Going full-time would bore me, says Rio Olympics hopeful Wightman
THE last library book will be returned on Monday. The last frenzied cramming will be put to good use. Come the evening, the big bad world will beckon for Jake Wightman. With only the grade on his degree in Retail Marketing to be decided, the Edinburgh-raised hope will depart Loughborough University and the cosy cocoon of student life. At 21, the hour has arrived to stand on his own two feet.
Fortunately, the Scottish prospect has already a sporting career gaining traction, with the illustrious company he will keep in the 1500m at tomorrow’s Diamond League in Birmingham an illustration of how his potential is viewed. With Lottery funding and a shoe deal, he will not be pressed into tarting up a CV.
Yet a life focused exclusively on athletics, he insists, is not for him. “I cannot sit and do nothing. I do not understand how people can go fulltime. You cannot train 24 hours a day. I would be bored. As long as you are not on your feet, then why not do something else?”
With a shot at an Olympic debut, he may delay the search a little longer. A victor in Norway on Thursday, he will hope that a Birmingham field which includes three-time world champion Asbel Kiprop can stimulate his quest for a Rio qualifying time. At Hampden Park two years ago, he proved himself capable of running inside the mark of 3:36.20. Yet that was then, this is now, and the cachet that once came with being a European junior champion is in need of an update. A summons to Brazil would fit the bill.
“That is a bit of step up — that is what I would like,” he said. “That is the main thing to go for this year because there is no age-group stuff as a Plan B. I only have top senior championships to go for and Rio is top of that list. But after last year, I feel I have to step up again.
“I was hoping to go to the world champs in Beijing and that would be a stepping stone towards Rio but I missed out. So I need to make up that ground. The season has started well but I want to be in races now that take me forward.”
Lynsey Sharp faces world champion Marina Arzamasova in the 800m. Eilidh Doyle will bid to regain first place in the Diamond Race in the 400m hurdles.