World Athletics Championships 2025: Gulveer narrowly misses out on 5000m final; Annu Rani exits javelin throw in qualification

Indian long-distance runner Gulveer Singh narrowly missed out on qualification to the men’s 5000m final at the 2025 edition of the World Athletics Championships on Friday in Tokyo.

He finished ninth in his heat with a timing of 13:42.34 — he holds the National Record in this event with 12:59.77 — behind Norway’s Jakob Ingebrigtsen, whose late surge helped him clock 13:42.15 and make the final. Only the top eight runners from each of the two heats made the final.

Gulveer, in May, had clinched gold in the 5000m event with a Championship Record-breaking time of 13:24.78. He had also won the title in the men’s 10,000m event.

In the women’s javelin throw, Annu Rani exited the Worlds with a disappointing showing. Her best throw of 55.18m was way off the qualification mark of 62.50m to make the final. It was also some distance away from her Personal Best of 63.82m — the National Record.

Last month, Annu had been confident of crossing the 64-65m mark in Tokyo but the 33-year-old failed to come anywhere close to that number. The Indian finished 15th in her qualification group.

Earlier this year, she had won titles at the National Inter-State Athletics Championships with a best throw of 61.05m after she threw 62.01m enroute the gold medal at the World Athletics Continental Tour Bronze event held in Bhubaneswar.

Published on Sep 19, 2025