Mixed Relay Team Dominates Competition On The Way To First Gold For U.S. On The Track

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

Logan Hannigan-Downs Photos

TOKYO – The legend of Ryan Crouser added another tale for the ages on Saturday at Japan National Stadium.

One full year since he last competed, the three-time Olympic champion and world record holder opened and closed his 2025 season with another global gold medal, his third at a World Athletics Outdoor Championship.

Crouser, who has been recovering from what he called a “compromised right elbow capsule,” summoned the strength to throw 22.34m on his final throw to separate from challengers Uziel Munoz of Mexico, Leonardo Fabri of Italy and Tom Walsh of New Zealand.

Crouser said he had no idea what to expect from himself in the competition because he had thrown hard so rarely over the summer in order to save his elbow and cling to the hope that it would hold together so that he could compete well in Tokyo.

"This World Champs is probably the most special to me," Crouser said. "Every World Champs, every Olympics is different. But I'd say this was the most challenging from a mental side, from a physical side. This the third first time I've really thrown hard since last September."

Crouser said he sustained damage, perhaps permanent damage, in his training ahead of the Paris Olympic Games last year. 

He got through that unscathed, of course, winning his third Olympic title. 

But in the aftermath of the season, as he sought to recover from his ailing elbow, he recalled doctors injecting "contrast" fluid to his elbow capsule for the sake of imaging and the material leaked out of the capsule and into his forearm. 

Repairing the elbow so that it could withstand the rigors of weight training and throwing a 16-pound lead ball more than 70 feet has taken all of the year, and it's been painful. 

"It didn't really start to see progress until May, so it was kind of a nightmare trying to get the elbow healthy," he said. "In May, June we were taking maybe one baby step forward to make sure we didn't take two steps back."

Crouser had a free pass to the World Championships due to his victory in Budapest in 2023. He sat out of the U.S. Championships in order to give him as much time as possible to get prepared. 

"You can never count that man out. He's the world record holder," said Tripp Piperi, who was dealing with a strained arch in his foot but managed to place sixth with 21.50m. 

Crouser threw 21.99m on his second attempt to take the lead and he never relinquished it. 

Walsh threw 21.94m on his fifth attempt and then Fabri matched it and held the tie-breaking second-best mark (21.83m). Munoz came up in the sixth round and passed both of them with a Mexican national record 21.97m.

Chuk Enekwechi of Nigeria, who grew up in New York City and attended Purdue, placed fifth with 21.52m in the sixth round as he was dealing with cramps. 

Mixed Relay Gold

The U.S. relay coaches found a lineup they liked and stuck with it all day. 

The quartet of Bryce Deadmon, Lynna Irby-Jackson, Jenoah McIver and Alexis Holmes won a qualifying heat in the morning and then came back at 10 p.m. and dominated the final. 

The U.S. ran 3:08.80 and exceptional legs by Irby-Jackson (49.18) and McIver (43.93) helped them run clear of the field by more than a second. The Netherlands finished second and Belgium was third. 

Beatrice Chebet Wins 10K

Kenya's Beatrice Chebet used a strong last 200 meters to win her first World Championships gold, running 30:37.61. The win followed her double golds (5,000/10,000) at the Olympics in Paris. 

Italy's Nadia Batocletti finished second with a national record time of 30:38.23. 

Defending champion Gudaf Tsegay of Ethiopia ran to the bronze medal with 30:39.65.

By the halfway point, six women had broken away from the rest of the field, none of them Americans. 

Elise Cranny was the first U.S. finisher, in 31:40.07, on a warm and humid night with swirling breezes and even a little rain.

U.S. champion Emily Infeld was 14th in 31:47.65 and Taylor Roe was 18th in 32:12.19.  

Melissa Jefferson, Noah Lyles Breeze Through First Round

In prelim action Saturday, the U.S. 100-meter champions had no problem getting out of the first round. 

Melissa Jefferson, the world leader in the women's 100, ran a time of 10.99 in the first of seven heats. 

U.S. teammates Sha'Carri Richardson, Twanisha Terry and Kayla White all advanced as 24 women out of 60 qualified for the semifinals. 

Likewise, Noah Lyles (9.95) and Kenneth Bednarek (10.01) made it through. T'Mars McCallum of Tennessee overcame a nerve-wracking deliberation over his reaction time but was not issued a false start. McCallum got a green card but then ran 10.25 for fourth in his heat and did not advance. 

The highlight of the round was South African Gift Leotlela running a personal best 9.87 seconds. 

In the women's 1,500 meters, U.S. athletes Nikki Hiltz (4:01.73), Sinclaire Johnson (4:04.59) and Emily Mackay (4:08.19) all advanced. 

A total of seven current or former Oregon Ducks competed in the women's 1,500 meters. Hiltz, Susan Ejore of Kenya, Jessica Hull of Australia and Klaudia Kazimierska of Poland moved on to the next round.

Daniel Michalski was the only American to survived the first round of the men's 3,000-meter steeplechase, finishing third in his heat. Olympic silver medalist Kenneth Rooks faded off the end of the pack and never had a chance in his race, finishing 11th. Rooks said he needed a bit of time to reflect on what went wrong. Isaac Updike was eighth in his heat. 

Tara Davis-Woodhall was happy to be a one-and-done qualifier in the women's long jump. Teammates Claire Bryant and Quanesha Burks also advanced.