re done correctly, meaning that they’ve got a storyline and we’re not just making rivalries out of nothing.
“They probably have some kind of history or they’re creating history. That’s the type of rivalry I want to see.”
OK, Noah, we hear you. Here are the 11 rivalries to watch in Tokyo…
Men’s 100m: Noah Lyles vs Kishane Thompson
(Outside shot: Oblique Seville)
Lyles came out on top last summer when he beat Kishane Thompson by five-thousandths of a second in the Olympic 100m final. They have only raced once since, when the Jamaican won at the Silesia Diamond League, tying the meet record (9.87 seconds) ahead of Lyles, who produced a season’s best 9.90s.
Noah Lyles and Kishane Thompson had to wait to see who had won Olympic gold (Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images)
Thompson, now 24, missed the 2023 World Championships but is now the form pick. He defended his national title in June by running 9.75s, the fastest 100m performance for nearly a decade, and is on a streak of eight wins.
Groin inflammation delayed Lyles, 28, starting his outdoor season and he has had only four 100m races this year but experience counts: he is the first man since Usain Bolt (2016) to hold the Olympic and world 100m titles simultaneously.
Their most likely competitor is Oblique Seville, who finished fourth at the last two World Championships. He has performed excellently in 2025, running under 9.90s five times, including wins at the Lausanne and London Diamond League meets.
Men’s 100m schedule
EventDayTokyo (JST)New York (EDT)London (BST)
Heats
Sat, Sept 13
8:35 p.m.
7:35 a.m.
12:35 p.m.
Semi-final
Sun, Sept 14
8:43 p.m.
7:43 a.m.
12:43 p.m.
Final
Sun, Sept 14
10:20 p.m.
9:20 a.m.
2:20 p.m.
Women’s 100m: Melissa Jefferson-Wooden vs Julien Alfred
(Outside shot: Sha’Carri Richardson)
Melissa Jefferson-Wooden, the breakout American of 2025, arrives in Tokyo with a perfect card from nine 100m races this summer. An Olympic bronze medallist last August, she has lowered her personal best from 10.80s to 10.65s this year.
Six sub-10.70s clockings included a first national title in early August, and a 10.65s run that moved her up to joint-fifth on the all-time list.
She is the form favourite, and, at the sixth attempt, finally beat Olympic champion Julien Alfred at the Pre Classic this July. Both athletes, who are 24, will compete in the 100m and 200m in Tokyo.
Melissa Jefferson-Wooden in Brussels in August (David Pintens/BELGA MAG/AFP via Getty Images)
“I look at it as though I don’t have a target on my back. I’m going in looking for gold, as a hunter, I’ve never had one (individually) at a Championships,” Jefferson-Wooden told The Athletic in the mixed zone at the Brussels Diamond League.
Alfred is also searching for her first outdoor world medal but the St Lucian took 60m world indoor gold in March 2024.
Defending world outdoor champion Sha’Carri Richardson has looked a long way off her best in 2025 but has shown she can be dangerous. She pulled a rabbit from a hat in Budapest two years ago, winning the 100m final in 10.65s from the very outside lane.
Women’s 100m schedule
EventDayTokyo (JST)New York (EDT)London (BST)
Heats
Sat, Sept 13
6:55 p.m.
5:55 a.m.
10:55 a.m.
Semi-final
Sun, Sept 14
8:20 p.m.
7:20 a.m.
12:20 p.m.
Final
Sun, Sept 14
10:13 p.m.
9:13 a.m.
2:13 p.m.
Men’s 200m: Noah Lyles vs Letsile Tebogo
(Outside shout: Kenny Bednarek)
Lyles is on a quest for a fourth straight 200m world title. Only Bolt has achieved the four-peat.
He has earned three wins from as many entries this year: Lyles beat Olympic champion Letsile Tebogo in Monaco, then successfully defended his national title at U.S. trials, and rounded the summer off with a fifth Diamond League win in Zurich, with Tebogo in second once again.
In August 2024, Tebogo, the now-22-year-old from Botswana, became the first African 200m Olympic champion with a continental record (19.46s). It later emerged that third-placed Lyles had tested positive for Covid-19 two days before the race, though he has not run a 200m that fast since his American record of 19.32s in 2022.
