Greetings from Tokyo! We’re only one day away from the 2025 World Athletics Championships starting Saturday, September 13th (the evening of Friday the 12th EDT).

In case you missed it, you can read our comprehensive sprint preview here as we move onto the events 800m on up. During the meet, we’ll bring you minute-by-minute coverage, daily live shows, and newsletters all along the way. You can find a full schedule with entries and live results here.

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How to keep up with all of CITIUS MAG’s extensive coverage of the World Championships – powered by ASICS:

• 🎥 CHAMPS CHATS - We will be streaming our post-race show live on YouTube at the conclusion of every evening session in Tokyo (AM in America) featuring Chris Chavez, Eric Jenkins, Anderson Emerole, Paul Hof-Mahoney and more from the CITIUS MAG team.
• 🎧 CHAMPS CHATS | Will immediately be available to stream, download and listen as a podcast on Apple Podcasts + Spotify or wherever you get your shows on The CITIUS MAG Podcast feed. Exclusive interviews with athletes will also be published as podcasts.
• 🎧 We will have episodes of Off The Rails live from Tokyo | Apple Podcasts + Spotify
• 📬 Daily newsletters, so be sure you’re subscribed to the CITIUS MAG Newsletter
• 🎦 Post-race interviews on the CITIUS MAG YouTube channel.
• 📲 Follow along for all updates, news, results and more on X and Instagram.
• 📆 Bookmark our full schedule of events here.
• 🏃 If you’re in Tokyo, join us for group runs with Asics on Sept. 12th and Sept. 19th. Details here.

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Schedule + How To Watch

Final: Sunday, September 14th at 7:00 pm on Peacock and CNBC

Top contenders: It’s almost like March’s Tokyo Marathon was a recon trip for some of the top guys entered in this race. Tadese Takele and Deresa Geleta aren’t really household names in the marathoning world, but the Ethiopians went 1-2 in 2:03:23 and 2:03:51 in March’s race. They’re the top two fastest guys entered. Vincent Ngetich, who was third, will lead Kenya’s hopes for a medal in Tokyo.

Ugandan Victor Kiplangat returns to defend his 2023 victory and looks to become just the fourth man in history to win back-to-back World titles. He’s not the fastest man in the bunch with a 2:05:09 personal best, but he fares best in a championship setting.

Brit Emile Cairess was almost knocked into the dark horse category but it’s hard for him to fly under the radar with a third place finish at the 2024 London Marathon and then taking fourth at the Paris Olympics and missing a medal by 29 seconds. None of the men who finished ahead of him in Paris will be competing in Tokyo. Cairess finished just two seconds ahead of Geleta at the Games. No British man has ever medaled in the marathon at the World Championships.

Dark horses: At the 1991 World Championships in Tokyo, Hiromi Taniguchi won marathon gold in very hot and humid conditions. Ryota Kondo is Japan’s best hope to replicate the fest in 2025. He’s coming off a runner-up finish at the Osaka Marathon in 2:05:39. His compatriot Kyohei Hosoya was just 26 seconds behind him there and will join him on the team.

No one has been more open and transparent about their preparation for this race than Clayton Young. From the start, he said that the reason he wanted to go for this over a fall World Major was because he believed he could get a medal. He was ninth at the Paris Olympics and only two guys (Cairess and Geleta) who beat him there will be in Tokyo. The word out of Utah has been that Young has been ahead of his training from past blocks in preparation for this one. If you check Strava, he’s been in the sauna frequently and unafraid to rock a full, silly-looking sauna suit on shakeout runs in Japan. It’s been 32 years since an American medaled in this event at the World Championships and Young wants to end that drought. Also, it will make for a sick ending to a well-made YouTube docuseries.

CJ Albertson and Reed Fischer are also two fan favorites on Team USA. Albertson’s heat lamps and makeshift humidity dungeon at this house must have been working overtime in preparation for this. 

One good stat: The forecast for Sunday’s men’s marathon in Tokyo is currently showing a high of 92 degrees Fahrenheit, rising from a nightly low of 77 degrees. With a 8 a.m. local start time, this race is shaping up to be one of the most unpleasant these runners have ever faced.