TOKYO, Sept. 17, 2025 (Xinhua) — The World Athletics Championships delivered one other day of electrifying performances at Japan National Stadium on Wednesday, with America’s Katie Moon defending her girls’s pole vault title and Italy’s Mattia Furlani claiming the boys’s lengthy soar crown.
Moon, 34, cemented her legacy by securing her third consecutive world girls’s pole vault title, clearing 4.90 meters on her last try.
The Olympic gold medalist from the identical venue 4 years in the past outdueled compatriot Sandi Morris, who cleared 4.85 meters to earn her fourth world championship silver since 2017. Slovenia’s Tina Sutej rounded out the rostrum with a 4.80-meter clearance for bronze.
“All my medals are special, but this one means the most,” Moon stated. “The older you get, the harder it gets. As long as I stay healthy, I know I can keep jumping.”
Italy’s 20-year-old sensation Mattia Furlani captured the boys’s lengthy soar title with a commanding 8.39-meter leap on his fifth try.
He edged out Jamaica’s Tajay Gayle, the 2019 world champion, who matched his season-best of 8.34 meters for silver. China’s Shi Yuhao delivered a season-best 8.33 meters to assert bronze, whereas compatriot Zhang Mingkun completed sixth.
“I was in great shape tonight and confident I could do it,” Furlani stated. “This gold medal caps a perfect year. I worked hard to peak for this moment.”
Kenya’s Faith Cherotich surged to victory within the girls’s 3,000m steeplechase, constructing on her bronze medals from the 2023 Budapest worlds and 2024 Paris Olympics.
Cherotich outpaced defending champion and Olympic gold medalist Winfred Yavi of Bahrain, who settled for silver, whereas Ethiopia’s Sembo Almayew took bronze.
Portugal’s Isaac Nader surprised the sphere within the males’s 1,500m, upsetting 2022 world champion Jake Wightman of Britain to assert gold. Kenya’s Reynold Cheruiyot secured bronze.
After 5 days, the United States leads the medal tally with seven golds, one silver, and two bronzes, adopted by Kenya (4-1-2) and Canada (3-0-0).