Touching moment Jake Wightman's dad commentates on his 1,500m gold medal
Watch: Jake Wightman's dad commentates on him becoming World 1500m champion
This is the touching moment Jake Wightman’s dad emotionally celebrated his son clinching a stunning 1500m gold medal at the World Championships.
Wightman, 28, won in three minutes 29.23 – seconds ahead of Olympic champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen and Spain’s Mohamed Katir.
His dad and coach, Geoff Wightman, commentated at Hayward Field in Oregon – and he could not contain his joy at seeing his son win gold.
After announcing the results, Geoff raised his hands into the air in celebration before putting his head in his hands as the realisation of what his son did set in.
His mother, Susan Wightman, was also seen celebrating and running up to the commentary box to share a hug with her proud husband.
Reflecting on his son’s win, Geoff said: “I’ve been doing his school sports day since he was about 11 because my wife’s been his PE teacher.
“So we’ve just taken it to a slightly bigger stadia, slightly bigger crowds and slightly bigger medals.
“I’ve been watching his races for all his life, since he started as a little kid in primary school and to come through and win a global title here of all places. The main thing is it made up for the Olympics.
“You only get one shot in four years. So I’m, very proud, very proud. He’s putting in a lot of hard work. He’s very meticulous in the way he prepares.”
Despite his clear emotion after the win, Geoff also underlined the need to be unbiased when announcing the runners and calling the race.
“We had some good 200m semi-finals, you just get into a certain groove. But each time, I’d think ‘he’ll be warming up now, he’ll be into the final call room.’
“But then you’ve got to do the introductions and if I don’t keep it neutral during the 1,500m, I don’t get to do it again.
“I’ve been doing 1,500m since before Jake came on the scene. I’d love to do them. So I can’t be biased, I have to be impartial.”
Jake won Great Britain’s first gold in Eugene on Tuesday night, making him the first Briton to win the 1,500m in 39 years, since Steve Cram’s victory in 1983 and hopes he managed to break his dad’s style.
“Dad can be a bit of a robot on the mic sometimes, some people say robot some say professional,” he smiled.
“I hope he broke that down today. It will be interesting to watch it back. My mum was in tears, at least someone was crying.
“I didn’t hear him, hopefully that’s because he was a bit emotional. One of the first things he said was ‘get ready for Commies (Commonwealth Games) now’.”
The runner, who had gone into the championships ranked second in the world, went for the win with 200m to go.
Ingebrigtsen was unable to react and Jake held on to take the biggest win of his career.
World Athletics then moved the medal ceremony forward to Tuesday evening because the original one clashed with his flight home on Wednesday.
Wightman has previously won European and Commonwealth bronze and only came 10th at last year’s Olympics in Tokyo.
