When Jake Wightman captured a sensational title in the 1500 meters, trainer father Geoff Wightman was announcing the victory at Eugene’s Hayward Field.
14:07•Updated 14:22
At the World Championships in Oregon, the 1500 meters saw a big bang early on Wednesday, when Great Britain’s Jake Wightman beat Norway in the final by Jakob Ingebrigtsen and took the world championship.
Wightman, who performed a wonderful run, clocked an impressive world top time of 3:29.23.
At Hayward Field, the audience who witnessed the final stretch on the spot got to experience a moving moment. Jake’s father and coach Geoff Wightman works as an announcer for the World Championships and was able to witness his son’s world championship from the field.
– That’s my son and he’s a world champion, father Wightman cheered to the audience from the stadium announcement.
You can watch the video about the situation below.
Jake Wightman is the first British man to win the 1500m World Championships since By Steve Cramin in 1983.
At the finish line, the new champion was completely stunned by his trick.
“Living in Order”
Wightman, who also recovered in the 800 meters, started his final race at the Tokyo Olympics too early and ended up finishing tenth.
This time the Scot’s run was tactically superb. The coach father reveals that he encouraged his son to take a risk.
– Jake arrived in Eugene in good shape. That’s why I told him to take the risk. It didn’t pay off in Tokyo, but this time it might pay off. If someone runs away, follow, says Geoff Wightman in an interview with the athletics website Citius Mag.
The Wightmans devoted the entire winter season to improving Jake’s running condition, although according to the father, the boy’s strength is specifically the hard finish. The world champion’s favorite place to strike is 150–200 meters before the finish line.
According to the father, the pair sled always practices either on the road or in the indoor hall for a simple reason.
– Jake is terrible on the terrain, it doesn’t suit him at all, dad laughs.
Years of experience in the announcement room
Geoff Wightman likes his son to announce the games because then he doesn’t stress about the performance as much.
– I love announcing that trip. Some have questioned whether I can be neutral enough. But I’m there for the whole audience.
Geoff, who has had a long career as an announcer, admits that the boy’s world championship is the highlight of his career as an announcer.
– In London 2012, I could choose whether I wanted to announce the 800 or 1500 meter race. Since then I’ve been stuck with this journey, Father Wightman advises.
The 1,500 meter distance, long dominated by the Kenyan running stars, also saw another special feature in the World Cup final. The European runners took the first five places in the race. of Spain Mohamed Katir was third, Spain Mario Garcia is the fourth and Great Britain Josh Kerr fifth.
– Five Europeans in the lead and Wightman was the first of them to finish. Yes, this was a huge surprise, Urheilu’s expert Tuomas Raja inches.
The Norwegian, who celebrated the overwhelming Olympic gold in Tokyo, was very disappointed after the competition.