Glasgow 2026: Jake Wightman hopes ‘stars align’ at Commonwealth Games

The Glasgow event will bookend Wightman’s Commonwealth journey, given his first Games were in the city in 2014.

He was still a student at the time and injury hampered his hopes of progression from the heats. This time, a couple of his pals from childhood are among those who will likely pose the greatest threat to his ambitions.

Along with Gourley, two-time Olympic medallist Josh Kerr is also set to toe the Scotstoun start line for the final on 1 August – albeit his selection will not come for a while yet after injury left him outside the top 10 in Tokyo.

“The three of us made the world final, Australia always has good athletes in the mile, and there will be a great Kenyan team, so it could be one of the events of the championships,” Wightman said of an event that has not been staged since 1966.

“But myself, Neil and Josh can all potentially get ourselves on a podium, which would be pretty special.

“I think there will be a home advantage for us because we’ve raced in Scotstoun so many times since we were kids. And, with a home crowd, it will be a special occasion, so that hopefully will propel us to be able to perform beyond what we even expect.”

And should Wightman complete the 1609m first, might he repeat his celebrations from Gold Coast, when he donned a ‘See You, Jimmy’ bunnet?

“It’s funny, because on my phone screen that’s actually the picture at the moment,” he said. “I’d do it again, because it fits when you’ve got a Saltire around you.

“For me, it’s part of being able to celebrate being Scottish. We moved here when I was 10 and I learned to run here, so it’s a chance to be proud of representing Scotland and hopefully hear Flower of Scotland a few times next summer.”

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