Bright and personable, Jake Wightman could probably have taken his pick of careers. The prism, from a young age, was instead narrow and resolute, he recalls. “My dad would go ‘if you’re coming for a training run, I’m going now’. I’d always be up for it.”
Sam, his twin, was less enthused about following in the wake of their parents, Geoff and Susan, both fine marathon runners in their day. “I’m maybe a bit more competitive,” his sibling declares. “That’s what I enjoy: racing and trying to win stuff. That side of me makes me a bit more suited to athletics maybe than my brother and sister. And it’s kept my dad on his toes as well.”
Even though Sam has had noteworthy cameos on the track inside a British Athletics mascot suit, it is Jake who has flourished, first as European junior champion but now, this season more than ever, as a force to be reckoned with. Fresh from a maiden Diamond League victory in Oslo last week that moved him into third place in the all-time Scottish 1500m metres rankings, he will look for a first international title of note today at the European Team Championships in Lille.
Now 22, his self-assurance has never been greater, nor his reputation. The emotional and physical blow sustained after leading last summer’s European Championships final with 300 metres to go, only to feel his legs wilt and his placing slide to seventh, made his resolve stronger. “I know never to race like that again,” he affirms. “You can be confident and I know I can hang on from certain distances now.”
In the Norwegian capital, he properly came of age with restraint followed by an explosive sprint amid a world-class field. “You never really think you can win those races but I was going to give it a go. I don’t get too many chances at Diamond Leagues outside the UK, so you need to take advantage when you get in because it can lead to other ones. I wanted to take my chance so I get more of this during the season.”
With the world championship trials a week away, this afternoon’s outing in northern France is an ideal rehearsal. Racing, not for times or cash, but for medals. “But it’s nice to get this sort of race because there’s only one or two championships a year where you get this kind of examination.”
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