When is World Athletics Championship men's 1500m final? How to watch Josh Kerr defend world title in Tokyo

Josh Kerr, Jake Wightman and Neil Gourley have all made it through to the showpiece race after qualifying through their respective heats and semi-finals this week.

Kerr is the defending champion having won the gold the last time the Championships were staged in Budapest two years ago, while Wightman was the previous winner in Eugene in 2022 after the 2021 event was delayed by a year due to Covid restrictions. Gourley has raced in the final twice previously with ninth place his best finish in 2023.

This is the second time the trio have reached the men's World 1500m final together after all three contested the 2019 event in Doha. They also raced together over the same distance in 2022 Commonwealth Games final in Birmingham with Wightman claiming a bronze.

It is a remarkable achievement for Scottish Athletics to once again have such strong representation in one of the most prestigious and competitive fields of the Championships, let alone have produced back-to-back world champions over the past four years.

Kerr is confident of retaining his title and making British history by joining Jess Ennis-Hill and Mo Farah as back-to-back world champions but is up against it in a stacked field.

“I would say it's one of the most confident I've gone into a world final,” he said. “Each championship has been their own kind of challenges and fun, and I'll keep doing what I can to show up and medal and go after the gold. It's my title, it will be a real battle for whoever wants to come take it off me, but, just keep an eye out on that last lap and I'm going to get some work done.”

Here is how you can watch the race:

When is the men's 1500m final?

The race will take place at the National Stadium in Toyko, Japan on Wednesday, September 17. The start time is 10.20pm local Japanese time, 2.20pm UK time.

What TV channel is the men's 1500m final on?

The race will be shown live on BBC One with coverage starting at 2pm. The race will also be live streamed on the BBC iPlayer and BBC Sport website.

Which runners have qualified for the men's 1500m final?

Olympic champions Cole Hocker and Jakob Ingebrigsten surprisingly miss out with Hocker having been disqualified for elbowing rivals out of the way during his semi-final while Ingebrigtsen failed to qualify from the first heat after an injury-hit season.

The full race line-up is as follows: 1 Adrián Ben (Spain), 2 Jonah Koech (USA), 3 Niels Laros (Netherlands), 4 Andrew Coscoran (Ireland), 5 Robert Farken (Germany), 6 Jake Wightman (Great Britain), 7 Timothy Cheruiyot (Kenya), 8 Josh Kerr (Great Britain), 9 Tshepo Tshite (South Africa), 10 Reynold Cheruiyot (Kenya), 11 Federico Riva (Italy), 12 Neil Gourley (Great Britain), 13 Isaac Nader (Portugal), 14 Samuel Pihlstrom (Sweden).