Jake Wightman wins 1500m gold at World Championships as father commentates
Wightman won 1500m gold as his dad Geoff commentated
Jake Wightman clinched a stunning 1500m gold medal at the World Championships ā with dad Geoff commentating on his shock victory.
The 28-year-old won Great Britainās first gold in Eugene on Tuesday night, which was announced at Hayward Field by his dad and coach.
Wightman won in three minutes 29.23 seconds ahead of Olympic champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen and Spainās Mohamed Katir.
He becomes the first Briton to win the 1500m in 39 years, since Steve Cramās victory in 1983, and hopes he managed to upset his dadās rhythm.
āDad can be a bit of a robot on the mic sometimes, some people say robot, some say professional,ā he smiled. āI hope he broke that down today. It will be interesting to watch it back. My mum was in tears, at least someone was crying.
āI didnāt hear him, hopefully thatās because he was a bit emotional. One of the first things he said was, āGet ready for Commies (Commonwealth Games) nowā.
āIām 28, I donāt know how many more opportunities I will get to do this and I hope there is a lot more to come. I need to make the most of it. Itās important to hit the milestone like this, seven, eight-year-old me would never have believed.
āThere are so many people who have helped me get to this point. My dad has coached me since I was 14 or 15. Every club coach from Edinburgh, Loughborough Uni, British Athletics have all played a part. The main thing is to now thank everyone who has helped me.ā
Wightman was already the fastest man this year and went for the win with 200m to go.
Ingebrigtsen was unable to react and Wightman held on to take the biggest win of his career. World Athletics then moved the medal ceremony forward to Tuesday evening because the original one clashed with his flight home on Wednesday.
āI didnāt want to leave this race like in Tokyo (2020 Olympics) where I didnāt give a true account of how I want to run and how I believe I could run,ā he said.
āThe important thing was to be at 200m strong. I thought, screw this, Iām going to give it a go. If I ended up finishing fourth, I gave it a go. If I had finished second or third, Iād given it a go to try and win. But I held on.
āWhatever happens in the rest of my career, Iām a world champion.ā
Wightman has previously won European and Commonwealth bronze and only came 10th at last yearās Olympics in Tokyo.
āThe main thing of Tokyo was it was way more disappointing than people realise,ā he said. āIām not a negative person but I felt pretty scarred by it. It was a real disappointing end to something I thought was building up to be really special.

āThat haunted me for a while. There were a lot of gaps which I realised needed filling, not just from the summer but the whole winter. We made those changes to come into these champs in a much better position.ā
Dad and coach Geoff announced the drama as it unfolded in Oregon with mum Susan in the crowd.
āIāve been doing his school sports day since he was about 11 because my wifeās been his PE teacher,ā said Wightman senior. āSo weāve just taken it to a slightly bigger stadia, slightly bigger crowds and slightly bigger medals.
āIāve been watching his races for all his life, since he started as a little kid in primary school, and to come through and win a global title here of all places. The main thing is it made up for the Olympics.
āYou only get one shot in four years. So Iām, very proud, very proud. Heās putting in a lot of hard work. Heās very meticulous in the way he prepares.ā
He also underlined the need to be unbiased when announcing the runners and calling the race.
āWe had some good 200m semi-finals, you just get into a certain groove. But each time, Iād think, heāll be warming up now, heāll be into the final callroom.

āBut then youāve got to do the introductions and if I donāt keep it neutral during the 1500m, I donāt get to do it again.
āIāve been doing 1500m since before Jake came on the scene. I love to do them. So I canāt be biased, I have to be impartial.ā
Wightmanās teammate Josh Kerr tried to set the tone ahead of the final by winning his semi-final. But the 24-year-old was unable to threaten the medal positions and missed out on being able to add to last yearās Olympic bronze to finish fifth.
Katharine Merry, a Sydney 2000 400m bronze medallist, posted a video of Geoff Wightman calling his sonās shock 1500m victory, and tweeted: āGeoff calling his son becoming a World Champion is priceless.ā
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