Cole Hocker also misses final after controversial DQ, with the surviving finalists poised for intriguing strategic battle on Wednesday.

So now we know the finalists for the men’s world 1500m final on Wednesday evening in Tokyo.

Niels Laros of the Netherlands; Timothy and Reynold Cheruiyot of Kenya; Adrian Ben of Spain; Isaac Nader of Portugal; Jonah Koech of the United States; Tshepo Tshite of South Africa; Samuel Pihlström of Sweden; Andrew Corscoran of Ireland; Josh Kerr, Jake Wightman and Neil Gourley.

The list of absentees are hugely notable, too. They include the last two Olympic champions, Jakob Ingebrigtsen of Norway and Cole Hocker of the United States – the latter controversially disqualified for pushing in his semi-final on Monday.

Phanuel Koech of Kenya and Azeddine Habz of France – both so impressive on the Diamond League circuit this year – together with Olympic bronze medallist Yared Nuguse, who didn’t make the US team at all.

So does the absence of Ingebrigtsen in particular change the dynamic of the race? With the Norwegian in the field, it is almost guaranteed the pace will be fast and furious. He led the Paris Olympics last year at world record pace from the start, for example. Given this, will it be significant this week in Tokyo?

“Not really,” says Wightman, the 2022 world champion who qualified impressively on Monday, “as he (Ingebrigtsen) hasn’t won over the last three champs and there are new names and Laros has shown the damage he could do this year.”

Wightman adds: “I think you can set a game plan for Jakob a bit better – whether you can pull it off is a different matter – but it might be someone else doing that (leading) or it could be nobody doing that and therefore it might turn a bit like these semis have been.”

So if there is no Ingebrigtsen to lead, who might take it on. Tim Cheruiyot, the world champion in 2019, has a history of hitting it hard in races but his form has not been quite as impressive lately.

Surely Kerr will not enjoy the race turning into a last-lap scramble either. The defending champion is a strong runner who is good at kicking off a hard pace but perhaps not as zippy when things are slow and cagey. History tells us that Kerr sometimes enjoys making a long run for home, too.

Fans have joked before that it’s the turn of “the third Brit”, Gourley, to win a world title. He admitted on Monday, though, that he didn’t feel great in his semi-final as he finished fifth in the same race that Hocker was disqualified from. Gourley has not had a vintage year either, but he is strong tactically and has a punchy finish.

What odds on a “Spitfires out of the sky” moment with a GB clean sweep?

After his brilliant form on the Diamond League circuit, plus victories in the European Under-23 Champs and European Team Champs, Laros will probably start as favourite to take gold. The Dutchman looks the complete package this year – strong enough to run sub-3:30 but also possessing a powerful sprint finish.

It will likely boil down to who is in the best place at the right time. With this in mind it’s worth taking a look at the field events that are on during the evening – the men’s long jump and women’s pole vault finals.

Why? Because it’s clear the middle-distance runners are increasingly using the giant screens in the stadium to help them with their tactics.

After getting through his semi-final on Monday despite a stumble over the line at the end, Kerr said: “If they could show the effing race on the TV then the people at the front could see what’s going on behind them.”

Similarly, after leading the steeplechase final in the latter stages before finishing ninth, US runner Dan Michalski said: “Those things help a lot! Instead they were showing field eventers sitting around during our race.”

This was quite some time before Mondo Duplantis’s world record, too.

Whatever tactics might unfold, the last word, perhaps, should go to reigning champion Kerr. “It’s my title and it will be a real battle for whoever wants to come and take it off me.”