Further needle in this event came from U.S. trials in August, where two-time world silver medallist Kenny Bednarek pushed Lyles just after the line.
Men’s 200m schedule
EventDayTokyo (JST)New York (EDT)London (BST)
Heats
Weds Sept 17
8:15 p.m.
7:15 a.m.
12:15 p.m.
Semi-final
Thurs Sept 18
9:02 p.m.
8:02 a.m.
1:02 p.m.
Final
Fri Sept 19
10:06 p.m.
9:06 a.m.
2:06 p.m.
Women’s 400m: Marileidy Paulino vs Salwa Eid Naser
(Outside shot: Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone)
Marileidy Paulino, the world and Olympic 400m champion, has beaten Salwa Eid Naser in the past two global finals, and holds a 12-2 head-to-head record over the 2019 world champion.
Salwa Eid Naser and Marileidy Paulino compete in Zurich (Fabrice Coffrini/AFP via Getty Images)
However, twice this year, Naser, 27, has produced a fireworks race that Paulino, 28, cannot match. Naser ran 48.67s at the first Grand Slam Track meet in April, still the fastest time in 2025, and ran 48.70s to break Zurich’s meet record and claim her third Diamond League title.
American Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, 25, is the outside shot. The two-time 400m hurdles Olympic champion has made a bold move in switching to the flat.
She won the 400m national title with a 48.90s run in Eugene this August, and has proved her one-lap quality before with multiple 4x400m relay gold medals.
Women’s 400m schedule
EventDayTokyo (JST)New York (EDT)London (BST)
Heats
Sun, Sept 14
7:25 p.m.
6:25 a.m.
11:25 a.m.
Semi-final
Tues, Sept 16
9:05 p.m.
8:05 a.m.
1:05 p.m.
Final
Thurs, Sept 18
10:24 p.m.
9:24 a.m.
2:24 p.m.
Men’s 400m hurdles: Karsten Warholm vs Rai Benjamin
(Outside shot: Alison dos Santos)
It’s Olympic champion Rai Benjamin versus world champion and world-record holder Karsten Warholm. Fireworks are guaranteed.
Norwegian Warholm is nearly back to his best after an injury-affected 2024. This summer, he produced the quickest 300m hurdles time in history, winning ahead of Benjamin, 28, at his home Diamond League in Oslo.
Warholm, 29, flies out of the blocks with an aggressive style, and is likely to be ahead at the halfway mark. He says that Benjamin runs the best second bend (200m-300m) of anyone, and that closing speed carried the American to Olympic gold last summer.
Olympic 400m hurdles champion Rai Benjamin on his way to another U.S. title in August (Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
The duo are 5-5 head-to-head, and the two fastest of all-time. Now they return to the track where Warholm set his 45.94s world record at the 2021 Olympics, and Benjamin finished second (46.17s).
Alison dos Santos could spoil the party but the question is not who makes the podium, but in what order.
Men’s 400m hurdles schedule
EventDayTokyo (JST)New York (EDT)London (BST)
Heats
Mon, Sept 15
7:35 p.m.
6:35 a.m.
11:35 a.m.
Semi-final
Weds, Sept 17
9:30 p.m.
8:30 a.m.
1:30 p.m.
Final
Fri, Sept 19
9:15 p.m.
8:15 a.m.
1:15 p.m.
Women’s 800m: Keely Hodgkinson vs Georgia Hunter Bell
(Outside shot: Audrey Werro)
Britain’s Keely Hodgkinson, 23, wants a world title to add to her Olympic and European gold medals from last summer.
Injuries disrupted her indoor season this year — she had planned an indoor world-record attempt — but when her outdoor opener finally came in mid-August, she silenced any doubters, producing her second-fastest 800m race and running a world-leading one minute 54.74 seconds at the Silesia Diamond League.
