In his 3000m steeplechase heats, Geordie Beamish stumbled and fell after a hurdle. Photographer Emilee Chinn of Getty clicked the precise moment when fellow runner Jean-Simon Desgagnes’ shoe spike hovered millimeters above Beamish’s nose, as if he was being run over.
The 28-year-old Kiwi had risen from the dust, and completed his heats, qualifying for the final. But the runner known for his insane finishing kick as he chomps up the track metres, surprised everyone as he went on to beat the legend, Moroccan great Soufiane El Bakkali, to take World Championship gold at Tokyo on Monday.
WHAT A FINISH ?
????’s Geordie Beamish is the 3000m steeplechase world champion ????
After a spike to the face in the heats, he kicks to 8:33.88 in the 3000m steeplechase to edge out ????’s Soufiane El Bakkali in a dramatic finish ??#WorldAthleticsChamps pic.twitter.com/9eZmqW2sgX
— World Athletics (@WorldAthletics) September 15, 2025
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From a fall in the heats to glittering gold in the final ??Congratulations to Kiwi Geordie Beamish who took Gold at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo in the men’s 3000m steeplechase. pic.twitter.com/4zAxHPTgHw
— The New Zealand Society (@NZSocietyUK) September 15, 2025
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The unexpected gold went a little unnoticed since it coincided with Armand Duplantis and his compulsive record breaking. Also, no Kiwi journalist was around in Tokyo to blow the trumpets.
But Beamish’s breathless reaction filled with happy swear words was equally entertaining. It had been two tough years for the runner who didn’t make it to the steeplechase final at Paris Olympics. Riddled with injury, the 2024 1500m World Indoor Championship gold medallist had moved to steeplechase, with plenty of doubts forming a bag of cats in his head. But he made light of those.
“There weren’t dark moments,” he said honestly. “But there were just hard moments, like, ‘shit, this sport is hard’,” he was quoted as saying by SBS. “There are so many more lows than there are highs, and I’ve lost so many more races than I’ll ever win. But I have an incredible support team and just a desire to keep fucking showing up.”
The giant-killer carries all the shrugging stunningness of Kiwi sportsperson, and even hosts a podcast with two Australian runners to popularise track and field in his country.
Hailing from Hastings north island off New Zealand’s east coast, Beamish became viral for all the wrong reasons on Saturday. He stumbled after a water hurdle in the heats, and the spike-on-nose of the man in all-black, was hardly portending what was to come.
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SBS quoted him as saying, “I made headlines for all the wrong reasons two days ago, but I’m making some new headlines today. I fell with a lap to go, but got up and felt really comfortable coming by everyone still and realised that the fitness – that was a bit of a question mark, having not raced for a long time – was as good, if not better, than I thought it was going to be, so that may have been a blessing in disguise.”
His hip though ached going into Monday and there were ankle and leg issues as per Guardian, even as El Bakkali, Olympic champ from Tokyo and Paris, was aiming to complete a Tokyo double with worlds. But Beamish also boasted a reputation going back to his Northern Arizona University days, for a wicked finishing kick. So come finals day, and he was in chasing pack snapping at El Bakkali heels on the last lap.
Even here, the Kiwi chuckled and told himself the cheers for Japanese star Ryuji Miura were instead for him. “I honestly think I could feel the noise, that is the loudest stadium I’ve ever heard in my life. It was unbelievable. I mean, maybe they were mostly for Miura, but it was pretty sweet to share the track with him. He made that race what it was in terms of the hype and the crowd getting behind runners,” he happily noted, as the Japanese got into third contention and the stadium crescendoed.
Beamish was 4th at that stage. The Kiwi with his famous kick, got going, overtook Miura and then was right behind El Bakkali, twice world champion. The Moroccan was 10m ahead going into the home stretch of 100m, but Beamish negotiated the final hurdle and then the Kiwi flew.
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On the last 50m, Beamish pounded the track with lengthening strides and surged like his life depended on it. His understatement: “I’ve got a thing for timing apparently. I’ve figured out, you know, when the moment is to go.”
At Tokyo, he would go past Daniel Michalski, and the Japanese and in the last 20 metres launch a takeover of El Bakkali who had mistakenly gone easy. But no lead was safe with Beamish around as he won in 8:33.88. The Moroccan was left hitting his head stunned at what happened – or ‘who happened’ to him in the last metres. Beamish had been 8th with 200 to go.
His world indoors 1500m title had seen him go past four rivals as per Guardian, in Glasgow. “I almost feel like I get to the last 200 and in my mind I’ve already run it, like it’s already been done and I just have to go through the motions again and then and I reach for it and it’s there,” he explained a mix of Beamish & Tolkeinesque magic.
There are comebacks and then there’s George Beamish and his surge. He was incorrigible in the race and incorrigible on the mic thereafter: “To come back after not making the final in Paris and walking out with six months of injury… yeah, man, s**t, Don’t give up in this sport,” he beamed.
