Jake Wightman, who won 1500m silver medal at the World Athletics Championships, speaks about his fractured relationship with father and former coach Geoff as well as a bleak couple of years due to injury
Last Updated: 18/09/25 10:44am
Jake Wightman says sacking his dad as coach was the best thing after the Brit stormed to a 1500m silver medal at the World Athletics Championships.
Wightman was beaten by two hundredths of a second by shock Portuguese champion Isaac Nader, who crossed the line in 3:34.10.
Wightman was crowned world champion in 2022 but has struggled with injury ever since, a spell which he admitted had even fractured his relationship with father and former coach Geoff.
Wightman was beaten by two hundredths of a second by shock Portuguese champion Isaac Nader
Wightman dropped his dad – the stadium announcer in Tokyo – as his coach in March, making the enormous personal sacrifice to uproot his life to Manchester to be closer to his physiotherapist, and employed his future father-in-law John Hartigan as his new coach.
Wightman told Sky Sports: “The tough bit wasn’t leaving. The tough bit would have been if I stayed longer because as much as I hate being injured and it’s miserable for me – it’s exactly the same for him and for both of us, that’s a big test. It’s a lot of stress on our relationship.
“We probably had a lot more disputes and arguments in the years that I was injured than I’ve ever had in my career and that was the kind of point when I was becoming a bit too much of a challenge for both of us.
“I think the best thing about it was that I’ve saved myself a dad by this happening. If it had carried on longer and I hadn’t had the outcome I wanted then it might have derailed our relationship beyond being an athlete and coach, but I knew he was still going to be there and be in my corner.
“He would still speak to me and send messages about races as if he was still coaching me and he’s made me the athlete I am.”
On finishing second, he said: “I did everything I possibly could to try and get a gold medal in that final and I don’t think I could have done anything more.
“My initial thought was I was so close, I wish I could have squeezed a little bit more out but there was no way I could have ran any better than I did so that silver medal represents a lot of hard work.”
Bleak couple of years
Wightman was forced to withdraw from last summer’s Olympics with a hamstring injury
Wightman was relieved to have come through a testing spell off the track.
“It has been a very bleak couple of years for me. A lot of times I doubted myself, even that I could get back to this level, so me making this team was the main thing,” he said.
“I made some huge changes in my life this past year to try to get back to this point.
“It will be a while to process this. I am big believer that you kind of get what you put in at some point.
“When I kept getting kicked when I was down, I just kept believing that at some point karma was going to come back and give me a bit of luck.
“I nearly got there, but for me this a gold – just getting on the start line in a championship final is a gold. I went in with a bit of freedom knowing whatever happened happened, and I am so relieved.”
The 31-year-old was forced to withdraw from last summer’s Olympics with a hamstring injury, a low point he described as exceptionally “cruel”.
“I really questioned whether it was something I wanted to do still,” admitted Wightman. “It was the worst bit of dangling a carrot and then just like ripping it away at the last minute when I’m about to take a bite.
“Even the way it probably played on me and my dad’s relationship, I don’t think, if I would have had successful years, I would have ended up making a change.”
