European and Commonwealth men’s 1500m bronze medallist on an ever improving 1500m, leadership responsibilities and Mo Farah’s training

At 26 years old, Jake Wightman has already run a faster time than Steve Cram, Steve Ovett and Sebastian Coe in the men’s 1500m. His personal best of 3:29.47, set last year in Monaco, is the second fastest ever 1500m time by a Brit – only Mo Farah has run faster – so you’d think victory in this weekend’s Müller British Championships could be a fait accompli.

It’s probable but not definite.

The Scot now has competition from the younger generation, most notably 23-year-old Josh Kerr, who ran the fastest 1500m time on US soil in Portland earlier this month with 3:31.55. That time pushed Kerr to seventh on the UK-all time list and Wightman is full of praise for what could be his British team-mate in Tokyo.

“Every year I don’t think that the 1500m can’t get harder than the previous year but it somehow does,” he tells AW. When Josh [Kerr] runs I expect him to perform when it counts. I was one of the first people to message him to say how good of a run that was because 3:31 is mad.

“To come out to run your first 1500m of the season and do that shows how much he’s moved on from the worlds in 2019 and how much he’s going to test us at the trials. You’ve got to step up your own game when you’re against people like Josh.”

Josh Kerr has run the fastest 1500m in history on American soil with 3:31.55 at the #StumptownTwilight2021 in Portland. ??? pic.twitter.com/a7LJKUswwq

— AW (@AthleticsWeekly) June 4, 2021

Wightman arrives at Manchester in good form after clocking 3:34.67 at the FBK Games in Hengelo, a Continental Tour gold event, as he went on to beat a strong field including Abel Kipsang. The Kenyan finished third at his Olympic Trials ahead of current 1500m world champion and world leader Timothy Cheruiyot, a result which stunned the Scot.

“I think before it tended to be embarrassing for British people to beat the Kenyans but now it’s the norm. You look at the majority for the races on the circuit this year, the majority of the Brits are winning all over the place,” Wightman says.

“You barely see the women’s 800m or 1500m not won by a Brit and the same is now going for the men’s as well. I hope that once we get our three guys to Tokyo then every single one of them can make the final and possibly medal.”

On Cheruiyot missing out on the Olympics, he adds: “If Cheruiyot can go then anyone can go. In my mind he would’ve been the favourite for the Olympic gold medal and now you’d have to say it’s probably Jakob [Ingebrigtsen]. It changes the dynamic a lot and it gives people like me a lot better chance in potentially competing for a gold.

“I just can’t believe he [Cheruiyot] won’t be there. I’m still certain at the back of my mind he’ll be on the start line somehow. Even if he was there the fact he’s been injured shows he’s not the same Cheruiyot that there has been before.

“It’s mad. If you’d have predicted those Kenyan trials you’d never have predicted he wouldn’t be there. You feel sorry for him as he’s been injured but at the same time a massive door opens for the rest of us.”

Wightman describes that result as motivation for him at this weekend’s championships which double up as the British Olympic trials.

“The hard bit is you’re thinking to Tokyo, and while this isn’t necessarily an obstacle, it’s something you’ve got to get through to get there. You don’t deserve the right to compete at the Olympics if you don’t perform this weekend,” the Scot says.

“You can’t really look beyond it. Whatever happens it will be relief. You can then focus on your shape ahead of Tokyo. We’ve made plans now as it’s such a tight turnaround and it will be a relief for those plans to go ahead.”

To prepare for Manchester, Wightman competed in the European Team Championships in Chorzów to gain championship racing experience. He won his 800m race with 1:45.71 but the 26-year-old also captained the British team and was given the honour by British Athletics Olympic Head Coach, Christian Malcolm.

“The biggest difference is the pace makers so in a championships you’ve got no one to help you out on that pace. One of the reasons why I did the European Team Championships this summer was because we rarely ever get a chance to practice championship racing. I never went to the university in the States and one benefit of being over there is that you race championships every other weekend. A lot of the time the trials therefore become a nervy occasion,” Wightman tells AW.

On receiving the captaincy, he adds: “It was cool for Christian [Malcolm] to give that responsibility to me. Having to stand up and do a speech beforehand was probably more nerve-racking more than the actual race. I was one of the older ones in the team and I’m 26 now so it’s something I haven’t really been used to. I had to lead by example and to win the 800m was a confident boost for Hengelo and then to the Trials.”

Wightman trained out in the US just as recently as April and was based in Flagstaff, Arizona and saw Mo Farah train. Like Wightman, Farah is aiming to book his seat to Tokyo but faces the prospect of missing out if he cannot bridge the 22 seconds gap from his time at the recent European Cup in Birmingham to the Olympic qualifying standard, when he takes to the track in the 10,000m tonight.

“I’d never seen Mo train before and the session that he did was as good as anything he’d done previously. The only thing I was disappointed with was that I was telling people how much he was going to fly and whatever problems he had before meant that didn’t happen,” the Scot says.

“The pressure is on him now to come out and blow people away. If he doesn’t do that then there are going to be big question marks about whether they should’ve given him another shot. Judging by the form when he was away, he can definitely come back and be classic Mo.

“People are questioning why he’s got special circumstances but he’s a double Olympic gold medallist and if Mo could come back out and win or medal in Tokyo it’s a mad story and so good for the sport.”

“This weekend will really be the nail in the coffin if he can still do it or he can’t. I’m really excited to see him race and I think he’ll come out and be a different athlete [to Birmingham]. If he doesn’t then he knows it was a step too far and a challenge too tough.”