23-year-old Merlin Hummel of Germany claimed his first major senior medal, taking silver in the men’s hammer final at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo on Tuesday (16). Hungary’s Bence Halász secured bronze.
There was also a breakthrough medal for Czechia’s Jan Štefela, who reached the podium in the men’s high jump final.
AI powered Hummel grabs silver
Since finishing fourth at last year’s European Athletics Championships in Rome and tenth at the Paris Olympics, Hummel has been using AI technology to guide his improvement. This season he has established himself as an 80-metre thrower and underlined that status with an opening-round personal best of 82.77m to assert himself among the event’s elite.
Gold went to Olympic champion Ethan Katzberg of Canada, who set a championships record of 84.70m. Halász, the reigning Olympic and European silver medallist, collected his third career World Championships bronze with a best of 82.69m in round three.
Hummel threatened again with a fourth-round effort of 82.14m but ultimately had to settle for silver—his first major senior medal. Halász meanwhile delivered a superbly consistent series, with five throws over 80 metres, securing Hungary’s first medal of Tokyo 2025.
Second major medal for Štefela
In the high jump, the decisive moment came when the bar was raised to 2.31m. Štefela cleared it at the second attempt to put himself in medal contention.
Though he failed at 2.34m, he beat Ukraine’s European indoor champion Oleh Dorushchuk on countback to clinch bronze. It was Štefela’s second major medal of 2025, following European indoor silver in Apeldoorn in March.
New Zealand’s Olympic champion Hamish Kerr won gold with 2.36m, ahead of South Korea’s Woo Sang-hyeok, who cleared 2.34m for silver.
Llopis fourth again
There was disappointment in the men’s 110m hurdles final for Switzerland’s Jason Joseph. The in-form former European indoor champion stumbled out of the blocks and fell out of contention.
Spain’s Enrique Llopis, another medal contender, also missed out—finishing fourth in 13.16, as he had at the Paris Olympics. Victory went to American Cordell Tinch in 12.99, with Jamaicans Orlando Bennett (13.08) and Tyler Mason (13.12) taking silver and bronze.
As expected, the women’s 1500m final was dominated by Kenya’s peerless Faith Kipyegon. The world record-holder won her fourth world title in a searing 3:52.15. In her slipstream, Poland’s Klaudia Kazimierska (3:57.95) and France’s Sarah Madeleine (3:58.09) claimed new lifetime bests in seventh and eighth place.
Bukowiecka wins 400m semi final
In the women’s 400m semifinals, European champion and Olympic bronze medallist Natalia Bukowiecka of Poland capitalised on Olympic champion Marileidy Paulino easing up, taking victory in the first semi in a season’s best 49.67.
Also advancing to Thursday’s (18) final were world indoor champion Amber Anning of Great Britain, who ran 49.38 behind Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone’s 48.29 in the third semi, and Norway’s Henriette Jaeger, who clocked 49.87 for third in the first semi.
There will be no European representation in the men’s 400m final. Italy’s Edoardo Scotti came closest, placing fifth in the first semi in 44.77.
Burgin, Tual and Attaoui impress in 800m heats
In the men’s 800m heats, Great Britain’s Max Burgin qualified second-fastest overall, winning heat six in 1:44.73. European champion Gabriel Tual of France also progressed, finishing third in heat three in 1:46.54.
But Dutchman Samuel Chapple, the European indoor champion, was eliminated after placing fourth in heat two with 1:45.45—a race won impressively by Spain’s Mohamed Attaoui in 1:45.23.
In the women’s triple jump qualifying, Sweden’s Maja Åskag—formerly a world and European U20 champion—reached her first major senior outdoor final, placing tenth overall with 14.15m.