'Unique' victory for the Wightman family

EUGENE (Oregon) • Beating the Olympic champion to win a World Athletics Championship gold medal is a feeling few get to experience but Jake Wightman is unique in doing it, with his dad doing live commentary on the race.

Geoff has been a fixture in athletics stadiums for decades and he is long used to calling his son's races without revealing the familial connection.

At the end of Tuesday's 1,500m final though, even the tough old professional, who is also Wightman's coach, allowed himself a brief moment when he announced to the Hayward Field fans: "Running is coming home. Wow. That is my son and he is the world champion."

He then quickly moved on to the last round of the men's discus.

"I hope that's the highlight of his announcing career, though he'll probably say it was (long-distance great) Mo Farah in the 2012 Olympics," Wightman said after his brilliant, tactical victory over Norwegian favourite and Tokyo Games winner Jakob Ingebrigtsen.

"He's (Geoff) called so many of my bad races, so I think he probably needs to celebrate this one now. It's pretty cool to have your dad calling the races and it's probably unique in any sport."

There were lovely scenes on the track at the end of the night with Wightman and both his parents hugging and posing for pictures with the gold medal, which has been a long time coming for the 28-year-old who is anything but an overnight sensation.

He was a bronze medallist at both the 2018 Commonwealth Games and European Championships.

"It's nice to reflect on the work he's done to get me to this place because it might never happen again as the sport moves on fast," he said.

"So today, tomorrow, this next week is a real good chance for me and him to reflect on it all."

Wightman added he still felt the whole thing was surreal two hours after the victory, having felt all the way down the home straight that somebody would catch him.

Normally, the athletes are able to see what is going on behind them via the big screen but Wightman was stunned that Ingebrigtsen had not caught up with him nearing the finishing line.

His winning time of 3min 29.23sec is the fastest in the world this year, underlining his pedigree with Ingebrigtsen taking silver and Spain's Mohamed Katir the bronze.

After his disastrous performance in Tokyo, where he finished 10th, Wightman felt vindicated.

"It's mad. I had such a disappointing year in Tokyo last year. I don't think people realise how crushing it was to go in with such high expectations and come away hoping for a medal but end up 10th," he said.

"It was and still is just disbelief, and the moment for it to sink in hasn't occurred yet. I can't wait to see my phone when I can speak to friends, family and all the people, so many people, who have helped me over the years to get to here. To be a world champion is beyond words and whatever happens the rest of my career, I'm that.

"Hopefully, too, it might inspire a lot of kids that didn't really have the perfect development. I was a tiny little kid that wasn't amazing when I was really young but I've always had that belief that I could do something in this sport."

It was a day of double disappointment for Norway as Tokyo Games gold medallist Karsten Warholm's hopes of winning a third straight world title in the 400m hurdles were dashed.

In the lead-up to the World Championships, Warholm admitted he was not at 100 per cent after tearing his hamstring at the Rabat Diamond League meet last month.

The 26-year-old looked unfit as he finished seventh, with Brazilian Alison dos Santos taking the gold in 46.29sec.

Meanwhile, Slovenia's Kristjan Ceh dethroned Olympic and world champion, Sweden's Daniel Stahl, with the performance of his life in the men's discus final with a throw of 71.13m - a championship record.

"I knew that I have the ability for the big throw," the 23-year-old, who was fifth in Tokyo, said.

"But this was my first major championships and I had various feelings from the beginning. I want to be the best."

Australian Eleanor Patterson also produced a career-best leap as she cleared an Oceania record of 2.02m in the women's high jump to win ahead of Ukrainian favourite Yaroslava Mahuchikh, with Italy's Elena Vallortigara taking bronze.

The event was missing Olympic and multiple world champion Mariya Lasitskene, absent because of the ban on Russian athletes due to the country's invasion of Ukraine in late February.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS