Portugal's Isaac Nader claims victory in the men's 1,500m world championship
Breaking News: Britain's Kerr Suffers Injury, Nader Wins Men's 1500 Meters in Tokyo
The men's 1500 meters race at the Tokyo World Championships saw several unexpected outcomes, with Britain's defending champion Josh Kerr coming in last due to an injury.
With 600 meters to run, Kerr began to struggle and appeared to be carrying a leg injury. Despite his best efforts, he fell to last position. Meanwhile, Nader of Portugal executed a perfectly-timed finish to win the race, securing Portugal's first medal of these world championships.
Nader's victory marked his first medal showing at the world championships. He crossed the finish line in 3 minutes 34.10 seconds, just two-hundredths of a second ahead of the 2022 world champion, Britain's Jake Wightman.
Wightman made a move heading into the final 200 meters and passed both Niels Laros of the Netherlands and Reynold Cheruiyot, who took bronze in the race. Timothy Cheruiyot, the leader through the bell lap, injected a sudden surge, causing the pack to split.
Unfortunately, Britain's Kerr was unable to recover from his injury and did not finish the race. The field in the men's 1500 meters race was significantly affected as Norway's 2021 Olympic champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen failed to make it out of the heats due to an Achilles injury sustained after winning a world indoor double in March.
The Olympic champion, Cole Hocker, was also disqualified in the semi-finals of the men's 1500 meters race for 'jostling'. Ingebrigtsen's first outdoor outing in Tokyo proved to be too much for him, as he was unable to compete in the final.
Despite the disappointments, Wightman's second-place finish picked up Britain's first medal of these world championships, and Kenya's Reynold Cheruiyot's bronze medal performance made for a strong showing for the Kenyan team. The trainer of the Portuguese long-distance runner who launched a surprising attack in the last meters and thus won the gold medal at the World Championships is not mentioned in the provided search results.
