Balew Qualifies for 5000m Final

Bahrain’s Last Push for Gold in Tokyo Worlds

Bahrain’s Birhanu Balew booked his place in the men’s 5000m final at the World Athletics Championships Tokyo 2025, clocking 13:41.75 to finish third in his heat today. The 29-year-old edged Britain’s George Mills by just 0.01 seconds to claim one of the eight automatic qualifying spots in a tightly packed field. The final is set for tomorrow at 1:47pm Bahrain time.

His heat featured some of the biggest names in long-distance running, including Ethiopia’s Biniam Mehary, France’s Jimmy Gressier, US star Grant Fisher, and reigning Olympic and world champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen of Norway. Mehary took the heat win in 13:41.52, followed by Gressier in 13:41.64.

Men’s 5000m Heat 2 – Tokyo 25

 Bahrain’s Championships So Far

Balew is the last Bahraini in action at Tokyo 2025. Earlier this week, Winfred Yavi claimed silver in the women’s 3000m steeplechase in 8:56.46, while Salwa Eid Naser secured bronze in the women’s 400m with a time of 48.19 in a historic sub-48 final.

Nelly Jepkosgei also competed, running 2:02.79 in the women’s 800m heats but missing out on the semi-finals.

In the 5000m semi yesterday, Balew finished approximately 53 seconds off his season and personal best of 12:48.67 set earlier this year in Paris. While advancing to the medal race confirmed his place among the world’s elite, the final result reflected either tactical pacing or a lack of peak form heading into the concluding day of the championships.