Compatriot Georgia Hunter Bell, 31, provides the challenge. The 1500m Olympic bronze medallist from Paris is dropping down to race over two laps, as she explained to British media via a Zoom call: “It would have been very cool to do the double (800m and 1500m) but I would have been absolutely exhausted trying to do six races in nine days, and probably wouldn’t be the best in the world at both. I’ve got that 1500m strength to get me through the rounds.”
Audrey Werro, the Swiss No 1, is one to watch. The second-fastest 800m runner this year, she ran a national record (1min 55.91s) to win ahead of Hunter-Bell in Zurich.
Women’s 800m schedule
EventDayTokyo (JST)New York (EDT)London (BST)
Heats
Thurs, Sept 18
7:55 p.m.
6:55 a.m.
11:55 a.m.
Semi-final
Fri, Sept 19
8:45 p.m.
7:45 a.m.
12:45 p.m.
Final
Sun, Sept 21
7:35 p.m.
6:35 a.m.
11:35 a.m.
Men’s 800m: Emmanuel Wanyonyi vs Marco Arop
(Outside shot: Max Burgin)
This has been the race to watch recently. The three podium athletes in Paris produced 800m performances that rank sixth, seventh and 12th all-time: Emmanuel Wanyonyi of Kenya (1min 41.19s) beat Canadian Marco Arop by one-hundredth of a second (1min 41.20s), with Algeria’s Djamel Sedjati becoming the fastest third-placer ever (1min 41.50s).
Emmanuel Wanyonyi and Marco Arop compete in London in July (Justin Tallis/AFP via Getty Images)
The tall, powerful Arop, 26, holds the North American record and is the defending world champion. However, 21-year-old Wanyonyi is the joint-second-quickest of all time and is ahead 11-6 in their head-to-head.
A record-breaking 15 men have clocked 1min 42.99s or faster this year. Hot and humid conditions in Tokyo, plus the rounds, mean a little less concern for David Rudisha’s 1min 40.91s world record, which was set 13 years ago, but with Wanyonyi’s front-running style and Arop’s finishing kick, a fast race is assured.
Great Britain’s Max Burgin could provide an upset. An 800m Olympic finalist last summer, the 23-year-old ran under 1min 43.00s for the first time at the London Diamond League in July.
Men’s 800m schedule
EventDayTokyo (JST)New York (EDT)London (BST)
Heats
Tues, Sept 16
7:35 p.m.
6:35 a.m.
11:35 a.m.
Semi-final
Thurs, Sept 18
9:45 p.m.
8:45 a.m.
1:45 p.m.
Final
Sat, Sept 20
10:22 p.m.
9:22 a.m.
8:22 p.m.
Men’s 1500m: Jakob Ingebrigtsen vs Josh Kerr
(Outside shots: Cole Hocker, Niels Laros, Phanuel Koech, Azeddine Habz)
The past eight global men’s 1500m finals have seen different winners. Britain’s Josh Kerr, 27, is attempting to become the first man since Asbel Kiprop in 2015 to defend a world title.
“From a fitness and mentality standpoint, I’ve never been so confident and relaxed going into a championship,” Kerr told British media last week. “I’m not chasing, I’m being chased. People say that’s harder, but if you approach the race in the right way, it should be easier.”
He will renew his rivalry with Norway’s Jakob Ingebrigtsen, the European record holder he beat in Budapest two years ago.
Josh Kerr and Jacob Ingebrigtsen in action during the 2024 Olympics (Jasper Jacobs/BELGA MAG/AFP via Getty Images)
Ingebrigtsen, 24, leads their head-to-head 14-3, but has not won a global outdoor 1500m title since taking Olympic gold in 2021.
“I have absolutely no idea what’s going on with him,” Kerr said, poker-faced, “but I am 100 per cent ready for him to be in world-record shape.”
Frenchman Azeddine Habz has the world-leading time (3min 27.49s). Kenyan sensation Phanuel Koech is the breakout star, with the 18-year-old running the fastest 1500m by a teenager in June, and American Cole Hocker is a huge threat if he peaks like he did for the Olympics. The form pick is 20-year-old Dutchman Niels Laros.
Men’s 1,500m schedule
EventDayTokyo (JST)New York (EDT)London (BST)
Heats
Sun Sept 14
9:35 a.m.
