CROWN DUAL
British legend Coe is backing Jake in his double bid for 800 & 1500 gongs
BY GORDON WADDELL in Oz LEGEND Seb Coe has told Scotland’s Jake Wightman to follow his path to middledistance glory at Gold Coast. Wightman shot himself into the elite arena last season when he became the first European to win at that distance in the Diamond League, taking gold in Oslo. Now the double Olympic gold and silver medallist – who is president of world athletics – is backing the 23-year-old in his bid to double up in the 800m and 1500m. And as he goes in the first of the two finals he’s targeting at lunchtime today, Coe insists he can use one as a launchpad for the other the way he did in Moscow and Los Angeles, taking 800 silver and 1500 gold in both legendary battles with Steve Ovett.
He said: “I was in Valencia chatting with his dad Geoff, who’s an old friend of mine. We were talking about the challenge of five races in five days.
“And its tough. He hasn’t doubled up that often before. The only observation I made was, as I found in LA when I doubled up and on other occasions, getting some good 800m under your belt actually left you in good shape.
“He’s a well-conditioned athlete so while it won’t be a walk in the park, it could be advantageous to him. And he looked really strong in his semi-final. He didn’t put a foot wrong.
“I sincerely hope he does the same in the finals. Running good 800s help the 1500 and I think at this moment in his career he’s stronger at 1500 than 800. But running good 1500s means you’ve got to have that turn of pace.”
Wightman spoke in Record Sport last week about being awestruck at Coe writing to him in the wake of his success last season. Now he’s happy to listen to any advice he can get from one of the greats.
And the one piece he left him with when they chatted in the wake of his heats was to avoid being boxed in.
Coe said: “Jake is making such good progress. Remember he was the first British athlete in 10 years to win a Diamond League, which prompted me to pen a piece of paper to him.
“And if I had one piece of advice for him this time it’s to back his own instincts. Back his own judgment. It’s very difficult for someone sitting in the stands to make that judgment.
“The golden rule in all these things is to focus all the time and keep your wits about you.
The No.1 rule, particularly in 800 because things happen really quickly, is always to have an exit strategy. Just in case someone does something silly in front of you.”