Jake Wightman on the Olympics: "From the age of nine, I knew I wanted to be a runner"
The Olympian and his father speak with Radio Times magazine.
This interview first appeared in Radio Times magazine.
Ahead of the Olympics, Radio Times magazine spoke to some of Team GB’s sporting stars going for gold in Paris – and the hard-working parents who have been with them every step of the way.
Here, Olympic runner Jake Wightman and his dad Geoff reflect on his journey so far.
Jake
My twin brother Sam was probably my biggest rival. We played every team sport at primary school and I didn’t like the idea of losing to him at all. While I was obsessed with that, he probably got put off because he couldn’t be bothered to deal with me.
My mum was my PE teacher from the ages of about 14 to 18. So I’d have my mum organising sports day and my dad would be on the microphone [ex-athlete Geoff was then chief executive of Scottish Athletics and is now an athletics commentator]. Dad’s been commentating on my races for a long time. The fact that he announced my win at the World Championships is a massive part of my story. That was always the dream scenario.
Sam and I always loved athletics, because we got taken to the World Championships in 2003 and the 2008 Beijing Olympics. I believe in genetics a little bit – I didn’t really train, but was naturally quite good. From the age of nine, I knew I wanted to be a runner.
My dad knows how to push me and get the best out of me, and the tough love is good to an extent, but it’s probably been the biggest challenge. When I was younger, all I wanted to do was impress my dad. I thought everything my dad said was gospel. The challenges came when I got a bit older and formed my own opinions.
I burn a lot of calories running, so I try to eat as many carbs as possible: breakfast is porridge and peanut butter, a banana; lunch is a lot of eggs and veg; dinners are rice or pasta with meat and veg. There’s a lot of sacrifice. I missed out on my 20s, I won’t get them back, but I wouldn’t change anything. I’ve got quite a bit of time left in this sport, but I look forward to the day I can play five- a-side, meet up with friends and go on holiday in the summer!
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Jake's dad, Geoff
Jake’s an identical twin, and was the first one out. My wife Susan is also an identical twin, and the first one out, but her sister is quite dominant. With the learnings from my wife’s upbringing, we treated Jake and Sam very differently. From the age of about ten, they were in separate classes and developed largely separate interests.
When they were eight, Susan and I watched them in a school cross-country league race, and the pair of them shot off at the start. We looked at each other and said: "There must be something genetic that’s passed on here, because that’s not normal."
Susan ran the marathon at the 1988 Olympics and her sister Angela ran the 10,000m. Susan became a games teacher and coached Jake at Fettes College in Edinburgh. He was doing well locally, but she felt he needed a bit more, so I started coaching him when he was 16.
We train three times a week when we’re at home. He’s run 60 miles a week on average every week since January, but we also do weights, yoga, drills, sprints. I’m a bit like Brian Clough – my way or the highway. I have limited empathy, I’m not very good at doing high-fives or slaps on the back. I also coach three other runners: Zak Seddon, Michael Wilson and Ben Waterman.
During my running career, I just about scraped a European and Commonwealth Games marathon place. I underachieved and had a lot of shin injuries, and it always worries me when Jake gets a shin injury. I didn’t make it to the Olympics, but I was close in 1992. I’m still quite bitter about it. I think the best coaches are ex-athletes who didn’t quite make it. It’s not about living through your athlete – it’s sharing that unfinished business in the sport.
When I announced Jake’s Worlds win, it wasn’t until afterwards that I thought: "Wow, that’s a big moment." I’m there for everybody, not just my son, so I’m conscious not to tip over the edge, and to be impartial.
My priorities in life are health, family and athletics. During wedding speeches, those that marry into the family are warned: "The Wightmans are nutcases. You do realise that? They’re type A, competitive nutcases."
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Authors
Laura Rutkowski is the Junior Commissioning Editor at Radio Times magazine, where she looks after a column called "What it's like to…", which spotlights behind-the-scenes roles within the TV and film industry – from stunt coordinators to costume designers. She loves finding out how productions are made and enjoys covering a wide variety of genres. Laura is half-American and half-British and joined Radio Times in 2022. She has a degree in Psychology and a Master's in Magazine Journalism.
