A pair of 800
The second day’s races were undoubtedly the 800s. Jake Wightman beat Ben Pattison (1:45.49) in 1:45.40. Pattison followed his usual pattern of sitting near the back and then making a late surge for the lead. This time he left it too late, or Whiteman was too strong for him. Pattison is from England. Wightman runs to Scotland. So they will be teammates for Britain European Championship but the opponents co-op games, where there are separate England and Scotland teams. The run also gave us the familiar, if strange, situation of Jake running and dad Jeff doing stadium commentary. We all remember Oregon 2022, but of course now Jeff is just the commentator, no longer the coach.
Jake Whiteman The race commentary was as follows. “It was always going to be a home straight battle. I’m just trying to relax and run my own race and I feel like I did a better job of that today. I go to the championship knowing that I can give my best in the championship. If I can approach the race at 100%, I don’t hope it’s dangerous. It’s just knowing and making sure I can run well when it counts.
Winning the 800 confirms Jake’s selection for GB at the European Championships, or does it? Jake, who ran the 1500 at the World Games and the 800 at the Commonwealth Games in 2022, hinted he could do the same this year with the two championships back-to-back. He said: “I’m not sure if I’m going to the 800m or the 1500m (at the Europeans), so I want to give myself a chance by running well in the 800m.”
He also made an interesting reflective comment. “It’s a great sport. 2022 has really changed the way I think about athletics, for better and for worse. It made me believe that I can win anything, but on the other hand it sets a high bar and I always want to win.”
Ben Pattison only runs the 800 and was a medalist at the World Championships. Second place at the Europeans guarantees him a place in Team GB and I’m sure a place in the Commonwealth if he wants it. Pattison is always very honest about his self-esteem. “I think I did my best to compete in the worst possible race. I’m sure my coach will have a lot to say. The two main mistakes for me were hitting the brakes at the 200m mark and letting the race get away from me. With 150 meters to go, Jake (Wightman) got me in and I went around. It’s not much but I let him go and if you let someone like Jake get in front of you and it’s only going one way, overall it was good but I’m very sad not to win.”
The women’s race was excellent but not competitive. I think they forgot to say Georgia Hunter-Bell that he only needed to win the race (or finish second) to confirm his selection, so he went out and broke the championship record of 1:55.93. He concluded his speech: the Europeans in a few months.” Whether he returns to Birmingham for the 800, 1500 or both is another matter.
Georgia is now 32, but after a hiatus from running that won’t return until 2024, her legs may feel fresher. However, it can be. she is in the form of her life and performing magnificently.
Keely Hodgkinson he had decided to run the 400 at Champs, running 51.62 and making the finals, but then backed out, saying, “I didn’t feel 100% on the starting line, so I made the tough decision to walk away and not compete. I didn’t want to risk anything before this summer.”
