WITH DIAMOND LEAGUE FINAL 1500M WIN, IS LAROS NOW WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS FAVORITE?
By David Monti, @d9monti
(c) 2025 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved - Used with permission.

(28-Aug) -- With an explosive final 100 meters Niels Laros took the 2025 Wanda Diamond League title in the 1500m tonight in Zürich with relative ease, clocking a Dutch record of 3:29.90 and pocketing $50,000 in prize money.  Just 20 years-old, Laros showed both the poise and the speed that brought him victory in the Bowerman Mile at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene in early July, and he just might be the favorite for the 1500m title going into the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo next month.

"I am super happy," said Laros after his win tonight where he out-sprinted three Kenyans: Reynold Cheruiyot, Phanuel Kipkosgei Koech and Timothy Cheruiyot.  "The race was a bit messy at the start, but I got into it nicely and put myself into a good spot for the last 200m and then I kicked. I know that I have a good kick and I relied on that."

Indeed, Laros showed a mastery of tactics tonight.  At the bell, he was in fourth position behind Frenchman Azeddine Habz, Koech, and American Yared Nuguse.  Nuguse was desperate for a win because that was his only path to the Tokyo World Championships as a wild card after finishing fifth at the Toyota USATF Outdoor Championships.  Laros moved up to second on the backstretch following Koech, then moved out into lane two on the final bend looking for a clear path to the finish.  From there he just seemed to glide away from the rest of the field to get the win.  He ran his final 100 meters in a sizzling 12.5 seconds without breaking form.

"I am looking forward to the next step in Tokyo," Laros told reporters.  "I have been dealing with some illnesses, but now I am healthy. Of course, we train for this kind of races."

Laros is also qualified for the 800m for Tokyo (his season's best of 1:44.19 is under the 1:44.50 entry standard), and he is also qualified for the 5000m based on his World Athletics ranking for that event.  But tonight he revealed that he'll only focus on the 1500m for Tokyo, the event where he clearly has the best medal potential.  This is especially true since Norwegian super star, Jakob Ingebrigtsen, has been sidelined since March with an Achilles injury and may not be in full fitness for Tokyo.

"In Tokyo I will focus on the 1500m," Laros said.  "My coach and I know that there will be high expectations, we want to be realistic. But of course I am dreaming about the podium."

Nuguse struggled in the final sprint tonight and only finished seventh, despite running an excellent time of 3:30.84.

Elsewhere in Zürich, Frenchman Jimmy Gressier was the surprise winner in the 3000m.  He won a three-across sprint against Sweden's Andreas Almgren and American Grant Fisher.  Gressier was fifth at the bell off of a sub-60-second lap put in by Britain's George Mills (Mills would fade in the homestretch to finish seventh).  Gressier was still fifth with 100 meters to go, but blasted down the homestretch in just 12.7 seconds to roll-up both Almgren and Fisher in the final meters.  The three men were separated by just 5/100ths of a second.

"This is a good win for me," said Gressier, who was timed in 7:36.78.  "I feel so great. I surprised myself tonight. My coach told me that if it is going to be a tactical race wait and push only on the last 100m. And that is what I did."

The women's 1500m saw Australia's Jessica Hull, the Paris Olympic silver medalist, try to run away with the win in a fast time, but she tied up badly in the final 20 meters.  Despite having a commanding 10-meter lead coming off the final bend, Hull was caught at the line by Kenya's Nelly Chepchirchir who narrowly beat the Australian, 3:56.99 to 3:57.02.  Hull looked absolutely exhausted after the race.

"With the last 100m to go, I was tired, my legs were very tired," Hull said.  She continued: "We are still two weeks ahead of World Championships. I learned today that my body is fit but that I need to keep energy for the last 100m. So the solution is to take a bit out of training."

Both 800m races tonight were fast and exciting.  On the women's side, Switzerland's Audrey Werro ran her second national record in five days, upsetting Britain's Georgia Hunter Bell, 1:55.91 to 1:55.96.

"It is really crazy," said Werro. "It is magic to get a new national record. I improved it so much. Ten days ago it was 1:57 and now it is 1:55."

In the men's two-lapper, reigning Olympic champion Emmanuel Wanyonyi of Kenya lived up to his status as the favorite, but only just.  He had to hold off a relentless challenge from Britain's Max Burgin who came up on the Kenyan's right shoulder on the final bend and pushed him all the way to the line.  Wanyonyi edged Burgin by just 5/100ths of a second, 1:42.37 to 1:42.42.  

"This result is so good for me," said Wanyonyi, who is the third-fastest 800m runner in history.  "I wanted to run 1:42 now. It is very early, the world championships is coming up, so I want to go to prepare with my coach these few days before it starts."

American Josh Hoey, who won the world indoor title this year but was only fourth at the USATF Championships, needed to win tonight in Zürich in order to qualify for the World Championships as a wild card.  He finished last in 1:44.25.

In the remaining distance events, Kenya's Faith Cherotich (8:57.24) and Germany's Frederik Ruppert (8:09.02) won the steeplechase competitions (Cherotich won by 13 seconds), and Ethiopia's Fantaye Belayneh won a tactical women's 3000m in 8:40.56 just ahead of American Josette Norris (8:40.95).  Remarkably, no Kenyan men recorded steeplechase victories this year in the Wanda Diamond League which opened in April in China.


PHOTO: Dutchman Niels Laros winning the 1500m at the Wanda Diamond League Final in Zürich (photo by Ed Hall for the Wanda Diamond League)