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Matic Osovnikar headed to Japan secretly hoping to make it to the finals but he made history when he became the first white athlete to qualify for the 100 metres sprint finals since 1987. In the quarter finals, he ran alongside the world record holder, Asafa Powell, and set a new national record of 10.14 seconds. He eventually finished seventh in the final. While he had already said that he had not yet made any plans for the following season, getting to the finals at the Beijing Olympic Games now seems an obvious goal. Although he does not like defining athletes as either 'black' or 'white', his driving ambition is to become the first white athlete to run under 10 seconds.

Primož Kozmus, meanwhile, publicly announced before the championship that his goal was to win a medal. His optimism was boosted by the fact that he had already recorded the third best throw in the world this season. He not only achieved his goal, but by winning silver he also recorded the best outdoor track and field result for Slovenia ever. At his sixth attempt, the 27-year-old from Brestanica in Dolenjska threw the hammer 82.29 metres, only one centimetre shy of his Slovenian record. Gold went to Ivan Tsikhan of Belarus, who managed to unleash his best throw (83.63 metres) in the last round. After being in the lead for the most of the competition, it came as quite a blow for Kozmus, who initially said that he had "lost the gold" rather than won the silver.

Brigita Langerholc somewhat surprisingly made it to the finals in the 800 m event after running her personal best of 1:58.41. She finished fifth in the final. Seven years ago, the 29-year-old native of Škofja Loka came 4th in the 800 m final at the Sydney Olympic Games; however, since then, she has dedicated most of her time and energy to studying economics in the USA and has lived in the shadow of Jolanda Čeplak. The latter also qualified for Osaka but was suspended pending the result of a doping inquiry.

Marija Šestak was fifth in the women's triple jump with her second-best career jump of 14.72 metres. This was the first appearance for Šestak at big international meeting since marrying former Slovenian athlete Mitja Šestak and moving to Slovenia from her native Serbia.