TOKYO – Melissa Jefferson-Wooden dominated the women's 200 in 21.68 and completed a historic World Athletics Championships sprint double Friday night at National Stadium, becoming the first American woman in meet history to win the 100 and 200 at the same meet. There was nobody in the vicinity of the breakout athlete of 2025 as Jefferson-Wooden moved to No. 8 on the all-time world performer list and won by almost a half-second.
Team USATF picked up five medals on the night, three of them gold, to raise their total to 17 and extend their lead on the medal table.
Anavia Battle was just off the podium in fourth, clocking 22.22 behind silver medalist Amy Hunt of Britain (22.14) and two-time defending gold medalist Shericka Jackson of Jamaica, who earned bronze in 22.18. Diamond League champion Brittany Brown placed sixth in 22.54, with McKenzie Long eighth in 22.78.
Four-peat, baby! Equaling the feat of all-time great Usain Bolt, Noah Lyles remained composed and never wavered on the way to taking his fourth straight World Championships men's 200 gold in 19.52. Kenny Bednarek made it a 1-2 U.S. finish for the third time in a row, earning silver in a season best 19.58, and a stellar field of athletes elicited the deepest quality finish in meet history.
Jamaica's Bryan Levell lowered his PB to 19.64 for bronze, with Olympic champion Letsile Tebogo relegated to fourth in 19.65 and Britain's Zharnel Hughes fifth in 19.78. The athletes in third through eighth ran the best ever times for place, with eighth at 20.23.
Returning to the scene of the most epic battle in men's 400 hurdles history, the 2021 Olympic final that produced a stunning world record and the three fastest times in history at that point, reigning Olympic champion Rai Benjamin was a man on a mission in lane seven. World record holder Karsten Warholm of Norway was in lane four, while 2022 world champion Alison dos Santos was on the outside in nine.
As is his trademark, Warholm was out like a rocket through the first 100, leading in 10.97 but making a crucial mistake as he clattered a hurdle and interrupted his rhythm. Benjamin was a tenth of a second behind at that point and trimmed that gap to .06 as Warholm hit 200 in 21.66. Around the turn Benjamin started to stake his claim to world gold, opening a half-second lead with a marvelous surge that virtually closed the door on any challengers.
Benjamin cleared the ninth barrier cleanly and still with a big lead but almost came a cropper over the final hurdle. Losing his concentration a bit, he hit that barrier before recovering nicely and powering to the line to win in a season best of 46.52. However… not long after the initial result was posted, Benjamin's status changed to DQ - allegedly for intentionally displacing a hurdle and obstructing another runner.
Wiser heads prevailed, though, and Benjamin was soon reinstated, confirming his first world title after two silvers and a bronze in previous outings. His time tied the ninth-fastest in world history and his margin of victory over dos Santos in second left no doubt about who is the new king of the event. Dos Santos clocked 46.84 for silver and Qatar's Abderrahman Samba, the fifth fastest man ever and a bronze medalist in 2019, returned to top form to grab bronze in 47.06. Caleb Dean was seventh in 48.20.
Next up on the oval in the women's 400 hurdles final, Benjamin's training partner Jasmine Jones was up against Femke Bol of the Netherlands, the world leader and the greatest performer ever not named Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, as well as Paris silver medalist Anna Cockrell and former world record holder Dalilah Muhammad.
Bol led as expected through the first 100 in 12.35 but had little margin for error ahead of the three Americans. Leading through 200 in 24.37, Bol was ahead of Cockrell and Jones, but Muhammad in lane nine was only fifth. That top three stayed the same through 300, with Bol hitting that mark in 37.45 and clearly in control. The Dutch titan completed her defense of the title she won in Budapest two years ago, winning in a world-leading 51.54, but the real story was Jones.
Sprinting off the final hurdle, she sped to a lifetime best 52.08 to trim more than two-tenths off her PB and earn silver. Cockrell was outrun in the final 30 by Slovakia's Emma Zapletalova, who set a national record of 53.00 for bronze. Cockrell ended up fourth in 53.13, with Muhammad possibly closing out her storied career in 54.82 for seventh.
A pair of clutch final round efforts in the men's triple jump rearranged the podium, with Portugal's Pedro Pichardo coming out on top with a massive world-leading 17.91/58-9.25 that upended Italy's Andrea Dallavalle, who moments earlier had bounded a lifetime best 17.64/57-10.5 to grab the lead. Cuba's Lazaro Martinez was the early leader at 17.49/57-4.75 from round two but couldn't improve and settled for bronze. Salif Mane had a best of 16.29/53-5.5 and was 12th.
Already the second best American in women's heptathlon history with a score of 7,032 points at Götzis earlier this year, Anna Hall had an above-average first day to put that PB in grave danger. The silver medalist at Budapest, Hall opened with a 13.05 in the 100 hurdles, the third fastest overall, and then cleared 1.89/6-2.25 in the high jump. A huge lifetime best of 15.80/51-10 really kickstarted her pursuit of gold and put her more than 100 points up on Nafi Thiam of Belgium, the three-time Olympic champion and twice a world champ.
