Jake Wightman, double world championship medalist

Jake Wightman double world championship medalist

To say that Jake Wightman took gold at the 2022 World Championship and Silver at the 2025 Worlds is factually correct, but does not tell the whole story.

The story starts in 2021 in Tokyo when Jake won his semi-final at the Tokyo Olympics, only to finish 10th in the final in 3:35.09. Immediately afterwards, he described his performance as: “pretty gutting. I had such a good opportunity, and Josh Kerr third) showed that if you take that opportunity, what can happen. I just committed a lot at the start, and I don’t think I’m quite good enough for those quick races off the back of the rounds, which showed today. So there’s a lot of stuff I hope I can take from this as we go forward, it’s just such a good opportunity missed”.

The following year at the World Championship in Oregon, he won, passing strong favourite, Jakob Ingebrigtsen on the back-straight and holding on to win in 3:29.23 WL. In Oregon, he talked about “rectifying what went wrong in Tokyo”

Talking after the race, he said, “It probably won’t sink in until I have retired. I had such a disappointing year in Tokyo last year. I don’t think people realise how crushing it is to go in with such high expectations and come away hoping for a medal, only to end up tenth.”

 “I just knew coming here I had to take the pressure off, and the only thing that could happen was that it was a better run than last year. I got a whiff of it on the last lap. I knew if I was there with 200m to go, I could put myself in a position to win it, and I was running for my life on that home straight. I gave it a go, and the closer I got to the line, the more likely I felt that wasn’t going to happen. I have given up so much to get to this point, and it makes everything worth it. I learnt last year that the rounds were a lot more tactical than you thought, so I tried to be under the radar going through”.

He was denied a chance to defend his title in Budapest, the following year, 2023, due to injury. That year, he ran only once – an indoor race in January. He ran more in 2024, but again, it was an injury-dominated year. He was selected for the Paris Olympics, but then injured himself in his final training session and had to withdraw.

In 2025, he made a momentous decision to switch coaches. Athletes change coaches all the time, so what was the big deal? Jake had only ever had one coach – his dad, Geoff. He replaced him with John Hartigan (his future father-in-law).

In an interview with Matt Lawton in The [London]Times, Jake revealed several details about the decision to change coaches. He said that the coaching change was motivated by a desire to protect his relationship with his father as there were clashes and arguments, explaining: “Most parent-child athlete-coach relationships tend to end in one of two ways: either they stay with them their whole career and it’s all happy and great, or it ends with people never speaking to their parents again, because it ends so badly. Eugene 2022 was the highlight of my time being coached by my dad, and I’m pleased I’ve acknowledged how good a job he did to get me to that point. I also wouldn’t have wanted anyone else to have done that with me. I will always be thankful for what he’s done for my career.”

He told me in 2025 (before Tokyo) how training had changed with John Hartigan: “A lot of the change is that the intensity has dropped a bit. Now I don’t feel like I’m chasing to squeeze everything out of every session because that’s what got me hurt in the last few years. I have a good team around me, and sensible decisions are being made. I feel I’m undercooking training rather than overcooking it, which is what I need, because I’m fit. The main thing is putting the weeks together rather than burying myself in a hole every session and not making the start line. I feel like I’m running well now because I’m just ticking weeks off, one at a time, and there’s still plenty of time this season to go, so I’m staying positive about that”.

The 2025 Tokyo World Championship 1500 was seen as a highlight of the championship. The favourites seemed to be: Josh Kerr (reigning world champion), Cole Hocker (2024 Paris Olympic Champion) and Jakob Ingebrigtsen. Kerr picked up an injury and limped home in last place. Ingebrigtsen was clearly not fit and did not make the final. Hocker was disqualified for pushing past another athlete.

Isaac Nader (Portugal) won the race in 3:34.10, just getting past Jake Wightman (3:34.12). Jake said afterwards, “I just thought I wasn’t getting caught in the last few meters. I felt strong, and I think Nader came out of nowhere. I don’t think anyone would have predicted that podium if you look at that race on the start line. Just really pleased to come away with something. I’d love to have got gold, I gave it as good a go as I could. It’s nice to know I can come back and compete at this level, because there were periods when I thought that wasn’t really possible. I’ve had a very dark couple of years, so it feels very rewarding to get back to this point. To get that close, it is bittersweet. But I am glad to come out with something. It has been a very long time. That I am still at the level I want to be is very justifying”.

One additional comment from Wightman just showed what a superb human being he is:

“Josh [Kerr] had a rough ride. It would have been a very different race if he hadn’t had that happen. And I didn’t see a nil finish, but to get three of us in the final shows how strong the British running is right now”.

Jake Wightman is 31 (32 in July). This summer he has the Commonwealth Games for Scotland and the European Championships for GB. Next year, a chance of another World Championship medal!

See my video interview with Jake in Oregon 2022: