World Champs Men’s 1500 — Unlooked-For Nader Nabs Gold At The Line

Isaac Nader’s unexpected victory featured the closest margin in WC 1500 history, 0.02. That undercut Yusuf Saad Kamel’s 0.08 advantage over Deresse Mekonnen in ’09. (KEVIN MORRIS)

IN AN EVENT FULL of surprises, Portugal’s Isaac Nader pulled off the biggest one of all. The 26-year-old, 4th at the last two World Indoors, stormed the final straight faster than anyone to take gold in a field decimated by misfortunes of all kinds.

The winner of the ’21 Olympics, Jakob Ingebrigtsen had struggled with his Achilles all season. In his first race since March, he did not survive the heats. The winner of the ’24 Olympics, Cole Hocker, went with his favored inside lane finish in the semis. When the route did not open up, he pushed his way through and was disqualified.

Phanuel Koech, this year’s breakout star, running 3:27.72 at age 18, fell in his heat and did not advance. The world leader at 1500, Azeddine Habz of France, also did not advance. And of course, American stars Yared Nuguse and Hobbs Kessler failed to make the meet at all.

That left three big names in the pre-finals speculation: defending champion Josh Kerr, comebacking ’22 winner Jake Wightman and mile world leader Niels Laros, still just 20. Nader, No. 10 on our formchart, was generally overlooked.

Laros went to the front early but kept the pace easy. The young Dutchman hit 59.45 followed by ’19 gold medalist Timothy Cheruiyot, Wightman and Reynold Cheruiyot. With two laps to go, Timothy Cheruiyot eased himself in front, but the pace stayed sedate — 1:59.88 at 800. Nader stayed well back in 7th at this point.

Approaching 1000, Laros took control again, readying himself for his usual big kick. Timothy Cheruiyot fought back, running alongside. They hit 1200 in 2:55.59, a 55.71 lap. Then Wightman made his bid, looking much like his old pre-injury self. He led down the final stretch, with Laros unable to summon his kick. The Scot appeared on his way to becoming the first 2-time winner since Asbel Kiprop.

Nader, 5th with 100 left, covered the last stretch in 12.28. He tagged Wightman at the line, 3:34.10–3:34.12, to become the first Portuguese winner ever. Laros faded to 5th as Reynold Cheruiyot took bronze in 3:34.25. Kerr, never a factor, hung back early and then injured his calf to limp home last. Jonah Koech, the sole American, finished 13th in his first competition since his surprise USATF win.

“In the last 100 I fully believed in myself,” said Nader. “I knew Jake would be fighting until the end so I went all in for a dive. This was probably the first time I did it in my career, but I couldn’t risk losing a world title. Clearly, it paid off in the end. I have no words for what happened, but I believed in myself.”

In fact, Wightman was the one who literally dove at the line. “To get that close, it’s bittersweet,” said the runner-up. “I was not betting on Nader.”

MEN’S 1500 RESULTS

FINAL (September 17)

1. Isaac Nader (Por) 3:34.10

(12.28, 25.32);

2. Jake Wightman (GB) 3:34.12

(12.87, 25.84);

3. Reynold Kipkorir (Ken) 3:34.25

(12.69, 25.61);

4. Timothy Cheruiyot (Ken) 3:34.50

(12.96, 26.05);

5. Niels Laros (Neth) 3:34.52

(13.18, 26.09);

6. Robert Farken (Ger) 3:35.15

(12.83, 25.87);

7. Federico Riva (Ita) 3:35.33

(13.18, 26.64);

8. Adrián Ben (Spa) 3:35.38

(13.39, 26.68);

9. Tshepo Tshite (SA) 3:35.50;

10. Neil Gourley (GB) 3:35.56;

11. Samuel Pihlström (Swe) 3:35.74;

12. Andrew Coscoran (Ire) 3:35.87;

13. Jonah Koech (US) 3:37.00 (14.66, 27.88);

14. Josh Kerr (GB) 4:11.23.

HEATS (September 14)

