BACK FROM FLORIDA SUN, Wightman READY TO COMPETE IN NEW BALANCE INDOOR GP
By David Monti, @d9monti
(c) 2026 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved, used with permission.
BOSTON (Jan. 23) — Two weeks ago, a reporter bumped into 2022 1500m world champion Jake Whiteman at a supermarket in Tallahassee. Wightman, who was shopping for energy bars, explained that it was Tallahassee’s great tracks that brought him to Florida, not the world track and field championships, although he planned to attend as a spectator.
“I was tempted to do the (4 x 2000m) relay,” he explained, checking his vibrating cellphone and seeing his fiancee, Georgie Hartigan, trying to catch up with him. “But I didn’t want to take any chances.”
Wightman, 31, who suffered both a broken foot and a torn femur that kept him out of both the 2023 World Athletics Championships and the 2024 Olympics, didn’t like the look of “Alligator Alley,” the barrier organizers installed on the field in Tallahassee. Fresh off a silver medal in the 1500m at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo last September, Wightman must be on guard as he prepares for a year of major championships where he is likely to represent Scotland at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in July and Great Britain at the European Athletics Championships in Birmingham in August.
Wightman chose to start his year with two and a half weeks of training in Florida to escape the cold British winter, enjoy the soft trails of Tallahassee and the excellent Florida State University track and get in the right time zone for his opening meets of the year, the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix here on Saturday and the Millrose Games in New York from Sunday. He will run the 2,000 meters in Boston, which he has never raced, and will compete against two of the best athletes in the United States: two-time Olympic bronze medalist Grant Fisher and 2023 world road mile champion Hobbs Kessler. He’s not sure what to expect.
“I just want to compete, that’s what this indoor season is all about,” Wightman told reporters at a press conference here this morning. “Two-K is something that, again, I have no idea what I can run for it. I’ll let you know how it goes tomorrow night, but it’s a long way off. That’s the whole point of this indoor season. I’m trying to get stronger for the winter outside.”
On the trails in Tallahassee, Whiteman built his initial fitness base for this indoor season, which he said would not include the indoor track and field championships in March.
“It was just a chance to get some heat,” he said. “The weather in the UK is pretty terrible as you can imagine. The weather in Florida probably hasn’t been great all along. I was the coldest I’ve ever been on a long run on Sunday. I thought I was going to pass out because my hands were so cold. I didn’t think there was one in Florida.”
Wightman has a solid record at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix but has yet to win a race. He has finished second each time in his previous four appearances, including in 2020, where he set a national indoor 1000m record of 2:17.51, which is still his personal best. The British 2000m record is 4:57.09 by John Mayock in 2001. In context, that’s the same as running a 3:59 mile and then holding that pace for another 391 meters.
“I’m not doing a full indoor season, I’m not doing an indoor worlds,” said Whiteman, who is sponsored by New Balance and whose management agency, Global Athletics, is organizing tomorrow’s meet. “I’m just as fit as I can be for this match. I will try and beat it. It would be nice (to win) to face both Global and New Balance at my house. It’s great that it’s a good opportunity for both of them to win.”
After missing the 2024 Olympics, Wightman ran a more condensed program for 2025, leading up to the World Championships. A 3:47.82 mile at the Prefontaine Classic last July clearly showed that she has regained her former form, and her silver medal performance in Tokyo was no surprise to those who follow the sport closely. He led the race by the home stretch, but was beaten at the line by Portugal’s Isaac Nader, who beat him by just 2/100ths of a second. Instead of being disappointed, Whiteman was full of gratitude.
“The only way I could get through it was to win,” he told reporters. “There was nothing more I could do.”
Whiteman is grateful to be back at the pinnacle of the sport. Missing the World Championships and the Olympics back-to-back was tough for the three-time New Balance Fifth Avenue Mile champion. He is keenly aware of how fragile his athletic gifts really are.
“I think not being a champion for a couple of years at 23 and 24 was kind of like reminding me that that’s what you’re trying to do on the starting line and in the race, especially going into the race healthy and fit. You can’t accept that.”
Today’s press conference was moderated by Whiteman’s father, Jeff. When a young reporter asked Elder Whiteman to offer words of encouragement to his son, he paused. Then he said with a smile. “It’s not his first rodeo. I’d just say when the gun goes, keep turning left and follow Grant Fisher.”
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