TOKYO – The stars shined on Friday night at the 2025 World Athletics Championships.

Five gold medals were awarded on the night and all five went to people who had already won a global outdoor championship – Rai Benjamin (400 hurdles), Femke Bol (400 hurdles), Noah Lyles (200), Melissa Jefferson-Wooden (200), and Pedro Pichardo (TJ).

Below, we give you eight takeaways on Friday’s action but we begin by analyzing the men’s 5,000 heats and women’s 800 semis.

Jakob Ingebrigtsen says “I am not myself” but will be in the 5,000m final to defend his world title

Just as in the 1500-meter heats on Sunday, Ingebrigtsen’s chances of advancing were in jeopardy in the home straight, but this time he had enough to make it through, holding on to finish 8th in 13:42.15 and grab the eighth and final qualifying spot by .19 over India’s Gulveer Singh.

Ingebrigtsen did not look convincing, but he will be on the start line for the 5,000m final on Sunday.

“I gave my all,” Ingebrigtsen said to meet organizers. “I am not myself. I had to do what I could today.

I was not sure would I make the final [sic] but here I am.

I don’t have any idea what I am going to do in the final. I will try my best.

Can it be a medal for Norway? I don’t know, maybe. We will see.”

To the Norwegian press, Ingebrigtsen said the difference between today and the 1500 prelims was enormous.

He is healthy now, he noted – just short on training after missing so much time.

The 5,000 is the last chance for the US men to medal in a mid-d or distance event and it will include all three Americans

Cole Hocker (13:13.41 for 3rd in heat 1), Nico Young (13:13.51 for 4th in heat 1), and Grant Fisher (13:41.83 for 6th in heat 2) had little trouble advancing to the final with a top-8 showing.

That doesn’t mean there was no drama in 5000 prelims as 10,000 bronze medallist Andreas Almgren failed to make the final in heat 1 (9th in 13:16.38), as did Ethiopia’s Kuma Girma (DNF).

In heat 2, 1500m favorite Niels Laros was up front but then he pulled up midway through with an injury to his left calf/Achilles and dropped out. Soufiane El Bakkali and Luis Grijalva were DNSs.

Belgium’s Isaac Kimeli, 31, was impressive in heat 1 as he flashed the speed that has led him to victories in Heusden and Lausanne this summer to take the heat ahead of Hocker and Young. Ethiopian teen sensation Biniam Mehary won heat 2