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≡ WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS ≡
The U.S. track & field team had a strong 2025 World Championships in Tokyo, far outdistancing the rest of the world with 26 medals and a record 16 golds.
That’s a performance to be proud of, including:
● 26 medals (16-5-5), more than no. 2 Kenya (11) and no. 3 (Jamaica) combined.
● 16 victories, more than next-best Kenya (7) and Canada (3) together.
● 308 points in the placing table (8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1), more than nos. 2-3 together.
● 63 finalists, with Jamaica second (21), then Kenya (20) and Great Britain (17).
● Five medals in five relays: four golds and a silver (by 0.07)!
(Thanks to Olympic stat king Dr. Bill Mallon for the count on finalists.)
The 16 golds was a record for the World Championships, surpassing the U.S. total of 14 in 2007, 2009 and 2019. At the same time, a record number of countries won medals – 53 – and 20 won golds. The world really is getting better, everywhere.
That the U.S. continues to be the most powerful track & field nation in the world is without doubt, but not every American athlete – there were 141 on the team! – did well.
The Sports Examiner exclusively calculated the performance of the U.S. team vs. the marks made at the USA Track & Field national championships to see how many athletes did better at the Worlds or Olympic Games in their last round of competition (final, semi or qualifying) against what they did to qualify in the USATF final (those who did not compete in the nationals finals, like Noah Lyles in the 100 m, are not counted.).
Over the years, it has been observed that a quality percentage of performances that are better at the Worlds or Olympics vs. the trials is – like in baseball – about .300. Better than that shows a strong overall team performance. Less shows more patchy evidence of quality.
What happened in 2025? The U.S. was pretty good, but not great at .297. Compare:
● 2025: .297 at Worlds = 26 medals (16-5-5)
● 2024: .306 at Olympics = 34 medals (14-11-9)
● 2023: .363 at Worlds = 29 medals (12-8-9)
● 2022: .362 at Worlds = 33 medals (13-9-11)
● 2021: .265 at Olympics = 26 medals (7-12-7)
So, while the gold-medal total was epic, the overall batting average and medal output was lower than in 2022-23-24 and the total medal count was the same as at the Tokyo 2020 Games – in the same stadium – held in 2021.
By event group:
Men:
● 2-11 in sprints
● 0-6 in middle distances
● 6-9 in distances
● 3-6 in hurdles
● 3-12 in jumps
● 2-11 in throws
● 1-3 in decathlon
This is 17-58 in the men’s events or .293 and brought home 11 medals (6-2-3), with 8 (5-2-1) in running events, two in the field (1-0-1) and the decathlon bronze.
Women:
● 3-10 in sprints
● 3-6 in middle distances
● 4-12 in distances
● 1-6 in hurdles
● 3-12 in jumps
● 3-14 in throws
● 1-3 in decathlon
The totals are 18 of 60 for the women or .300, yielding 13 medals (9-3-2) with seven in running events (5-1-1), five in the field (3-2-0) and two in the heptathlon.
There was also a gold in the Mixed 4×400 m relay.
With a year off from World Championships, next in 2027, this raises the question once again about how athletes can better refresh and recover between the USATF Nationals and the Worlds or Olympic Games.
Impossible? After all, only about 27-36% of U.S. athletes have been performed better at the Worlds or Olympics vs. the trials this decade.
However, within the last 10 years, the best performance was at the 2019 Worlds in Doha (QAT), held in late September and early October: .421 there, earning 29 total medals (14-11-4).
The 2017 Worlds in Beijing (CHN) will be held in a similar time period to this year, from 11-19 September, at the end of the season. Conversely, track & field at the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles will start on 15 July, two weeks before the 2025 USATF Nationals were held!
That will create an interesting dilemma for coaches, getting their athletes ready for 2027 trials in late July and Worlds in September and then Olympic Trials in June 2028 and Olympic Games as quickly as three weeks later!
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