The former world champion is still full of motivation as he plots his way to championship success on home turf this summer.
Although echoes of the past will be everywhere he looks at this year’s majors, Jake Wightman will be fully focused on the future as he tackles the upcoming outdoor season.
He can now be found in Flagstaff, Arizona, making his final preparations for a summer that will feature the Commonwealth Games at Scotstown in Glasgow and the European Championships at Birmingham’s Alexander Stadium;
The 31-year-old already has two Commonwealth bronze medals, the most recent of which came at the spectacularly transformed West Midlands Arena in 2022, as well as European 1500m bronze and 800m silver, the latter of which he also secured four years ago.
It was undoubtedly the professional summer of his life, culminating in the world 1500m title, which he won in such impressive fashion, with a finishing surge that left Jakob Ingebrigtsen trailing in his wake.
The road Whiteman has had to navigate since then has been particularly rocky in Oregon, as injury first cruelly denied him the chance to defend that title in Budapest in 2023 and then compete in the Paris Olympics a year later.
However, last September’s World Championships in Tokyo changed the negative narrative as he came so close to another 1500m gold in Japan. That final, in which Isaac Nader’s ferocious finish took him out, gave the Brit not only “confirmation that I’m not done yet,” but renewed motivation to seize every championship opportunity that comes his way.
Wightman knows he’s in the final stretch of his career and that the opportunities won’t be endless. So with the home crowd roaring him on and his feet on familiar ground, he’ll be doing his best to win them over in the coming months.
The Europeans are likely to see him go head-to-head again with the likes of Nader over 1500m. Wightman has always been a champion animal and admits it’s the thrill of the race that keeps him going.
“Especially being injured a lot over the last couple of years, what I’ve come to realize is that my job is not to train,” he says. “That’s not what I’m paid for or what I’m supported for. My job is to go out and perform in championships, so that’s what you really want to do, and it almost feels like a cheat when you can’t do that.
“I felt like I wasn’t worthless, but it seems like you’re almost making a living when you’re not actually standing on the starting line of the championships. The main reason I got into the sport and enjoyed it was the racing element in the first place, and I think if you lose that, that’s probably a sign that you’re done.
“I’ve always felt there’s more to prove and at some point there won’t be and I’ll feel like I’ve done all I can, but what Tokyo last year gave me was confirmation that I’m not done yet, that I feel like I’ve taken good enough care of my body over the years and I can probably have some left in me.”
This is a big year for Whiteman for many reasons. When the championship dust settles, she will marry her long-term partner and former professional athlete Georgie Hartigan, who has been instrumental in her success. He is also coached by his future father-in-law, John, and the trio work closely together to get him through the winter.
“I just get down on my knees and just keep doing what I’ve done every year,” Whiteman said of his preparation. “I think the most difficult time is October, November. You go from this high… it was different because I felt like if I had won in Tokyo I would have been a bit more like;
“This year (I want to) win championships and that meant I had to get back into it and stay motivated. I am grateful that at the age I am now, I am still motivated to train, compete and go to these champions.
Alexander Stadium is a theme that has weaved its way through Wightman’s career, whether it’s the 2022 Commonwealth Games, his regular spats on the track at the British Championships or events dating back to his early youth.
“I think I won the final of the Young Athletes League there in 2008, which was a big deal at the time,” he says. “It’s changed a lot. But then it didn’t either. The parking lot is in the same area, you’re on the same road to get there and stuff like that. obviously it just had a very good makeover. There’s still the familiarity with it, which I think is a good thing to go back to. If it was a home advantage, that would be great.”
And Wightman knows that help can come in handy. The men’s 1500m will be one of the standout events at the European Championships, and it won’t just be Nader who will be taking it. Reigning European champion Ingebrigtsen is on the comeback trail, while young Dutchman Nils Laros plans to become a factor and Scotland’s Josh Kerr could also be in the mix.
“It’s great,” Whiteman says. “When I first started playing the sport, the European medalists and European finalists weren’t necessarily the ones who won medals at the World Championships or the Olympics. But the way the 1500m, especially in Europe, has progressed in the last five or 10 years means that now you get people who are going to win those medals like that and win me all the European titles. it’s a real test.
“It is not an easy medal at all. But I know the drill now. You always go into the season trying to be as fit as possible, no matter which champions are on the line. So I’m hoping that if these are my last Europeans and Commonwealths, which potentially (they could be), it’ll be good to go out on a high.
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