Josh Kerr is bracing for a “real battle” to defend his world 1500 metres title after qualifying second from his semi-final behind 20-year-old Dutch upstart Niels Laros.
The Scot led for almost the entirety of the first heat in Tokyo but was beaten after a jostling finish, which ended with Laros crossing three hundredths of a second quicker in three minutes 35.50 seconds.
Jake Wightman, the 2022 gold medallist, qualified from the same heat third in 3:35.56, and Neil Gourley scraped through the second semi in 3:36.93 to make it a trio of Scots in Wednesday’s final, on a night at the Japan National Stadium that also saw Sweden’s Mondo Duplantis set another new pole vault world record of 6.30 metres.
Job done ✅
— British Athletics (@BritAthletics) September 15, 2025
Josh Kerr and Jake Wightman book their spots in the 1500m final #NovunaGBNI #WorldAthleticsChamps #WCHTokyo25 @_Novuna pic.twitter.com/EgTRkIjEuJ
“I have my work cut out for me, but I feel pretty confident,” said Kerr.
“We’re getting places. I would say it’s one of the most confident I’ve gone into a world final. But each championships bring their own kind of challenges and fun, and I’ll keep doing what I can to show up and medal and go after the gold.
“It’s my title, it will be a real battle for whoever wants to come take it off of me, and I (just need to) keep an eye on the last lap. I’m going to get some work done.”
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