2025 World Athletics Championships: Nigeria Finished 27th Overall As Tokyo Shattered Records

Nigeria ended the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo with a silver medal, placing 27th on the overall table in what turned out to be the most globally impactful edition of the competition to date.

Naija News reports that Nigeria’s lone medal at the 2025 World Athletics Championships came from Tobi Amusan, who once again confirmed her status as Nigeria’s most dependable performer on the international stage. She powered through the women’s 100m hurdles to claim silver, extending her remarkable streak of top-level consistency.

There was almost more joy when Ezekiel Nathaniel ran the race of his life in the men’s 400m hurdles.

He broke his own national record with a time of 47.11 seconds, finishing fourth in a dramatic contest that briefly saw him bumped up to bronze after American Rai Benjamin was disqualified, only for the decision to be overturned on appeal.

Kanyinsola Ajayi also impressed, reaching the men’s 100m final where he crossed the line in sixth.

Udodi Onwuzurike pushed into the semi-finals of the men’s 200m, while Chukwuebuka Enekwechi narrowly missed the podium in the men’s long jump with a strong fifth-place finish.

Others in the 15-member Nigerian team found the going tougher. Rosemary Chukwuma went out in the women’s 100m heats, Israel Okon could not replicate his heat-winning form in the men’s 100m semi-final, while Chidi Okezie and Samuel Ogazi fell short in the men’s 400m.

In the field, Chioma Onyekwere-Lyons and Obiageri Amaechi did not advance in the discus, Sade Olatoye bowed out in the hammer, and both Prestina Ochonogor and Ese Brume exited in the women’s long jump. Charles Godfred also fell short in the men’s long jump qualifiers.

In the end, Nigeria’s single silver left the country tied for 27th alongside 12 other nations, including Algeria, Greece, Ireland, Morocco and Poland.

The United States dominated the medal standings, collecting 16 golds and 26 medals overall. Kenya, Canada, the Netherlands and Botswana rounded out the top five. In total, a record 53 countries reached the medal table, eclipsing the previous high of 46 set in Budapest 2023 and Osaka 2007.

Tokyo 2025 was rich in historic moments. Sweden’s Mondo Duplantis lifted the pole vault world record yet again, clearing 6.30m. One world record, nine championship records and nine continental marks were set in total. For Samoa, Saint Lucia and Uruguay, the event brought first-ever medals, while Tanzania celebrated its maiden world gold.

Among the standout performers was US sprinter Melissa Jefferson-Wooden, who completed a stunning treble with gold in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay.

Kenya’s Beatrice Chebet and Spain’s Maria Perez each doubled up on titles, while Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone stormed to the women’s 400m crown in 47.78 seconds, the second-fastest time ever. Canada’s Ethan Katzberg also wrote his name into history with a championship record of 84.70m in the hammer throw.

Beyond the track, the championships broke new ground. More than 619,000 fans attended across nine days, topping the Tokyo 1991 numbers. TV audiences also hit record highs, with more than 12 million tuning in across Japan on day one and three-quarters of Sweden watching Duplantis’ world record vault live.

On social media, World Athletics reported 700 million video views, while over 125,000 articles were published worldwide with an estimated reach of 180 billion.

World Athletics president Sebastian Coe described the Tokyo event as “a championships for the ages,” praising the host city for delivering “the noisy, full stadiums that we missed during the pandemic-hit Tokyo Olympics in 2021.”

Altogether, 1,992 athletes from 193 nations, plus the Athlete Refugee Team, took part in the championships. Twenty countries won gold, while 74 managed to secure top-eight finishes.