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…
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