I–1. Narve Gilje Nordås (Nor) 3:35.90; 2. Kerr 3:35.98; 3. Ethan Strand (US) 3:36.27; 4. Riva 3:36.28; 5. Stefan Nillessen (Neth) 3:36.28; 6. Tshite 3:36.36; 7. Azeddine Habz (Fra) 3:36.62; 8. Jochem Vermeulen (Bel) 3:37.33; 9. Pol Oriach (Spa) 3:37.43; 10. Fouad Messaoudi (Mor) 3:37.83; 11. Jude Thomas (Aus) 3:38.19; 12. Charles Grethen (Lux) 3:41.18; 13. Kazuto Iizawa (Jpn) 3:41.76; 14. Kristian Uldbjerg Hansen (Den) 3:47.58; 15. Hugh Kent (Gum) 4:03.84.

II–1. Pietro Arese (Ita) 3:40.91; 1. Nader 3:40.91; 3. Laros 3:41.00; 4. Kipkorir 3:41.17; 5. Ruben Verheyden (Bel) 3:41.45; 6. Foster Malleck (Can) 3:41.53; 7. Hafid Rizky (Mor) 3:41.55; 8. Elliot Giles (GB) 3:41.60; 9. Paul Anselmini (Fra) 3:41.84; 10. Adam Spencer (Aus) 3:42.17; 11. Håkon Berg (Nor) 3:42.24; 12. Cathal Doyle (Ire) 3:42.60; 13. Haithem Chenitef (Alg) 3:45.13; 14. Ermiyas Girma (Eth) 3:46.62; 15. Yeshnil Karan (Fij) 3:50.77 PR.

III–1. Cole Hocker (US) 3:41.88; 2. Farken 3:42.06; 3. Gourley 3:42.13; 4. Cheruiyot 3:42.20; 5. Ben 3:42.27; 6. Raphael Pallitsch (Aut) 3:42.40; 7. Nuno Pereira (Por) 3:42.63; 8. Cam Myers (Aus) 3:42.75; 9. Filip Sasínek (CzR) 3:43.17; 10. Sam Tanner (NZ) 3:43.37; 11. Pieter Sisk (Bel) 3:43.50; 12. Charles Philibert-Thiboutot (Can) 3:44.82; 13. Ryan Mphahlele (SA) 3:45.22; 14. Diego Lacamoire (Arg) 3:57.42; 15. Filip Rak (Pol) 4:14.93.

IV–1. Wightman 3:36.90; 2. José Carlos Pinto (Por) 3:37.09; 3. Koech 3:37.11; 4. Romain Mornet (Fra) 3:37.19; 5. Pihlström 3:37.25; 6. Coscoran 3:37.32; 7. Anass Essayi (Mor) 3:37.70; 8. Jakob Ingebrigtsen (Nor) 3:37.84; 9. Joao Bussotti Neves (Ita) 3:38.38; 10. Carlos Saez (Spa) 3:40.61; 11. Melese Nberet (Eth) 3:41.54; 12. Phanuel Koech (Ken) 3:42.77; 13. Yervand Mkrtchyan (Arm) 3:48.21; 14. Mukesh Pal (Nep) 3:53.99; 15. Kieran Lumb (Can) 3:55.04.

SEMIS (September 15)

I–1. Laros 3:35.50; 2. Kerr 3:35.53; 3. Wightman 3:35.56; 4. Cheruiyot 3:35.61; 5. Coscoran 3:35.65; 6. Pihlström 3:35.71; 7. Nordås 3:35.72; 8. Strand 3:36.15; 9. Pinto 3:36.23; 10. Verheyden 3:36.31; 11. Mornet 3:36.35; 12. Arese 3:36.83.

II–1. Kipkorir 3:36.64; 2. Ben 3:36.78; 3. Nader 3:36.86; 4. Koech 3:36.89; 5. Gourley 3:36.93; 6. Tshite 3:36.93; 7. Pallitsch 3:36.94; 8. Nillessen 3:37.12; 9. Farken 3:37.52; 10. Malleck 4:14.09; 11. Riva 4:14.31;… dq[jostling]—Hocker.

Jeff Hollobaugh is a writer and stat geek who has been associated with T&FN in various capacities since 1987. He is the author of How To Race The Mile. He lives in Michigan where he can often be found announcing track meets in bad weather.

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