Mercy Oketch cruises to 400m semis at Tokyo 2025 World Athletics Championships
By Kenneth Mwenda, September 14, 2025Kenya’s Mercy Oketch booked her place in the women’s 400m semi-finals at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo on Sunday, September 14, 2025.
She finished third in her heat with a time of 50.76 seconds. The race was won by American star Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, who crossed the line in 49.41 seconds. Chile’s Martina Weil placed second in 50.61 seconds.
Oketch’s run was enough to see her through under the automatic qualification rule, which sends the top three from each heat into the next round. Her performance added to the growing presence of Kenyan sprinters on the global stage, a field long dominated by athletes from outside Africa.
McLaughlin-Levrone, the reigning Olympic champion in the 400m hurdles, made her debut at the world championships in the flat 400m. She showed her class by winning with ease, slowing down well before the finish line.
Her time was the second fastest of the evening and underlined her strong form heading into the semi-finals. The quickest qualifier overall was Bahrain’s Salwa Eid Naser, who clocked 49.13 seconds. Naser, the 2019 world champion, topped the list of 24 athletes who advanced.
Breakthrough year
For Oketch, the result marks another important step in what has already been the season of her life. At just 22 years old, she has broken records and raised Kenya’s profile in the one-lap race. She struck gold at the Meeting de Marseille in June, clocking 50.89 seconds to set a new meeting record. That run also placed her ahead of seasoned names like Britain’s Laviai Nielsen, an Olympic medalist.
Earlier in the year, Oketch impressed at the World Athletics Relays in Guangzhou, where she produced a blistering 49.77-second split in the 4×400m mixed relay. Her effort helped Kenya to a bronze medal and secured a team slot for Tokyo.
She also lit up the Kip Keino Classic in Nairobi, winning the 400m in 50.14 seconds, a new national record and comfortably inside the qualifying standard. The Moi Airbase sprinter has also been recognised at home, earning honours at the Military Track and Field Championships for her standout displays.