The men’s 1,500 meters, the second to last event on day five, was a spectacular race. Sam Fariss choose to focus on that race for her column on day five.
Jake Wightman stuns the world.
By Sam Fariss
Jake Wightman, the son of marathon athlete Geoff Wightman and Olympic distance runner Susan Wightman handed a shocking loss to the 2020 Tokyo Olympic gold medalist, Jakob Ingebrigtsen, in the men’s 1500 meter final on Tuesday night.
“That’s my son!” Geoff Wightman shouted as he called the race for the stadium to hear and watched his son, who he coaches, pull off possibly the biggest upset of the week.
Eugene, Oregon, USA
July15-26, 2022
1500 meter final, Wightman, GBR, New Balance, photo by Kevin Morris
The young Brit surged into first place during the last 400 meters of the World Championships race, upsetting Ingebrigtsen, who finished second. Wightman flew across the finish line in 3 minutes, 29.33 seconds which gives him the world leader for the season.
“Still not sunk in that I’ve come to World Champs, and I’ve come away as gold medalist and world champion, especially when you’re in an event like that,” Jake Wightman said.
Wightman’s first place finish earned Great Britain its first gold medal in the event in nearly forty years – Steve Cram earned the last in 1983. Josh Kerr, a fellow Briton in the race, congratulated his teammate after finishing in fifth himself.
“I wanted to make sure Wightman felt that moment, held on to it, and remembered it for the rest of his life,” Kerr said.
Ingebrigtsen is also entered into the men’s 5000-meter race where he will have another opportunity to run for gold.
Wightman also defeated the previous World Athletics Championships winner, Timothy Cheruiyot of Kenya, who finished in sixth.
Spain’s Mohamed Katir finished just behind the first two earning himself a bronze medal.
