by Stuart Weir
This is the first piece by Stuart Weir on the actual Tokyo World Champs, which began on September 13. Stuart wrote ten previews of Tokyo 2025.
Sport can be cruel
We all know that sport can bring massive highs. But sport can also be cruel. And on the first day of the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo it was cruel to two of the nicest people in the sport.
In 2023 in Istanbul, Jazmin Sawyers joined the exclusive 7 meter club in women’s long jump and was ready to move to the next level. Injury then deprived her off the entire 2024 season. She kept herself busy while rehabbing. I remember chatting to her at the European Championships in Rome where she was doing media work. Jazmin returned to action this year and has jumped well with a best of 6.89. Come the World Champs qualifying and she can only manage 6.54, the second worst of her ten competitions this year.
Looking completely devastated afterwards she said “ I’m gutted. That’s one of my worst competitions of the year. So many people put in so much hard work to get me here. And I just wish I could have made that work mean a little more. It’s great to have made it back to the team but I’m never really here just to make teams. I’ve got bigger goals than that. And I didn’t do enough. It’s hard because you look at it, and I feel as though leading into this, I had done everything. But I’ve got to go back, spend the winter and do more. I don’t feel like I’ve given everything to the sport that I can. And to me, there was no excuse for that”.
Laura Muir has had a challenging year including a change of coach and an injury early season. In 2025 she has only run six times compared to 14 last year. Yet when she ran 3:57.63 in a cautious manner in Brussels last month, including a fast finishing lap it looked like she was back towards her best. She told me after that race: “I am really, really happy. I was just very conscious not going off too hard as I’ve not had a race like that since the Olympic final. I’ve been away from the competition at this level for a year”.
In Tokyo in the prelim Faith Kipyegon lead and Laura took up a position to track her, just half a meter behind. She seemed fully in control of her destiny until the race speeded up and she was completely run out of it, finishing 8th in 4:05.59. Her comments afterwards did not help solve the mystery: “I don’t know what went wrong, which is what’s the most upsetting thing. I feel like I’ve had a bit of an unstructured year, but I was coming into form really, really well. I was really excited with the shape that I was in, so I was definitely aiming to make that final and be competitive in the final. I know I’m in really good shape but with 500 to go I knew something wasn’t quite right. There’s loads of times in a race you don’t feel great and just push through it, so I didn’t think about it – sometimes these things happen. But then in last 100m, I think it was apparent, I wasn’t OK. I’ve worked so hard to get back here, and I know I’m in really good shape, so it’s just really frustrating; not to make it out the first round is disappointing, because it’s not where I’m at. I’ve been training really well. So it’s a bit frustrating why it’s not come together. But at least I finished the race in one piece”.
Laura added that she was happy with how she had approached the race: “When Faith went to the front I didn’t know if she was going to push it on so I just sat on her shoulder. So I was out of harm’s way. I think I ran a really good race apart from the last 100 yards. I was where I was meant to be, out of harm’s way. But I think it’s just frustrating because I don’t know why that happened. I think it’s like it was probably the hardest journey I’ve had to get to a championship. So I think to have worked so hard and going out in the first round is what makes it really difficult”.
GB had hoped for a medal in mixed relay but finished fifth, never really in contention. I can sum it up no better that Lewis Davey who said “It wasn’t good enough”
I leave you with two quotes from athletes who had a good day. Scott Lincoln reached the final and then finished 8th. He summed up his day’s work: “I am a little bit battered at the moment, but nothing a few beers won’t solve”.
Amy Hunt was more enigmatic when asked if she preferred the 100 or the 200: “I describe it this way. The 200 is like my husband and the 100 is my boyfriend”. Work that one out.
Stuart Weir is not in Tokyo because of a health problem and is watching the event on TV.
