I still get out sometimes. Only a couple of days ago I was out celebrating the 45th anniversary of event, publications and retail company Sole Motive which, in another lifetime it seems now, started out as Australian Runner magazine and through the hard work and resilience of founders Terry and Joan O’Halloran is still thriving.
I’ve written before about the contribution made by the various foolhardy souls who have tried to make a living out of reporting and interpreting our sport. Hats off to them, I say. You don’t survive without a bit of luck and either money to burn or a more profitable side hustle. I’m certainly grateful to Australian Runner for giving me a start in journalism – Terry O’Halloran was a trained journalist. His best advice to me? “Never edit your own copy” – pushing me along a path which eventually led to a full-time job with The Age in Melbourne.
So, it was an evening of nostalgic reflection. Some of the stories many of us remembered and laughed about might even have happened more or less as we recalled. Others were so funny they deserved to have been true.
But memories of the more recent past formed an equal part of the night: to wit, the Tokyo world championships. I’ve been lucky enough to attend all but one world championships since I went to the first edition in Helsinki in 1983. Fortunately, that ‘one’ I missed was the second championships in Rome four years later. I reported on eight more for The Age, the next two for Local Organising Committees, and each one since either for World Athletics, Runners Tribe or, mostly, both.
I don’t recall, however, being inundated with quite so many questions on any other championships than I have been on Tokyo25. I can think of a couple of reasons why this might be the case, the countdown towards the Brisbane2032 Olympic Games, coupled with the emerging talents of a generation of athletes who could excel there (Gout Gout, Torrie Lewis, Cam Myers, Claudia Hollingsworth, for example). Linked with this, no doubt, is the renewed media focus exemplified by the fact that two free-to-air television networks – SBS and Nine – provided live coverage from Japan.
Not to be overlooked either is the adoption by Australian Athletics of an inclusive selection policy. We’re seeing Australian representatives everywhere, in every event, and we at last seem to have put the notion that ‘Aussies only love winners’ to bed. Long may it sleep!
Mostly I’m asked what my favourite events were. It’s not an annoying request, either: lists are an inherent part of most reporting, a staple of almost every summary piece ever written. Mostly I’ve got an answer, too. But I’m stumped when it comes to Tokyo. What were my highlights? Can I say: “The whole darned thing.”
To me, anyway, Tokyo25 was brilliant from start to finish. For our group, it began with accommodation less than 10 minutes’ walk from the Japan National Stadium. Indeed, we spent more time queueing to gain access than in walking from ‘home’ to the stadium. I’ve been able to walk to the venue at other championships – Helsinki, both in 1983 and 2005; Beijing 2015 and Eugene 2022 – but in a city the size of Tokyo it was a huge plus to be able to stroll up the road to the venue.
Certainly there were great individual highlights – talking about you Mondo Duplantis and your pole vault world record and Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and her ‘almost’ world record in the 400 – but it was the sheer weight of intense contests that threatened to overwhelm spectators at times. I’m sure that has happened before, too, but it made a greater impression on me this time.
Before the championships began a group of us had walked sections of the Nakasendo Trail – the route messengers and samurai travelled between Tokyo and Kyoto. The walking was good, the accommodation even better. Each night featured a banquet in which an at times bewildering array of flavours was presented to us in small portions.
Perhaps this set the scene for how we consumed the championships. Rather than a handful of performances which overwhelmed the senses there was an accumulation of different tastes. Sure, I loved Duplantis and McLaughlin-Levrone. Our Australian medallists – Nicola Olyslagers gold in the high jump and bronze medals to Kurtis Marschall in Mondo’s event, Mackenzie Little in the javelin and Jess Hull in the 1500 – were fantastic.
But there was so much more. The dual Kenyan 800 victories – Emmanuel Wanyonyi and Lilian Odira – Jimmy Gressier’s amazing win in the men’s 10,000, Beatrice Chebet’s imperious double in the women’s distances, defeating Faith Kipyegon in the 5000, Ryan Crouser’s return from a year of injury to retain his shot put title. Geordie Beamish’s dramatic win over Soufiane El Bakkali in the men’s steeple, Cole Hocker coming back from his DQ in the 1500 semis to win the 5000.
And, did I mention, the dramatic men’s discus in the rain on the final night – probably should not have continued but what else could you do? – won by one of the modern greats in Daniel Stahl with Matt Denny in fourth place a clear victim of the atrocious conditions, Melissa Jefferson-Wooden’s marvellous double in the women’s sprints, Botswana’s incredible win in the men’s 4×400, and so on, and so on.
An incredible array of delights. As difficult to nominate one or two as standing out above the others. As it went on the Nakasendo, so it went in the National Stadium.
What was my highlight of the Tokyo25 world championships? The whole darned championships, that’s what!