Scotland’s Jake Wightman stormed to a superb World Championships silver in a dramatic 1500m final – Britain’s first medal in Tokyo.
However, there was heartbreak for countryman and defending champion Josh Kerr, who suffered a calf injury midway through the race and could only bravely limp over the line, while fellow Scot Neil Gourlay finished 10th.
Wightman has endured an injury nightmare of his own over the last couple of years but there was no doubting the former world champion’s resurrection on a thrilling night as he just missed out on gold by two-hundredths of a second – denied by sprint finish from Portugal’s Isaac Nader .
‘I felt like I had something like this in me,’ the 31-year-old Wightman told the BBC.
‘All I knew today was that I was going to run to try and win, and whether that got me the win, whether that got me second, third, however high up, I’d just be happy that I walked away with it.
‘But when you come that close to winning it, you can’t help but be a little bit, “What if I’d tried a bit more?”
‘I left everything out there. And honestly, it has been a very, very bleak couple of years for me.
Jake Wightman was pipped on the line for gold by Isaac Nader in the 1500m final
After his injury nightmare, Wightman was still delighted to pick up a silver medal
An injured Josh Kerr, who limped over the finish line, congratulates his countryman Wightman
‘I think a lot of times I doubted myself that I’d even get back to this level. So for me, making this team was the main thing.’
Wightman made the difficult decision this year to end his coaching partnership with his dad, Geoff, after a long period of success together but he was embraced by his father in the aftermath of the race.
‘I got a new coach and a new coaching set up, just because I felt like that’s what I needed at this point,’ said Wightman. ‘And they’re big changes that have had a big impact on me, and I hoped it was for the best.
‘It took a while in this season to believe those were the right decisions. And yes, you’ve just got to keep waiting and waiting, hoping that when the big stage comes like this, I could perform when it matters.
‘I’m a big believer that you kind of get when you put in at some point. And when I kept getting kicked when I was down, I just kept believing that at some point, karma was going to come back and give me a bit of luck.
‘I feel as though this championships, just everything has gone as smooth as possible. I knew that was such a good opportunity to try and come away with a medal. So I’m just very, very happy that I managed to prove that. All the persistence and sticking with it has been well worth it. ‘
Eilidh Doyle, who was team captain for Great Britain at the World Championships in 2017, said Scottish athletics was currently looking at a golden era in middle-distance running, and hailed the achievements of Wightman, in particular, after a period on the sidelines through injury.
‘There is just so much to digest from this race, you know, an amazing run from Jake,’ she continued. ‘I think he might be disappointed that he got pipped on the line, but I think he would have taken that if you’d asked him even a few months ago.
‘Jake didn’t even compete in the British Championships because he was ill. He has just had a run of really bad luck.
Wightman had won the worlds in 2022 but had suffered through injury since then
‘Since becoming world champion in 2022, it was just injury, illness, and really, his entry to this World Championships was because Josh was the World Champion. We could take four guys to this event.
‘If Josh hadn’t won last time around, Jake wouldn’t have got that last spot and wouldn’t have even been there, as it would have been the two guys from the British trials. Neil Gourley and Elliot Giles.
Meanwhile, Doyle backed Kerr to come back stronger and show his worth at Commonwealth and Olympic level.
‘It’s about 24 hours to feel sorry for himself and then he’ll get back and focus on what he can do next year, because your talent doesn’t just disappear,’ said Doyle.
‘This is a great opportunity for him. He is logical, he is pragmatic, we all know he’s confident. But he understands his ability and where he is, and I don’t think this will hamper him too much.
‘Josh has mentioned doing the Commonwealth Games so that gives him a chance to come out there. We know that home Games are really special. But he will also be looking at the Olympics and wanting to go one better from Paris, where he came in second.
‘This will just be fuel for the fire for him. Obviously, he will learn from this, but it will give him the right fuel to then go on and hopefully do even more special things.
‘He can go back, he can get sorted, get physio, get rehab he needs to do, but he can be back out again next year because that’s the beauty of athletics, every year there’s something else to look forward to