Hall ran a solid 200 to close out the first day, finishing second in 23.50 to take her score to 4,154, only seven points shy of her tally in Götzis. That put her 248 up on Ireland's Kate O'Connor and Britain's Katarina Johnson-Thompson was another 13 back. Taliyah Brooks was fifth with 3,828, while Michelle Atherley tied for 12th with 3,704. Timara Chapman struggled in 21st, scoring 3,442.
Sage Hurta-Klecker was challenged mightily in the second semifinal of the women's 800 after the pace picked up dramatically on the second lap. Fifth at the bell in 58.87 and chasing leaders Tsige Duguma of Ethiopia and Audrey Werro, Hurta-Klecker lost a place at 600, clocking a speedy 1:27.84 in sixth, and was fighting to not lose touch around the final bend. She moved up in the homestretch and nabbed fourth in a season best 1:57.62 as the first eight athletes broke 1:58. Holding her breath as she watched the last semi from the "hot seats", Hurta-Klecker was joyously relieved when the third-place finisher didn't knock her out of the final, crossing the line in 1:58.00.
NCAA 1500 bronze medalist Maggi Congdon, who dropped down a distance to take second in the 800 at the USATF Championships, was fighting to stay in touch through the first lap of the first semi chasing a tight pack in 59.37 in eighth. She couldn't make any inroads by 600, going through in 1:29.90, but picked up one spot on the race to the finish to place seventh in 1:59.95.
With only eight men from each section advancing to the final and the weather a bit kinder than earlier in the week, Cole Hocker and Nico Young went to the front right away in the first heat of the men's 500, establishing a solid pace with Hocker passing the first kilometer in 2:43.11 and Young a stride behind. The next kilometer was traversed at much the same pace as Hocker continued to lead in 5:28.93 with Uruguay's Santiago Catrope tucked in behind him and Young still third. The pack started to bunch up just past the halfway point and at 3K it was Sweden's Andreas Almgren, the 10,000 bronze medalist, who was a hairsbreadth in front of Hocker in 8:14.48.
Tempo turned torrid with Almgren at the helm and Young put a little surge in to get back in the lead group and on the Swede's shoulder. Hocker was on the rail in fifth and at 4K Almgren held a very slight lead in 10:47.16. The final kilometer was a hard push for half the field and on the last lap Isaac Kimeli of Belgium dashed to the fore and won in 13:13.06. Hocker safely sprinted to third in 13:13.41, one place ahead of Young's 13:13.51, and both Americans could breathe a sigh of qualified relief.
Nowhere near as fast through the first kilometer as the first heat but in single file nonetheless, Jamal Eisa Mohammed of the Refugee Team was the leader in 2:48.54 and Grant Fisher was fourth in 2:51.24. Eritrea's Saymon Amanuel took the lead through 2K in a slow 5:44.82 as everyone was back together covered by a two-second blanket of time. JogFest25 commenced behind Fisher, who assumed the lead and went through 3K in 8:42.57 accompanied by Britain's George Mills.
Amanuel saw his chance with a mile to go and went back to the lead at a quicker pace, relieving Fisher of pacing duties, and Niels Laros of the Netherlands was lurking in third. Fisher regained control at 4K in 11:16.83 and the race was truly on. Laros dropped after picking up an injury and Jakob Ingebrigtsen of Norway was having to go hard to get into contention. Ethiopia's Biniam Mehary dashed to the front at the bell with Mills and 10,000 champion Jimmy Gressier of France going with the new leader. Mehary used a 55.2 final 400 to win in 13:41.52 and Fisher was safely in sixth in 13:41.83. Ingebrigtsen, the reigning Olympic and world champion, also secured his place in the final in eighth in 13:42.15.
Neither of the two American women advanced to the javelin final. Madison Wiltrout was 18th with a best of 59.58/195-6 and Evie Bliss opened with a 58.88/193-2 that placed her 19th overall.
TEAM USATF MEDALS (17)
GOLD (11)
Ryan Crouser, men's shot put (22.34/73-3.5) Mixed 4x400 relay (Bryce Deadmon, Lynna Irby-Jackson, Jenoah Mckiver, Alexis Holmes) (3:08.80, =meet record) Valarie Allman, women's discus (69.48/227-11) Tara Davis-Woodhall, women's long jump (7.13/23-4.75) Melissa Jefferson-Wooden, women's 100 (10.61, meet record) Cordell Tinch, men's 110 hurdles (12.99) Katie Moon, women's pole vault (4.90/16-0.75) Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, women's 400 (47.78) Rai Benjamin, men's 400 hurdles (46.52) Noah Lyles, men's 200 (19.52) Melissa Jefferson-Wooden, women's 200 (21.69)
SILVER (3)
Sandi Morris, women's pole vault (4.85/15-11) Jasmine Jones, women's 400 hurdles (52.08) Kenny Bednarek, men's 200 (19.58)
BRONZE (3)
Noah Lyles, men's 100 (9.89) Grace Stark, women's 100 hurdles (12.34) Curtis Thompson, men's javelin (86.67/284-4)
RECORDS SET BY TEAM USATF
World
American
48.29 – Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, women's 400 47.78 – Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, women's 400
World Championships
=3:08.80 – Mixed 4x400 relay (Bryce Deadmon, Lynna Irby-Jackson, Jenoah Mckiver, Alexis Holmes) 10.61 – Melissa Jefferson-Wooden, women's 100 47.78 – Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, women's 400