The World Athletics Championship – officially known as the IAAF World Championships in Athletics – is an international track and field competition organised by the sport’s world governing body, World Athletics (formerly the International Association of Athletics Federations). Alongside the Olympic Games, it’s the highest level of senior international outdoor athletics competition.
The 2025 edition took place in Tokyo, Japan from Sept. 13 to Sept. 21 and delivered a series of unforgettable moments. Whether in record-breaking sprints, tactical distance races or dramatic field events, each day brought its own unique highlights.
Mondo Duplantis has been hailed as the sport’s first Ultimate Star and his victory in the pole vault final was one of the standout performances in a meet where the spotlight was on the next generation of stars and legends. And when Usain Bolt walked onto the stage at the Ultimate Media Party, the crowd erupted in thunderclaps that were reminiscent of his glory days in Beijing and London.
With a sweep of the 100m, 200m and 4x100m, Jamaican sprinter Melissa Jefferson-Wooden became the first woman to win three major titles at a single world championships. And in the men’s marathon, Tanzania’s Alphonce Simbu produced the closest finish in the event’s history, with a 0.03 difference between first and second. These are just a few of the many remarkable stories that emerged in the Japanese capital.