Once again, every pre-race script was torn apart, the World Athletics Championships 1,500m producing another shock winner in Isaac Nader from Portugal – and an opportunity perhaps missed for Andrew Coscoran.
No one saw this coming, surely not even Nader himself, as he moved from fifth to first inside the last 50m, out-leaning Britain’s Jake Wightman on the line. The margin of victory was .02 of a second, Nader striking gold in 3:34.10.
By then Coscoran was completely out of medal contention, finishing 12th in 3:35.87. By his own frank admission, the 29-year-old from Dublin (contesting his first outdoor global final) had left himself with far too much work to do when the race reached its decisive stage.
There were plenty of other shocks too. Rising Dutch star Niels Laros, arguably the race favourite, faded to fifth down the homestretch after doing much of the early running. Britain’s defending champion Josh Kerr was also run out of it as he started to visibly limp around the 900m mark, finishing last in 4:11.23.
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On another night of searing heat and humidity inside Japan’s National Stadium, Coscoran did everything right in the early stages, sitting mid-pack as Laros took the field through 400m in a steady 59.5 seconds. Then Kenya’s 2019 champion Timothy Cheruiyot moved to the front with two laps to go.
At the bell, Coscoran was already distanced on the front runners, unable to make up any ground.
Kenya’s Reynold Cheruiyot came through to win bronze in 3:34.25, the other Cheruiyot fourth.
“A little disappointed,” said Coscoran, providing Irish interest in the men’s 1,500m final for only the third time in World Championship history.
“I ran quite well in the heats and semis, and actually felt quite good there in the final. I think the issue itself was just trying to get into a good position with 400m to go. I’ve been in those type of races before, and if you’re not in a good sport with one lap to go, everyone runs a good last 400, it’s too hard to get up there.
“The last four or five years it’s been a been a sub 3:30 race, so I did think it would be a little bit slower, so I was hoping to be in a higher position with 400m to go. I was at the back, or towards the back, and then trying to make a few moves and just burnt myself out.”
“I just had too much work to do, and in the last 100m started to tie up, go backwards. Unfortunately, it just didn’t go my way, it’s my first time making that final, and I still think I did a lot of things right here in Tokyo.
“I just couldn’t get into the right spots. It’s a learning experience, I suppose, but it’s just sometimes you just can’t do anything about it either, unfortunately.”
Laros couldn’t conceal his disappointment afterwards either, describing his race as “a bit s***”. For Wightman, the 2022 champion, there was still satisfaction in winning silver, Britain’s first medal so far in Tokyo, the 31-year-old enduring plenty of injury woes in the three years since.
It was set up as an open race for the three medals, the final already without seven of the top nine finishers from last year’s Olympic final in Paris, including Olympic champion Cole Hocker from the US, who was disqualified in his semi-final for jostling.
Nader, the 26-year-old from Faro who finished fourth in the 1,500 at the World Indoor Championships six months ago, becomes the eighth successive first-time champion in the event.
Coscoran has already declared his intention to double in the 5,000m, with those heats set for Friday. Laros will also be back for another shot.
Another shock on day five in Tokyo was Kenya’s Faith Cherotich upstaging of World and Olympic champion Winfred Yavi, Kenyan born but now representing Bahrain, to win the women’s 3,000m steeplechase.
Cherotich clocked a championship record of 8:51.59, the 21-year-old hardly out of breath after her effort.
Italy’s Mattia Furlani also became the youngest ever winner of the men’s long jump, with the 20-year-old jumping a lifetime best of 8.39m. Jamaica’s Tajay Gayle earned silver with his best of 8.34m, while Shi Yuhao of China took bronze with 8.33m
