rewrite this content and keep HTML tags
My highlights of Tokyo 2025
by Doug Steedman
I have known Larry Eder since the mid-90s when he helped time my running club’s track workouts. In Tokyo he was kind enough to let me gatecrash his pressbox area here in Tokyo. To maintain my pretense of being a writer, I am documenting my highlights of the meet.
I am a lifelong fan of track and field. Thus I enjoy virtually all of the events that make up our sport. My parents met in Scotland through their mutual interest and participation in “athletics”, and as a child there I attended “meetings” almost every summer weekend. I have now lived in the San Francisco Bay Area for 35 years, and avidly follow the US track scene. My father was a New Zealander. My wife is from Japan. In following the sport, I thus have a special interest in athletes from many countries.
I especially love the distance races: I compete in age-group road and cross-country races, so I can appreciate just how mind-boggling fast the top performances are.
My highlights
#1 – George Beamish (NZ) takes steeplechase gold. I have been a fan of Geordie for several years, and follow him and his mates on their Coffee Club podcast. I am in awe of his kick, which is unbeatable when he is in a position to use it. I think it’s even better than Cole Hocker’s. He had not raced for months prior to Tokyo, but when I saw him in the first round I was sure he was going to medal. In the final, he took down one of the steeplechase GOATs, El Bakkali (Morocco) with an immaculately timed finish. After the race, those two had a long conversation during their lap of honor. Looking forward to hearing more about Geordie’s race and its aftermath on the podcast.
#2 – Jake Wightman (who’s from Edinburgh, my hometown) takes silver in the 1500m. Like Beamish, Wightman has had a tough time with injuries over the last year, but I could tell from the rounds that he was ready. I was in Eugene in 2022 when he launched his winning kick, so I was very excited when history repeated itself. Only an even better kick by Nader pushed him down to silver in the last strides.
#3 – Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone (USA) wins the 400m in the second best time in history. I saw Sydney qualify for the Rio Olympics back in 2016 when she was just 16 years old. Since then, she became an unstoppable force in the 400m hurdles, breaking the world record several times and being the first to break 52s and then, astonishingly, 51s. This year she switched to focus on the flat. After her American record in the semi-final, I imagined the recent stars of the 400m, Paulino and Naser, adjusting their own expectations accordingly.
#4 – Cole Hocker (USA) runs a perfect race to win the 5000m. Unlike some of the other long distance races, the men’s 5000m went at a decent clip. Hocker sat back from the lead, running on the rail until it came time to release the kick that took him to gold in the Paris Olympics last year.
Disappointments (let’s not call them lowlights)
I won’t dwell on these, but I was disappointed to see my pick for the 1500m, Josh Kerr (also from Edinburgh), pull a muscle in the final and limp home. I would have been disappointed with Hocker’s DQ in the 1500m semifinal had he not redeemed himself in the 5. I am only disappointed with the placings of the Americans Nico Young (5th in 10000m and 6th in 5000m) and Grant Fisher (8th in both) because they earned even higher expectations through recent performances.
The meet overall…
… was fantastic. The enthusiastic crowds of 55000+ every day raised the roof each time a Japanese athlete was involved, but also bestowed generous encouragement and applause on all performers. If I was really picky I might grumble about some sold-out and not restocked food and drink concessions (although the beer kept flowing), and the propensity of the meet website to crash. But the volunteers were superb, unfailingly smiling and helpful. The stadium is wonderful – I had tickets for the Olympics in 2020 (oops, 2021) which of course I was unable to use. Being able to attend here greatly made up for that disappointment.
I am beyond glad that I decided to make this trip, and will never forget Tokyo 2025.
