Day 5 of the ’25 Track & Field World Championships in Tokyo saw six Golazo-managed athletes in action, with four of them competing in event finals, of which two of them reached the podium.
In the women’s 3000m Steeplechase final, the fast pace of the race ultimately whittled the contenders down to two athletes – defending world champion Winfred Yavi and Faith Cherotich (bronze medalist in the most recent Olympic and World Championship finals) – who were within 0.3 sec of each other with 200m to go. From that point on, Cherotich displayed closing speed and barrier technique that allowed her to pull away to win the race in 8:51.59 vs. Yavi’s 2nd place time of 8:56.46. The silver medal closed out a strong season for Yavi, who twice broke 8:50 in the Steeplechase, including her ’25 world-leading time of 8:45.25 from the Eugene Diamond League meeting. Also competing in the Steeplechase final was veteran Gesa Felicitas Krause, who finished 7th in a season best 9:14.27. This was Krause’s seventh 3000m Steeplechase final at the world championships, of which she won the bronze medal in both 2015 and 2019. She is the German record holder in the Steeplechase (9:03.30, 2019), which ranks her 3rd on the all-time European performers list for the event.
The men’s 1500m final was another tactical and slow race (as the Tokyo 10000m and 3000m SC men’s finals), which left the majority of the field still in a tight pack with a lap to g0. In the frantic closing stages, Reynold Kipkorir Cheruiyot‘s strong finish moved him to 3rd place in 3:34.25, just 0.15 sec behind winner Isaac Nader and 0.13 sec behind silver medalist Jake Wightman. This was his second global championship 1500m final, having finished 8th at the 2023 world championships. Other season highlights for Cheruiyot included his 2nd place at the Diamond League 1500m final in Zurich in a personal best of 3:29.91, as well as his 5th place in the Eugene Diamond League mile in a personal best of 3:47.46, with the latter moving him to 7th on the Kenya All-Time performers listing for the event. Also competing in the Tokyo 1500m final was Tshepo Tshite, who finished 9th in 3:35.50. This was Tshite’s first global championship final, and his memorable season also included setting a new South Africa national record of 3:31.35 for 1500m at the Paris Diamond League meeting.
The other two Golazo-managed athletes in action on Day 5 were Pauline Couckuyt, 6th in the 400m Hurdles semi-final round (54.69) and Imke Vervaet, 3rd in her 200m heat and advancing to the semi-final round.