'That's My Son!': Jake Wightman Crowned World Champion While Proud Dad Commentates
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The Wightman household will be proud as punch right now.
Jake Wightman upset the odds to win gold in the men’s 1500m at the World Athletics Championships, while his dad watched on in the commentary box
Incredibly, Jake was introduced to the medal podium by his father Geoff in a truly heartwarming moment.
British star Wightman came-from-behind to upstage Olympic champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen in the final.
It was Ingebrigtsen who looked to be comfortably leading the race at the final turn, but as the Norwegian checked his shoulder he would have seen Wightman storming up in his rearview mirrors.
At the 200-metre mark, the Brit put his foot down and accelerated past his rival.
With nothing but empty track and the finish line in sight, Wightman pinned his ears back and raced home to secure a historic victory.
Jake Wightman of Great Britain wins the men’s 1500 meters. Steve Cram of BBC Sport with the great call of Wightman taking over the race in the back straight. pic.twitter.com/odMFhEVlrS
— Ken Fang -- Get your shots!!!! (@fangsbites) July 20, 2022
It was an emotion-charged moment for Wightman, amplified even more by the fact that his dad was on the mic doing the in-stadium commentary.
“That’s my son and he’s world champion,” Geoff said at one point, struggling to contain his sheer excitement and pride.
But in a truly special moment, Geoff then introduced his son on the podium to collect his medal.
In a clip posted on Twitter, an overwhelmed Geoff can be seen closing his eyes and taking deep breaths as he tries to compose himself before declaring his son world champ at Hayward Field.
Wightman then steps onto the podium where he is given his gold medal from double Olympic 1500m champion Sebastian Coe.
Geoff Wightman, one of the PA voices inside Hayward Field for world championships, closed his eyes and took deep breaths before announcing his son, Jake, as the world 1,500-meter champion. pic.twitter.com/S3gi0VShSh
— Andrew Greif (@AndrewGreif) July 20, 2022
Jake Wightman has become the World 1500m champion. Geoff calling his son becoming a World Champion is priceless. Helene, part of our team, filmed Dad. I sat with Mum Susan..then could not wait to give my mate a hug. Beyond proud. ❤️@JakeSWightman @WightmanGeoff @SusanWightman6 pic.twitter.com/8I8IT6ntwb
— Katharine Merry (@KatharineMerry) July 20, 2022
Jake Wightman beats Ingebrigsten to win the 1500m 🥇
— Neil Murphy (@spuddy009) July 20, 2022
His dad stadium announces him to the podium and Seb Coe presents his gold medal!! Dreams really can be achieved with belief, committment, motivation and talent 👏👏👏🙏🇬🇧🥇🏆🍾🥂#WorldAthleticsChampionships #WCHOregon22 pic.twitter.com/sBRkxqffDr
It's an incredible achievement following a disappointing end to last year's Olympic Games.
In Tokyo, Wightman finished in 10th place, but this run proves he's up there with the very best on the planet.
"It probably won't sink in until I have retired I don't think," he said after the victory.
"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 tenth.
"I have given up so much to get to this point and it makes everything worth it."
He added: "The energy of the crowd was amazing. I felt their love, people hugging me.
"When you win, you start being everyone's favourite. That's pretty awesome to win the world title on this track."
