Jake Wightman made his return to a global podium with world 1500m silver, but British team-mate Josh Kerr’s title defence was ruined by injury in a dramatic final in Tokyo.
Wightman, the 2022 world champion, achieved redemption on his return to the sport’s biggest stage, having struggled with injuries and missed the past two major championships.
The 31-year-old collapsed with exhaustion after crossing the line before staring up at the big screen, which revealed Portugal’s Isaac Nader had pipped him to gold by two-hundredths of a second in a thrilling finish.
There was heartbreak for Kerr, who was seeking to become only the fourth man to retain the 1500m title but was denied the opportunity after pulling up midway through the race and managing to hobble over the line.
Kerr, who had positioned himself at the back of the race, pulled up in pain on the penultimate lap but forced himself to limp round to the finish last.
Ahead, Wightman made his bid for gold. Although he came up agonisingly short, it is a second place which will feel as good as first after the challenges of recent years.
Great Britain had to wait until the fifth day of competition in Japan to celebrate medal success, but Wightman’s stunning silver lifted them to 17th in the medal table on Wednesday.
“I knew I still had something in me. I knew I was going to run to try and win today and whatever happened, I would be happy,” Wightman told BBC Sport.
“When you get that close you cannot help but think ‘what if I had tried a bit more?’ But I left everything out there.”
‘For me, this is a gold’ – Wightman
Wightman has endured a long road to return to the position of fighting for the sport’s biggest prizes since his crowning moment three years ago.
But he has always maintained his belief that he would get there.
Wightman was accepting that the injury which kept him out of Budapest two years ago was a consequence of the demands of winning world, European and Commonwealth medals in an intense 33-day period in 2022.
But his hopes of returning to the global stage at last summer’s Olympics were cruelly ended by a hamstring tear just one week out.
By that point, he had already been wearing the team’s kit at their final training camp in St Moritz.
He sought a refresh this year, making the difficult decision to end his coaching partnership with father Geoff, who was commentating inside the stadium when Wightman outlasted Jakob Ingebrigtsen to win gold in Eugene.
In what has been a year of significant change away from the track, Wightman began working with his partner Georgie’s father, John Hartigan, and relocated to Manchester to be closer to his physiotherapist.
The only major change in terms of his training, he says, has been to respect his body more.
“Honestly, it has been a very, very bleak couple of years for me. A lot of times I doubted if could make it back to this level,” Wightman said.
“I have made some huge changes in my life this year. Moving to Manchester, getting a new coach, and I hoped they were for the best and hope that the big stage is here, I stepped up.
“I want to thank my coaching team and my Dad for getting me to this point in the first place. He did all the hard work bringing me to this level.
“It will take a while to process this. I’m a big believer that you get what you put in at some point. I’m just very, very happy that all the persistence has been worth it.
“I felt like I had another gear through the rounds. I did not know what would happen but I nearly got there.
“For me this is a gold. Just getting on the start line is a gold.”
Sourse: BBC
