World Athletics Championships in Tokyo - Day 6 (18-09-2025)

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Today is a day of settling down after yesterday's excitement. I am preparing for an evening without Italian protagonists: there are four finals, all without Italians (and in only one, the women's triple jump, was there any hope that there would be any) and three semi-finals, only one of which features Italians. However, I think back to the sessions where there were no Italians at all, which will be the case again on Sunday morning, as it is entirely dedicated to the decathlon. During the day, walking around the Shibuya district (which is not far from the stadium), I meet many team members, including a couple of Italians (not athletes).

This time, I’ve got a bit of flexibility for arriving at the stadium: in the first event there’s an Italian athlete, but it’s only the heats for the 5,000 metres, so it doesn’t matter too much if I arrive after it’s started. On the underground, I meet plenty of people heading to the stadium, including a few Australians: you always hear them when their athletes are announced, but until now I’d never actually seen any. I’d never seen so many people enter at once: the security checks are still quick, but then there’s a queue at the escalators (I’m back to the third tier today) and there’s no alternative stairs. I reach my seat when the heat is at the fourth kilometre. My section is packed, like almost the whole stadium, with only a few sectors half-empty: I can’t understand the huge difference compared to the previous two days. All around me I see only Japanese (or at least Asian) spectators. Later, when Rojas is announced, I’ll discover there are some Venezuelans a few rows behind.

The crowd cheers for the home athlete who’s in the lead group, even when, in the last lap, the outcome is already decided as only eight remain—the number who qualify. In the final straight, Chebet sprints and Battocletti follows at some distance, finishing second. The Ethiopian, Haylom, is out. In the second heat, the crowd is even more enthusiastic for the Japanese athlete who breaks away in the first lap and stays ahead until a kilometre from the end, but then loses ground. Maiori falls behind three laps from the finish, Del Buono at the start of the final lap; again, with 200 metres to go, eight remain, so there’s no sprint finish.

The women’s high jump qualifiers are also underway. I see Tavernini fail her first attempt at 1.83, but I don’t know what Pieroni did: it’s not shown on the scoreboard and the website isn’t working. I only work it out when I see her second attempt, which she also misses. Both then clear the height on their third try. Seven are already eliminated. It’s a foolish progression, which could be a final at a European championships if not at the World Championships: 1.83-1.88-1.92-1.95-1.97. At 1.88, the Italians never look likely to succeed (they even do a “synchronised jump”—the third for Pieroni, the second for Tavernini). Five go out, Tavernini is the only in her group. At 1.92, there are only eleven left and for twelfth place, at 1.88, five are tied: the result of such a rapid progression is that there are sixteen finalists! Cunningham and the Ukrainian Tabashnik are the only notable names eliminated.

The men’s javelin final starts early, but doesn’t generate much interest from the crowd. It begins with Weber, Peters and Chopra just under 85 metres, but the American Thompson and the Indian Yadav surprisingly go beyond that line. In the second round, Peters throws 87.38, overtaken by Walcott who achieves 87.83. The first two rounds suggest a close, hard-fought contest, but it’s practically over from here: only three improve from the third round onwards, including Walcott, and only by a little, with the positions remaining unchanged. So Walcott wins another World Championship, thirteen years after his Olympic gold, thanks to not being Italian (because, if he was, he wouldn’t have been selected, based on the rules we’d set). Podium: Trinidad and Tobago-Grenada-USA; reading it, you’d never guess it’s javelin. In Budapest and Paris, by the way, it was one of the few events without any Americans in the final.

On the track, the women’s 800 metre heats continue. In the third, Coiro stays at the back for a long time, pushes her way through with difficulty on the final bend, and in the home straight emerges from the group to finish third (the top three qualify). In the fifth, run at a very fast pace, Nagaayi and Reekie miss out on the top three: they manage to get through as non-automatic qualifiers, but the Brit only by two hundredths of a second. In the final heat, Bellò is never in contention and finishes last.

The other field final is the women’s triple jump. By the second round, it’s the only event left, so all five scoreboards on the track show its results. I’m in a great spot to watch, in line with the pit (more or less like yesterday, but two decks higher). The first jump doesn’t kill the competition outright, but it does put a strong marker down: 14.85 by Perez Hernandez. Rojas replies with 14.76. The Venezuelan seems to be making very short "steps"; reading the stats, I see it’s partly true (especially in this first jump, but less than it seemed). In the second round, Lafond also jumps 14.76 and moves into second on countback. Perez extends her lead: 14.90 in the third (which I miss), then 14.94 in the fourth. It comes down to the last round: Lafond’s jump looks very long and could take the lead, but she’s five centimetres short: 14.89. I later read that it was because of a mark left by her hair. Rojas’s jump looks a bit shorter, and indeed it’s 14.71. Gold to Perez Hernandez, hoping tomorrow another Hernandez will follow suit.

Meanwhile, on the track, the 200 metre semi-finals have taken place, first men’s, then women’s. Only now do I realise Van Niekerk is competing in the 200; he comes fourth in the first semi-final. In the second, Jamaican Levell fires to 19.78, even easing up at the end to beat Tebogo, but in the third Lyles responds with 19.51! The final is reached with 19.98.

Between the men’s and women’s semi-finals I realise I’m in the wrong seat: two-thirds through the programme, the rightful seat-holder arrives and I find out mine is three rows down (I’d misread it). The new seat is much better: not only is it a bit lower, there’s more legroom (it’s at the entrance level) and it’s on the aisle. First heat in which Jackson runs 21.99 and 22.13 gets you third place, in the second Jefferson responds with 22.00.

Then comes the only semi-final with Italians, the men’s 800 metres. Pernici races in the second: he leads from the front and, when McPhillips (to the delight of the Irish fans) and Burgin make their moves in the final stretch, for a moment it seems he might catch them, but then Brazier overtakes him and probably passes him. Seeing the winner’s time, 1:43.18, I think he might have broken the Italian record and, in any case, be in a good position for the fastest loser places. But the record is still just out of reach: he’s fourth with 1:43.84. In the third, seeing the winner again do 1:43.18 and so many close behind, I fear he’s out, and so it proves: not only the third, but also the fourth did better than him. This takes away some regrets, but he’s still out by just four hundredths.

The eagerly awaited 400 metre finals are left. In the men’s, Kebinatshipi is well ahead by the second bend, but in the final stretch Trinidadian Richards charges and nearly catches him, but stays second. Good time, but not exceptional: 43.53, bronze also to Botswana with a “normal” 44.20. In the women’s race: McLaughlin, Paulino and Naser immediately pull away from the others, but the American’s lead isn’t huge, though she increases it a bit in the closing stages. Seeing the others still close, I think she’s not doing as well as expected, but then I check the time: 47.80, later corrected to 47.78. Paulino 47.98, Naser 48.19. The first two run the second and third fastest times ever, the third beats the best-ever second-place time. The crowd hurries to leave, but the announcer warns that the judges are reviewing something, and the medallists don’t celebrate. When they start the interview for the men’s race's winner, I head out too, and the results are eventually confirmed.

ado anch'io, e infatti la classifica sarà confermata.

At the exit, there was the usual queue for the stairs. A volunteer gave directions only in Japanese, but gestured to indicate that we should go to another staircase. I went outside and took a moment to find where I am, because I had come out at a different point than usual. There was a volunteer with a sign showing (I suppose) the directions to the underground stations, but this was also only in Japanese. I can imagine the comments if something like this had happened in Italy.