Jake on track to emulate his former heroes
JAKE WIGHTMAN has an autograph book filled with the signatures of athletics A-listers from his days running about stadiums without a care in the world.
But in these technologydriven times he’s set to be the man the kids go to for a souvenir selfie.
The Scot’s standing has shot up after the 1500 metres win at last week’s Bislett Games in Oslo that gave the 22-year-old his first Diamond League victory.
Just the kind of effort he loved to watch when his dad Geoff – a long-time executive in the sport – took him to meetings and let him roam free to pester anyone who would pick up a pen and add to his collection.
Jake said: “I got Usain Bolt when he was 16 – we didn’t realise he’d become so big.
“It was the World Championships in 2003. He was world junior champion but not famous. I thought I’d get his signature anyway and it was five years later I realised his name was in my book. When you’re a kid you ask anyone don’t you.
“I got Kenenisa Bekele too and there are British guys, like Michael Rimmer, who I’ve raced since. But I wouldn’t admit to him I’d got his now.”
Wightman looked a sure bet for the top when the Edinburgh AC prospect won the European junior title in 2013. But the path from prodigy to top athlete is littered with casualties.
Now he’s fully hit his stride and he’ll go for gold at the European Team Championships in Lille today. After lighting up Oslo, where the likes of Steve Ovett and Steve Cram built a tradition of British success, Wightman has never felt more confident.
But he said: “If I don’t do anything it doesn’t mean much but if it sets me up for something big this season it will have importance.”
Which means surviving next weekend’s World trials in Birmingham to bag a spot in London in August – the kind of glory day Wightman dreamt about when he was dashing though homework so he could go for a training run with his dad or mum, Susan, both ex-international marathon runners.
He said: “I’ve always loved athletics, it’s something I wanted to do since I was a kid. In Scotland I had a lot of good tests when I was young. That kept me driven to do well and develop into a reasonable athlete.”
To achieve that has meant a few harsh lessons along the way. Like at last summer’s European Championships in Amsterdam when he led on the last lap of the Final but ended up seventh – blowing his shot of an Olympic place.
Even that, he confesses, wasn’t as tough to deal with as his first Diamond League outing in London four years ago when he flopped in front of a full house at the Olympic Stadium.
He said: “I was last by a long way. But a few kids wanted my autograph which seemed a bit pointless. I remember feeling embarrassed.”
Jake has no need for a red face any more so get your pens at the ready.