Jamaica claim three medals on final day of World Indoor Championships

Jamaica wrapped up the 2025 World Athletics Indoor Championships in Nanjing, China, with three medals on Sunday, bringing their overall tally to four.

Wayne Pinnock claimed silver in the long jump, while the men’s 4x400m relay team also secured silver. Ackera Nugent added a bronze in the 60m hurdles.

Raymond Richards secured Jamaica’s first medal of the championships, claiming bronze in the men’s high jump on the opening day of competition on Friday.

Silver medallist Wayne Pinnock, of Jamaica, gold medallist Mattia Furlani, of Italy, and bronze medallist Liam Adcock, of Australia, from left, poses on the podium following the men's long jump final at the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Nanjing, China, Sunday, March 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian).

Pinnock, a silver medallist at the Paris Olympics, was competing for the first time this season. He narrowly missed out on gold by just one centimetre, recording a fourth-round leap of 8.29m.

Italy’s 20-year-old Mattia Furlani secured gold with an 8.30m effort in the second round, his first senior gold medal in the long jump. Australia’s Liam Adcock, competing in his first indoor event, took bronze with 8.28m.

The Jamaican quartet of Rusheen McDonald—who won 400m bronze at the 2024 World Indoor Championships but struggled in the individual event this time—along with Jasuana Dennis, Kimar Farquharson, and Demar Francis, pushed favourites USA all the way in the men’s 4x400m relay.

The USA had already secured a historic 1-2-3 finish in the men’s individual 400m, courtesy of Chris Bailey, Brian Faust, and Jacory Patterson. With that trio returning for the 4x400m relay—joined by Elija Goodwin—gold seemed a mere formality.

With individual gold medallist Bailey running the final leg, another US victory was assured. However, it wasn’t until the final straight that he pulled clear to win by nearly two seconds in a season’s best time of 3:03.13.

Jamaica was unchallenged in second place, finishing in 3:05.05, while Hungary overtook China on the final leg to claim bronze in a national record of 3:06.03.

The result extended the USA’s dominance in the event, having won 10 of the 13 men’s 4x400m gold medals at the World Indoor Championships between 1993 and 2016.

Grace Stark, of the USA, and Ackera Nugent, of Jamaica, look up at the results. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian).

In an incredibly close 60m hurdles final—where just 0.04 seconds separated the top six—Nugent took bronze in 7.74 seconds.

World record-holder Devynne Charlton successfully defended her title, winning a thrilling race in 7.72 seconds. Before this final, the record number of athletes finishing under 7.80 in a single race was three. In Nanjing, all six top finishers broke that barrier.

Switzerland’s Ditaji Kambundji took silver in 7.73, while Poland’s Pia Skrzyszowska finished fourth in a national record of 7.74. The USA’s Grace Stark was fifth, clocking the same time, while Nadine Visser of the Netherlands placed sixth in 7.76.

To illustrate the depth of competition, Visser’s time of 7.76 would have been enough to win 15 of the past 20 editions of the World Indoor Championships.

Charlton got off to a strong start, and while her rivals closed in, the Bahamian held them off by mere hundredths of a second to secure her second successive world indoor title and third overall medal at the championships, adding to her silver from 2022.

Ackera Nugent, of Jamaica, reacts after winning the bronze medal in the women's 60 metres hurdles. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian).

Nugent had a near-disaster in the semifinals when she hit the final hurdle so hard that the top of the barrier detached from its frame. Despite this, she managed to stay on her feet and finished second in her race, clocking 8.00 behind Skrzyszowska, who won in 7.79.

Visser won her semifinal in 7.81, narrowly edging Charlton’s 7.82, while the third semifinal saw Stark take victory in 7.72, with Kambundji following in 7.76.