WIGHTMAN Jake

Date of Birth: 11 Jul 1994

Age: 27

Gender: Male

Place of birth: NOTTINGHAM

Birth Country:

Great Britain

Place of residence : TEDDINGTON

Residence Country:

Great Britain

Events and Medals
Records
Schedule
Bio
General Interest
Milestones

Events and Medals

Discipline	Event	Rank	Medal
Athletics	Men's 1500m	10

Schedule

Start Time	Location	Event	Status
	Olympic Stadium - Track	Men's 1500m Round 1 - Heat 2	Finished
	Olympic Stadium - Track	Men's 1500m Semi-Final 1	Finished
	Olympic Stadium - Track	Men's 1500m Final	Finished

Biographical Information

Highlights

World Athletics Championships

Year	Location	1500m
2019	Doha, QAT	5th (3:31.87)
2017	London, GBR	SF (3:41.79)

European Championships

Year	Location	1500m
2018	Berlin, GER	3rd (3:38.25)

Diamond League overview - Three best ranks per season and event since 2017

Year	800m	1000m	1500m	Mile
2020	-	-	1 x 3rd	-
2019	1 x 8th	-	1 x 9th	-
2018	1 x 4th, 1 x 5th, 1 x 7th	1 x 2nd	1 x 12th	1 x 8th
2017	1 x 7th	-	1 x 1st, 1 x 7th	-

Diamond League - Ten best performances since 2020

Rank	Year	Event	Location	Result
1	2017	1500m	Oslo, NOR	3:34.17
2	2018	1000m	Stockholm, SWE	2:16.27
3	2020	1500m	Monaco, MON	3:29.47
4	2018	800m	Brussels, BEL	1:45.96
5	2018	800m	London, GBR	1:44.61
7	2018	800m	Birmingham, GBR	1:45.00
7	2017	800m	London, GBR	1:45.42
7	2017	1500m	Zurich, SUI	3:35.25
8	2019	800m	Monaco, MON	1:45.08
8	2018	Mile	Oslo, NOR	3:59.15

World Athletics Continental Tour - Ten best performances since 2020

Rank	Year	Event	Competition	Location	Result
1	2021	1500m	World Athletics Continental Tour	Hengelo, NED	3:34.67
1	2020	800m	World Athletics Continental Tour	Ostrava, CZE	1:44.18
3	2021	800m	World Athletics Continental Tour	Ostrava, CZE	1:45.47
3	2020	800m	World Athletics Continental Tour	Zagreb, CRO	1:44.85

World Indoor Championships

Year	Location	1500m
2018	Birmingham, GBR	6th (3:58.91)

Legend
SF - Semifinal, QF - Quarterfinal, 1R - 1st Round, Qual. - Qualification, QR - Qualification Round, DNF - Did Not Finish, DNS - Did Not Start, DQ - Disqualified, NM - No Mark, [Relay athlete without time] - Did not run in final

Occupation:

Management, Marketing - Loughborough University, Great Britain

Languages spoken:

Edinburgh Athletic Club [Great Britain]

Geoff Wightman [father], GBR

Sporting relatives:

His mother Susan [nee Tooby] competed in the marathon for Great Britain at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, and his father Geoff competed in the marathon for Great Britain at the 1990 European Championships in Split, Yugoslavia. Geoff has also served as chief executive of Scottish Athletics and as a stadium announcer for international athletics events, including the London Marathon in England. (athleticsweekly.co.uk, 31 Aug 2013, 22 Sep 2018; scottishathletics.org.uk, 01 May 2020; SportsDeskOnline, 07 Jul 2020)

A stress fracture in his lower back meant he missed the 2019 European Indoor Championships in Glasgow, Scotland. (bbc.co.uk, 31 Dec 2018)

He began running at age eight. "I was still doing other sports up until my late teens at school - rugby, football and a bit of hockey. I was about 16 before I really started doing two serious track sessions a week down at Meadowbank [Edinburgh, Scotland]." (athleticsweekly.co.uk, 31 Aug 2013; scottishathletics.org.uk, 01 May 2020)

Both his parents were runners and his father was working in athletics. "I didn't have any choice to be honest. But my parents stopped my twin brother Sam and I from taking it up early because they didn't want to push us. They used to take us to athletics meets when we were kids and I've always loved it. In school all the other kids used to say they wanted to play football, whereas I always wanted to be a runner." (athleticsweekly.co.uk, 31 Aug 2013; scottishathletics.org.uk, 15 Feb 2018)

To win a medal at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. (thetimes.co.uk, 18 Mar 2020)

Winning bronze in the 1500m at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, QLD, Australia. (scottishathletics.org.uk, 01 May 2020)

British middle-distance runner Sebastian Coe. (trackfield97.com, 13 May 2014; scottishathletics.org.uk, 01 May 2020)

In 2020 he won the John Rodda Award for Male British Athlete of the Year, awarded by the British Athletics Writers' Association [BAWA]. (britishathletics.org.uk, 22 Dec 2020)

He was named Male British Athlete of the Year for 2020 by British magazine Athletics Weekly. (athleticsweekly.com, 03 Dec 2020)

He was named joint winner of Scottish Athletics' Performer of the Year award in 2020. He shared the award with Laura Muir and Jemma Reekie. (bbc.co.uk, 19 Oct 2020)

In 2013 he was named joint U20 Athlete of the Year by Scottish Athletics. (onthewight.com, 08 Nov 2013)

General Interest

General
FATHER, COACH AND ANNOUNCER
He is coached by his father Geoff Wightman, and has been mentored by Geoff since he began running. "It's about structure and trust, which works for us. I have never felt the need to change coach. It's always going to have little problems at points. You are able to say more or you're willing to say more than you would do otherwise." Geoff is also due to work as an announcer at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. "I have grown up with my dad announcing my races and it's always nice to run well when that is the case. But I tend to phase it out now. The irony is that dad's place in Tokyo is already booked. He will be the stadium announcer. I'm the one who has got some work to do." (scottishathletics.org.uk, 01 May 2020; thetimes.co.uk, 23 Feb 2020)

DOUBLE EVENT SPECIALIST
He competes in both the 1500m and 800m, but speaking in 2020, he said his focus was on the 1500m ahead of the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. "1500m will always be my preferred event in the instances when I can't do both. I've run the 800m for as long as I've run the 1500m so I feel like I'm competent at racing both, but I feel there's a lot more pressure on me when I run the 1500m so it's hard for me to enjoy it. I want to win a medal in the 1500m at the [2020] Olympics." (athleticsweekly.com, 22 Sep 2018; scottishathletics.org.uk, 01 May 2020; thetimes.co.uk, 18 Mar 2020)

EARLY DAYS
He credits his upbringing in Edinburgh, Scotland, with helping his early development in the sport. He attended school in Edinburgh because his father was chief executive at Scottish Athletics, and so the family was based there. "I do feel I'm lucky to have been brought up in Scotland and nurtured better there. I might have disappeared if in deeper competition at a young age, up against people who trained really hard and developed early. There were representative opportunities with Scottish Schools [Athletic Association] and that encouraged me. I'm competitive and even finishing eighth in an age group final was enough to make me think, 'I'm doing okay here' and carry on with the athletics." (scottishathletics.org.uk, 01 May 2020)

Social Media

Legend

:: Gold Medal Event
:: Silver Medal Event
:: Bronze Medal Event

Timing and scoring provided by OMEGA. Results powered by Atos