8:35 p.m. (Sep 13)
1:35 a.m.
Semi-final
Mon Sept 15
9:30 p.m.
8:30 a.m.
1:30 p.m.
Final
Weds Sept 17
10:20 p.m.
9:20 a.m.
2:20 p.m.
Women’s heptathlon: Nafi Thiam vs Anna Hall
(Outside shot: Katarina Johnson-Thompson)
Triple Olympic gold medallist and double world champion Nafi Thiam is chasing her sixth global title. A jumps and hurdles specialist, the Belgian has been the heptathlete to beat since 2016 — she is one of just five women to break the 7,000-point barrier.
She is not, however, the best in the world this year. American Anna Hall produced an incredible 7,032-point heptathlon at Gotzis, Austria, putting her third all-time and one spot ahead of Thiam.
Hall, coached by legendary U.S. heptathlete and world-record holder Jackie Joyner-Kersee, specialises in sprints. Her differing skill set from Thiam means that top spot is likely to change as the seven events play out.
Defending world champion Katarina Johnson-Thompson from Great Britain is the outside shot, returning after claiming a long-awaited Olympic silver medal last summer.
Women’s heptathlon start times
EventDayTokyo (JST)New York (EDT)London (BST)
Day one
Fri, Sept 19
5:33 p.m.
4:33 a.m.
9:33 a.m.
Day two
Sat, Sept 20
11:30 a.m.
10:30 p.m. (Sept 19)
3:30 a.m.
Women’s high jump: Nicola Olyslagers vs Yaroslava Mahuchikh
(Outside shots: Morgan Lake, Christina Honsel)
Considering that Yaroslava Mahuchikh, 23, won World Athletics’ award for the best field athlete of 2024 after taking European and Olympic gold and jumping a 2.10m to break one of athletics’ oldest world records, the women’s high jump is wide open this year.
Yaroslava Mahuchikh competes in Zurich in August (Fabrice Coffrini/AFP via Getty Images)
Australian Nicola Olyslagers, twice an Olympic silver medallist and double world indoor champion, is attempting to complete a global double this year, but Mahuchikh is not in bad form. Instead, others are catching her up. Six women have cleared the two-metre barrier in 2025, the most since seven in 2019 — including German Christina Honsel and Great Britain’s Morgan Lake.
Women’s high jump schedule
EventDayTokyo (JST)New York (EDT)London (BST)
Qualification
Thurs Sept 18
7:15 p.m.
6:15 a.m.
11:15 a.m.
Final
Sun Sept 21
7:30 p.m.
6:30 a.m.
11:30 a.m.
Men’s pole vault: Mondo Duplantis vs the world record
(Outside shot: Emmanouil Karalis)
This one is simple. Armand ‘Mondo’ Duplantis, the double Olympic champion who has set the world record 13 times, is going for a third-straight world title. He has won all 38 meets since claiming gold in Budapest two years ago.
Mondo Duplantis is utterly dominant in the men’s pole vault (Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP via Getty Images)
Another gold in Tokyo is as close as you will get in sport to a sure-fire thing. The question is more about the margin of victory and if he breaks his world record, which he managed at the 2022 World Championships (6.21m) and the Paris Games last summer (6.25m).
“I’m super excited. I have really high expectations,” Duplantis told The Athletic in Zurich this August. “The Tokyo stadium is amazing, it’s a beautiful track, a place that you can get really high (on the poles).”
Duplantis, 25, was also full of praise for Emmanouil Karalis, the Greek vaulter who is his closest competitor, having vaulted 6.08m this year to set a national record.
Men’s pole vault schedule
EventDayTokyo (JST)New York (EDT)London (BST)
Qualification
Sun, Sept 14
7:05 p.m.
6:05 a.m.
11:05 a.m.
Final
Mon, Sept 15
8:10 p.m.
7:10 a.m.
12:10 p.m.
Where to watch
United States: NBC Sports, Peacock
Canada: CBC Sports
United Kingdom: BBC
(Top photo: Noah Lyles and Nafi Thiam; Alexander Hassenstein/Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
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