Jake has a foot inside Coe and Ovett camps
AHAND-WRITTEN letter and a misunderstood text from his hero. A family friendship rooted firmly in the ‘other’ camp.
It’s fair to say Jake Wightman has the great Seb Coe-Steve Ovett rivalry pretty well covered.
The progeny of an impressive athletics family, Wightman hopes to one day take his place in the long line of great British middledistance runners who excelled at both 800 and 1,500m.
And the Scot can point to some fairly impressive connections with a golden age of UK athletics as inspiration.
Wightman, whose parents Geoff and Susan both competed at elite level, revealed: ‘I haven’t met Steve Ovett, but my mum was coached by Harry Wilson, who coached him for a little bit.
‘One of the best things I’ve had in my career was after winning in Oslo last year, Seb wrote me a letter. I wasn’t expecting it at all, but I opened the envelope and the first thing I saw was President of the IAAF — and it was a hand-written letter.
‘The fact he’d taken the time to sit down and do that for me meant so much.
‘He congratulated me on how well he thought I had run — he was at the meeting — and that put him on an absolute pedestal for me.
‘I’ve got the letter sitting in a box at the moment and I can’t make up my mind what to do with it, but I’ll treasure it for a long time. It just makes you feel ten feet tall.
‘I’ve actually got his number because he texted me once — but it’s a bit of an embarrassing story.
‘It was during the European Championships in Amsterdam and I got a message saying: “Good luck in the heats, from Seb”.
‘I had a flatmate in first year at uni called Seb, though, and I was sure it was him.
‘So I replied giving it: “Aw, thanks very much, mate, hope things are okay with you, see you soon.”
‘Then someone I know at the IAAF messaged me saying: “Did you get the message from Seb Coe?” I’m looking at my reply, thinking: “No!” ‘I texted him apologising, explaining.
‘I mean, he just used Seb. It’s not like Cher or Madonna, is it? There are a few other Sebs!
‘But he got back to me saying no worries, so it was all fine in the end. I’m a big Coe fan out of the two of them. I admire Ovett but, I think, because I went to Loughborough and I’m coached by my dad (like Coe was), I see more similarities with Coe. The way both of them raced was fearless, which is what I love.
‘That aggression and confidence they showed on the track is something I’d like to think I show as well. You don’t win races unless you have an attitude like that.’
There was famously little love lost between Coe and Ovett during their heyday.
As a general rule, you either backed one or the other. Rarely both.
Yet Wightman revealed some pretty strong — and occasionally awkward — links with the Ovett family, explaining: ‘Steve sometimes messages my dad.
‘And Freddy, Steve’s son, came to stay in our house in London. He’s a good guy. ‘His dad’s involvement in sport is nowhere near as high-profile as Seb’s, obviously, so it’s hard that he gets forgotten about sometimes. But the stuff he did in that era was incredible, as well.
‘It’s funny, though. When Freddy came, I was wondering: “Has he been brought up to hate Seb Coe? Have they got dartboards around the house with his picture on them?” I’m sure it’s not that bad now!’
Wightman has entered both the 800 and 1,500 here but will have to drop the former unless a couple of more athletes withdraw and the competition loses a round — avoiding the daunting prospect of five rounds in as many days. That, he said, would be too much.
‘Physically, I’d be alright running five days in a row because I don’t think the heats would be too tough,’ he added.
‘But mentally? It was at the World Indoors when I was lying in bed the night before my final thinking: “If I have to do this five days in a row…” It was mentally draining.
‘If I had to sacrifice one, it would be the 800. But I would love to race both, because I see myself as an 800 and 1,500 runner.
‘My dad was speaking to Seb in Valencia and asked him what the most he’d done was.
‘I think he said it was six races in seven days. Five in five is probably tougher. ‘But he thought if the heats weren’t that big a deal, I should be fine. I’d like to do it long term and a lot of timetables lend themselves to it better than this one. Then again, you have to start somewhere.
‘When I saw Kelly Holmes win both 800 and 1,500 in the 2004 Olympics, I assumed that was the norm but it’s become a lot less common.
‘They’re different events, but there’s no reason you can’t be good at both and be a proper middle-distance athlete.’
The 1,500 here boasts some terrifying depth, Wightman conceding: ‘It’s tough, especially when you have Elijah Manangoi and Timothy Cheruiyot, the top two in the world, racing.
‘But that’s exciting. You want it to be as strong a field as possible. If I could take a medal from this, it would mean I’m in a pretty good state, globally.’
That might even merit a letter from Seb. Or a text from Steve? Imagine that pair being united on any issue.