Portugal’s Isaac Nader outsprinted Briton Jake Wightman to claim a surprise gold in the men’s 1,500 metres at the world championships today.
Nader produced a devastating attack in the home straight to snatch victory in 3min 34.10sec, two-hundredths of a second ahead of 2022 world champion Wightman.
Kenya’s Reynold Cheruiyot took bronze in a race in which Britain’s defending champion Josh Kerr came in last, injured.
The field in Tokyo was blown wide open in the build-up to the final when Norway’s 2021 Olympic champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen failed to make it out of the heats.
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Ingebrigtsen sustained an Achilles injury after sweeping to a world indoor double in March, and a first outdoor outing in Tokyo proved too much for him.
Then Olympic champion Cole Hocker was disqualified in the semi-finals on Monday for ‘jostling’.
Come the final at the National Stadium, Niels Laros of the Netherlands went straight out to the front of the pack, Wightman on his shoulder, with Kerr tucked into the middle of the 14-strong pack.
The Kenyan Cheruiyot duo, Timothy and Reynold, moved to the front, the former injecting a sudden surge that saw the pack split.
Kerr then began to struggle with 600m to run, for a moment skipping along as he seemingly carried a leg injury.
Timothy Cheruiyot took the pack through the bell, with Kerr now well adrift in last position.
Wightman made his move heading into the final 200m, rounding the Kenyan and Laros.
The Briton looked like he had done enough for a second world title, but he had not counted on Nader’s perfectly-timed finish.
The Portuguese, whose previous medal showing was a bronze at the European indoors in Apeldoorn in March, dipped expertly at the line in a thrilling finish as both Portugal and Britain picked up their first medals of these world championships.