TO outside observers, Jake Wightman goes into 2023 in an entirely different position to anything he’s ever previously experienced.
As world 1500m champion, a title he won in spectacular fashion in Eugene in July, Wightman has ensured he begins this year with an almighty target on his back.
Who, after all, doesn’t want to take the scalp of the world champion?
The 28-year-old could, therefore, be forgiven for feeling more than a touch of pressure upon his shoulders as he heads into 2023.
There is, however, insists Wightman, none of that.
Despite a highly successful 2022 which saw him add Commonwealth bronze and European silver, as well as several Scottish records to his world gold, Wightman claims to be entirely relaxed about his new-found status as one of Scottish sport’s poster boys and has complete confidence that he can handle his new standing at the top of the tree relatively comfortably, particularly as Norwegian Olympic champion, Jakob Ingebrigtsen, remains the superstar of the event in many people’s eyes.
“There definitely is a target on my back next season but I had that for a lot of 2022 too because I was running the majority of last season having the pressure on me after what I did in Eugene,” he says.
“I felt like I coped ok, though – Commies was the one with the most pressure but it was also the one I faced the most difficulties so I don’t feel like it was a true reflection of what I could have done there because my circumstances were not at all what I expected.
“Pressure’s a nice thing, though; for people to be saying that stuff about you, you must have done well.
“I feel like pressure is more about what you do to yourself, I don’t really feel it from other people. And I’ve never really put pressure on myself, I see it more as an opportunity to do well and actually, the better you do, the more I feel like you reassure yourself and feel like yeah, I can go out there and win this and that’s a massive confidence boost.
“But in the 1500m, I’m never going to be the one that everyone thinks and talks about because Jakob (Ingebrigtsen) has been so dominant in recent seasons.”
Wightman has never come across as brash but he reveals he’s long had an inner belief that a significant achievement, such as becoming world champion, has been present for some time.
The disappointment of finishing tenth in the Olympic final in Tokyo in 2021 was, he admits, a major blow, but perhaps surprisingly, did little to dent his self-confidence.
And in the same vein, hitting the highs of world champion has done little to change his feelings about his potential other than prove to himself that he has been right all along to have such faith in his capabilities.
“I’ve always had self-belief. I’ve never been outwardly cocky - or at least I hope not - but I’ve always been confident that I could do something like I did last summer. So in that respect, nothing really has changed for me,” he says.
“The danger would be slipping into the mindset that I have to do it again but I don’t feel like that, I still feel the same in that I could do it again.
“And the older you get, the fewer mistakes you make and that obviously increases the chance of it happening again.
“There’s a good chance I’ll run well in 2023 but there’s absolutely no guarantee.
“Next year, I don’t feel like there’ll be the expectation that I will successfully defend my world title, it’s more about seeing if I can.
“And also, it’s about putting it into perspective in my own head. I won it last year so it’ll be nice to see if I can do it again but whatever happens, it won’t take away that I’ve already won it.
“By far the most comforting thing about winning in Eugene was I did what I always thought I could do.
“I wasn’t expecting it, but I was hoping but thinking I could do is a long way from going out there and actually doing it.
“So now, I know that whatever else I do – and there’s a lot more for me to do in the sport – I’ll be very content with what I have achieved.”
The pandemic has robbed Wightman of the privilege of calling himself world champion for the usual two years, with the delay to last year’s championship ensuring another World Championships will take place in 2023, giving Wightman only 12 months to enjoy his title.
The 2023 World Championships will take place this summer in Budapest and while Wightman is fully focused on successfully defending his title – which was the first world title on the track for a Scot in 31 years – he is well aware that with the 2024 Olympics in Paris fast approaching, being at his best there is his primary focus, particularly when he has already pondered that Paris may be his final shot at completing the full set of major championship silverware, with only an Olympic medal now missing.
“It’s a shame that Worlds come around again next year because it’d be nice to be world champion for a couple of years so for me, trying to successfully defend it is the main thing,” he says.
“Now though, the main thing for me this year is to build into Paris because I’d love to win there.
“You think about what cycle you could end up finishing on and there is a possibility that I could retire after Paris.
“To think it’s the season after this one so it feels so soon but a year is a long time in sport and a lot goes into the build-up which is a good thing rather than bad.
“2022 does give me confidence going towards Paris but we’ve got a whole season to get through first.
I’ll be 30 when Paris comes around so I’ll still be running in my prime but, at some point, I won’t be. So it’s good to see how things will go.”
