How a record number of teams clinched medals in Tokyo event

A record number of nations won medals at the World Athletics Championships Tokyo 25 from 13-21 September, during the most impactful edition of the sport’s flagship event in history.

A total of 53 nations made it on to the medal table after nine action-packed days of competition at the 20th running of the World Championships. This surpasses the previous record of 46 that was set at Osaka 2007 and equalled at Budapest 2023. 

One world record, nine championship records, and nine area records were set or equalled, and a series of historic firsts occurred, including the first-ever World Championships medals for Samoa, Saint Lucia, and Uruguay, as well as the first-ever World Championships gold for Tanzania.

Sweden’s Mondo Duplantis set the world record, as he improved his pole vault mark to 6.30m. As well as the historic firsts by Alex Rose (SAM), Julien Alfred (LCA), Julia Paternain (URU) and Alphonce Felix Simbu (TAN), other highlights include: 

-US sprinter Melissa Jefferson-Wooden completing a sprint treble in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m. 

-Two other athletes achieving double gold in individual events: Kenyan distance runner Beatrice Chebet and Spanish race walker Maria Perez.

-Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone winning the 400m in a championship record of 47.78 – the second-fastest time in history – to become the only athlete in World Championships history to win gold medals in the 400m (2025) and 400m hurdles (2022). 

-Ethan Katzberg winning the hammer with a championship record of 84.70m – the farthest throw in the world for 20 years 

A total of 1992 athletes took part from 193 different countries and the Athlete Refugee Team. 

Away from the many magnificent performances on the track, field and road, the championships achieved record reach as the most widely covered and impactful World Championships in history.  “What we have seen over the past nine days here in Tokyo is an indelible and compelling celebration of human sporting endeavour,” said World Athletics President Sebastian Coe. “Tokyo has set the stage for some of our sport’s most extraordinary performances.  

“This has been a championships for the ages and we are profoundly grateful to the people of Japan for hosting our showcase championships for the third time. “Following the Olympic Games in 2021, I made a promise to the people of Tokyo that we would bring our sport back to the National Stadium as soon as we could. I am delighted that we kept our promise and that Tokyo kept its promise to fill the stadium with noisy fans.” 

President of the Local Organising Committee Mitsugi Ogata also reflected on the great performances – by national and international athletes – and the emotion of seeing the stadium full, four years on from a Tokyo Games devoid of crowds. 

“Over the past nine days, we have witnessed so many unforgettable moments,” he said.

“There was never a quiet moment in the stadium. As we said: ‘Every second, SUGOI’, which was the slogan for this event. We delivered on that promise.” 

Ogata also highlighted the various initiatives that formed part of the championships programme, including those related to Kids’ Athletics and sustainability. 

“One of the greatest achievements of this championship, I believe, is reaching new audiences,” he added. 

Record reach

A total of 619,288 fans attended the World Championships in Tokyo – more than the 581,462 who were there for the Tokyo 1991 World Championships – with sell out evening sessions across the week.

TBS saw huge TV audiences as the championships captured the nation’s attention. There was a peak of more than 12 million viewers in Japan on the opening day, and audiences were well over 10 million for each evening session. The vast majority of evening sessions surpassed both the Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024 Olympic Games TV audiences for athletics. 

Audiences were also engaged around the world, and in Sweden SVT 1 saw 75% of the total Swedish TV audience tune in to their broadcast to watch Duplantis break the world pole vault record for the 14th time – the highest share ever reported for World Athletics Championships coverage in Sweden. 

The popularity of the World Athletics website continues to grow, with around 13 million fans visiting the website across the nine days of competition. This translates into a traffic increase of 50% over the already very successful 2023 World Championships in Budapest. 

World Athletics has continued to develop AI athlete tracking for field events covering horizontal jumps, long throws and pole vault events. More than 2000 attempts were tracked and over 14 million data points were collected. 

The World Athletics social media channels have grown by 700,000 followers during the championships, with 700 million video views on these channels. 

Over the last month, more than 125,000 news articles about the championships have been published in international media, with a potential reach of more than 180 billion. 

Never has a World Championships had so many commercial partners, with 17 sponsors for World Athletics and 14 for the Local Organising Committee in Tokyo completing a sold-out commercial programme. 

Ultimate Championship

As well as witnessing the sport’s current stars making history, the championships welcomed a series of athletics legends, including Usain Bolt, the face of the inaugural World Athletics Ultimate Championship in Budapest in 2026 – the next major global outdoor track and field championships after Tokyo.