Sonia O'Sullivan Feels Irish Runner Made Big Error In 1500m World Final

Andrew Coscoran experienced a somewhat underwhelming end to the World Athletics Championship this afternoon, finishing in 12th place in the 1500m final in Tokyo.

The Dubliner has been in exceptional form this year, something that was capped off by a brilliant performance in the semi-final of this event on Monday. While he was not a medal favourite coming into the final, the 1500m event can be unpredictable at times.

That would prove to be the case, with Portugal’s Isaac Nader emerging as an unlikely gold medallist. Coscoran would finish in 12th, a placement that he would have been slightly disappointed with.

🇮🇪 12th place for Andrew Coscoran (3:35.87) in the World 1500m final as outsider Isaac Nader of Portugal snatches gold at the line

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— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) September 17, 2025

Sonia O’Sullivan Feels Irish Runner Made Big Error In 1500m World Final

Considering the way this race played out, Andrew Coscoran may well be a bit disappointed that he did not find himself in the mix towards the front of the field.

British athlete Josh Kerr was considered as the favourite for this event by many, although he would end up finishing in last place after suffering some sort of injury midway through the race.

Speaking on RTÉ, Sonia O’Sullivan suggested that Coscoran may well have based his game plan on the day around Kerr, something that ultimately proved to be an error.

I think he probably overanalysed it a little bit. He was possibly focused on Josh Kerr and thinking that he was going to be the man to beat in the race.

He probably kept himself a bit too far back because of that. That does happen, you can go into a race and think you know who the person is that’s going to take you to the lead.

Normally it’s Jakob Ingebrigtsen, you stay behind him and follow him and he will take you where you need to be. Josh Kerr seemed to be that person here, he was the only person you felt would go to the front at some point. Obviously he was unable to do that, I’m sure we will hear about that later on.

I think that definitely held Andrew back a little bit then. He wasn’t quite in the mix, he wasn’t focused on keeping himself out of trouble and worrying about all the other people in the race that he could beat.

I’m sure he will go back and look at the athletes that finished ahead of him and will be ticking off all the ones he definitely should have gotten ahead of in that final.

He will be kicking himself because I think he definitely should have been up a lot higher than he was. He just wasn’t able to get it in the final bit.

Andrew Coscoran was in a disappointed mood in the aftermath of the race, believing that he found himself too far back in the field in order to make a real push late on.

‘I needed to get myself up into position higher up at the bell, but I was just too far back’ – Andrew Coscoran tells @DavidGillick his first outdoor global final was a learning experience
📺 Watch Day 5 of the World Athletics Championships live on @RTE2 & @RTEplayer pic.twitter.com/s3Sj2pThWf

— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) September 17, 2025

The 29-year old had an excellent season in 2025 despite this late disappointment, something he will look to build on over the next couple of years.

Sonia O’Sullivan Feels Irish Runner Made Big Error In 1500m World Final

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