Jake Wightman thought he had written his “own perfect fairy tale” as he stormed to a 1500m silver medal at the World Athletics Championships.
The Scot was beaten by two hundredths of a second by shock Portuguese champion Isaac Nader, who crossed the line in 3:34.10, on a night defending world champion Josh Kerr pulled up with what is believed to be a calf issue but battled to a last-placed finish, and favourite Niels Laros came fifth.
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. He revealed he had seriously considered quitting sport altogether if he did not make it through the first heat in Tokyo.
“The only way I could have topped that is with a win, but there is nothing else I could have done,” said Wightman. “I literally did everything I possibly could. There’s nothing else I could have done.
“It’s the same story every year in the 1500m. Whoever goes in as the favourite always seems to have a bit too much of a target.
“I don’t think one person would have expected Nader to win that and even myself coming into the home straight I felt good, and I thought I’d written my own perfect fairy tale.
“If I look back on this, I never would have expected (it). I feel like I ran the perfect race for me. I laid all my cards out. It’s been so hard this season not to compare myself to where I left off in 2022 because I had some horrible years.
“I probably got a little PTSD, almost, with what happened with these injuries.”
Kerr began to struggle on the penultimate lap but was determined to carry on, crossing the line in obvious discomfort. Fellow Scot Neil Gourley finished 10th.
Wightman revealed he “knew (he) was going to try to win it at some point” when he realised it was going to be a slower race.
He got himself in the mix with the leaders, hit the front with 200 metres to go and looked like he might hold on, only to be pipped on the line.
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,” added 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.”
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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.
Even sat on the bus in Tokyo, Wightman admitted he thought to himself: “If I get knocked out of these heats, I think I’m done.”
But now, wearing a medal he said “in a certain light will look like a gold”, Wightman reflected: “It’s something that in the next couple of days, I hope I feel immense pride. I just need to process it.
“To not win is fine, because I never would have expected to guarantee myself a medal here. So I feel very grateful.”
Earlier, Dina Asher-Smith, Daryll Neita and Amy Hunt all qualified for the women’s 200m semi-finals, while Zharnel Hughes booked his place in the men’s 200m semis.
