Jake Wightman

Despite continuing to participate in other sports at school until his late teens, such as rugby, football, and hockey, he did two serious track workouts a week at Meadowbank when he was 16 years old. Jake won the Scottish Schools Championships over the 1,500m distance as an underclassman in 2011, which he began to pursue as his discipline. Two years later, he won his first international gold medal in the European Junior Championships in Rieti, Italy.

At the Diamond League competition in Stockholm in June 2018, he broke the previous record, which had stood since 1984, by finishing the 1000 meters in 2:16.27, breaking the Scottish record. In that year, Wightman ran the 800 meters in 1:45 and the 1500 meters in 3:35, becoming the first Briton to do so since Peter Elliott in 1991. He finished fifth in the 1500 m event at the 2019 World Athletics Championships in Doha, Qatar, clocking a time of 3:31.87. Wightman established a new Scottish record for the 1500 meters at the 2020 Diamond League in Monaco, finishing third in a time of 3:29.47. He finished the race in tenth place with a time of 3:35.09 at the Tokyo Olympics 2020 in 2021.

Wightman defeated the current Olympic champion and holder of the European record, Jakob Ingebrigtsen, to win the gold medal in the 1500 m race at the World Championships in Eugene, Oregon, in July with a personal best performance of 3:29.23. It was the first British victory in the 1500 m since Steve Cram in 1983, the first track victory for Scotland since Liz McColgan won the 10,000 m crown in 1991. This also broke a string of seven straight victories for Kenyan-born athletes in the race. His performance elevated him to third place overall in the UK.

He continued his excellent form by winning bronze in his specialty event at the Commonwealth Games Birmingham 2022 and silver in the 800 m at the European Championships in Munich. He won his seventh overall Diamond League title in September by breaking the 1:44 barrier in the 800 meters and Tom McKean’s 33-year-old Scottish record of 1:43.88 with a run of 1:43.65 in Brussels. Wightman improved his personal bests in the indoor 3000 m and road mile throughout the course of the year in addition to setting Scottish records in the 1000 m and one mile. He received the Sportsman of the Year award from the Sports Journalists’ Association and the John Rodda Award for British Male Athlete of the Year from the British Athletics Writers’ Association twice.

His biggest rival as of now is Jacob Ingebrigtsen. Jacob is the reigning Olympic champion and the 2022 World Championships silver medalist after narrowly losing to Jake in the finals.

Geoff Wightman, Jake’s father, is also his coach. He is a former marathon runner who achieved a personal best time of 2:13:17. Geoff has observed Jake develop his speed and agility while participating in a variety of sports at school before gradually focusing on running. Although his primary interest was running, he made sure Jake participated in everything, including football, hockey, and events like the long jump and 1500m double on the sports day. He finished eighth for England in the Commonwealth Games Marathon in Auckland in 1990. He also gives commentary. Following a tremendously successful club and international running career, Geoff is now genuinely the voice of the sport, providing expert insight for the Olympic audience, or his last pre-lockdown duty in Armagh, reporting on England’s 5km victory, etc.

Wightman was born in Nottingham, England, on July 11, 1994. He attended independent schools in Edinburgh called Stewart’s Melville College and Fettes College. He completed his degree at Loughborough University. His mother Susan Tooby and his aunt Angela Tooby represented Great Britain at the Summer Olympics Seoul 1988, while his father Geoff Wightman and his coach raced for England in the marathon at the Commonwealth Games 1990 in Auckland.