This September, Tokyo will host the 2025 World Athletics Championships, where more than 2,000 of the top track and field athletes from 200 countries will compete. The event is held every two years, with this year’s Tokyo games being the 20th edition, and is considered the highest level of athletic competition alongside the Olympics.
The US is the most successful nation in the history of the World Athletics Championship, with a total of 443 medals, significantly more than second-placed Kenya, who have 171. The US has led the medal charts in the last 4 events, including 2023’s Budapest Games. The US will be overwhelming favourites to lead the way again this September, but athletics fans will be able to improve betting odds by exploring a variety of new customer bonuses available at the top online bookmakers (source: https://esports-news.co.uk/betting-sites/).
The event will welcome the top athletes across a variety of categories, with qualification well underway, and we identify some of the most exciting athletes to look out for at this year’s championship.
Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce
Social media users might remember a video of Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce beating other parents at a sports day. The viral moment underlined the difference between elite athletes and regular people, and the Jamaican legend has already secured her place in athletics history.
The sprinter already has 3 Olympic and 10 World Championship gold medals to her name, and at the age of 38, could be set to say goodbye to the sport she loves. Fraser-Pryce secured her Tokyo qualification with a 3rd place finish at Jamaica’s championships and will be keen to make an impact at what is likely to be her final World Championship appearance.
Mattia Furlani
At just 20 years old, Mattia Furlani is not only an exciting long-jump prospect, but he is already starting to make his mark. Furlani secured the bronze medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics and came first at the 2025 Nanjing Indoor Championships and the 2025 World Athletics Indoor Tour.
Currently ranked 3rd in the men’s long jump behind Tentoglou of Greece and Pinnock of Jamaica, Frulani is more than capable of causing an upset despite being the youngest of the three by some margin. He was named as the 2024 Men’s Rising Star in world athletics and has the second-longest jump of the year at 8.37m.
Beatrice Chebet
Kenya has the distinction of being in second place behind the US in overall World Championship medals, and 5000m and 10,000m runner Beatrice Chabet will be the favourite to add to this tally. The current number 1-ranked runner for both distances holds the world record for both and is the current Olympic champion in both.
Chebet has only managed to achieve a World Championship Silver and bronze for the 5000 meters, and will be keen to add gold at the event for one or both disciplines to complete an already impressive CV.
Gout Gout
17-year-old sprinter Gout Gout is one of the most exciting prospects in athletics and has been selected for Australia’s team to compete in the 200m race. Footage of the prodigious talent has been popular across social platforms and has already secured the under-16 Australian 100m and 200m records.
A silver at the World Under-20 Championships in Lima in 2024 is an incredible achievement for a runner who was just 16 at the time, and he has been likened to Usain Bolt in terms of style and potential. Gout Gout, whose parents come from South Sudan, was born in Queensland, Australia, in December of 2007 and represents the future of the country’s sprinting hopes.
