The British athlete claimed his second global award and first after winning the world title three years ago.
Jake Wightman marked his comeback to a world podium with championship 1500-meter silver, however UK teammate Josh Kerr's title defence was ended by injury in a dramatic race in Tokyo.
Wightman, the 2022 titleholder, secured a comeback on his return to the global stage, having struggled with setbacks and missed the past two key championships.
The athlete fell with fatigue after reaching the line before staring up at the scoreboard, which showed that Portuguese runner Isaac Nader had beaten him to gold by 0.02 of a second in a thrilling conclusion.
It was heartbreak for Josh Kerr, who was aiming to become only the fourth ever athlete to retain the 1500-meter championship, but was denied the chance after stopping midway through the event and struggling to hobble over the finish.
Kerr, who had positioned himself at the rear of the race, halted in pain on the second-to-last lap but pushed himself to limp around to the end in last place.
Ahead, Wightman made his attempt for gold. Although he came up agonisingly just short, it is a silver medal which will seem as rewarding as first after the challenges of recent years.
Team GB had to wait until the fifth day of action of the championships in Japan to enjoy medal success, but the athlete's stunning silver boosted them to seventeenth in the standings on Wednesday.
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