Tokyo 2020 Olympics: Jake Wightman talks Sebastian Coe, conditions and familiar voices | Olympics News

Jake Whitman’s father and his coach at the Olympic Stadium will be honored because of his role as the stadium’s announcer; the 27-year-old British midfielder’s rivalry with Josh Kerr pushes him and also aims to impress the British giants Sebastian Co, Steve Owett and Steve Cram

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Jake Whitman could have had a very good voice at the Olympic Stadium when he went on the track for the 1,500-meter heat in Tokyo.

When Team GB athlete Jake Whitman was running the 1,500-meter dash, the 27-year-old heard a very familiar sound that introduced him to the empty stands, with his father, Geoff.

Geoff Whiteman is not only a former athlete himself who competed in the 1990 Union Games, but is also Jake’s coach.

Sports and big events are at the heart of the Whiteman family; Jake’s mother ran a marathon in Seoul in 1988, and her aunt competed in the 10,000-meter dash at the same Olympics.

As a British 1500m runner, and anyone who comes from such a credible background, it’s no surprise that Jake Whitman is talking about those who paved the way in the men’s average distance run in Britain.

Leading these games, Whitman and his other teammate on the GB team, Josh Kerr, were locked in a fierce internal competition.

In the British championship Mueller in June of this year, Kerr dominated, but only by a small margin – 3: 40.72 to 3: 40.77. Naturally, given the distance and the two men who are male athletes, thoughts along with Steve Crum’s achievements turn into the days of Steve Owett and Sebastian Coe.

“Domestic competition will definitely lead to international success,” Whitman said Sky Sports News in Tokyo.

“You look at Co and Owett, we are [Josh and I] far from it, but when you compete with someone like him, you have to compare yourself to this and get better at beating him.

“We have a very far medal from them and also, when they did, they had world records. Hopefully we can get to that point and this year is a very good chance to get somewhere on the road.”

Whitman has actually already run 1,500 yards from the great trio of Britons he admires and talks about.

Of his personal best, 3: 29.47 was surpassed only by another British man – Sir Mo Farah. Whiteman won that time in the Monaco Diamond League in 2020 and said it gave him confidence to focus on Tokyo and fight for medals.

If you can be named in the same breath with the same guys [Steve Ovett, Sebastian Coe and Steve Cram], so hopefully that means we’re doing the right thing.

Jake Whitman

“If there’s anyone I want to compare him to, it’s Apple [Coe]. The way he ran and the circumstances in which I was close to my father and went to the same university made me feel like I could relate to them the best.

“I saw him last year just before he closed and he gave me some good advice at the time. Maybe one of the good things that happened was when I won the Diamond League in 2017, I got a letter from him. .

“I haven’t had much contact with him before. In order for him to be impressed by what I’ve done and to send a letter, it was special.

“It means a lot. I don’t think those guys understand that if they approach us, that’s a great deal. They’re the guys we want to be like them; they’re great. The signs in our sport.” .

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For Whiteman, the call to imitate the kind of Olympic success that Co, Owett and Cram started on Tuesday, August 3rd, and on the sidelines of his teammates he will fight the conditions.

July and August are the hottest months of the year in Tokyo, with temperatures in the mid-30s and humidity levels of around 80 percent.

“It was so much hotter than I thought it would be,” Whitman noted.

“I did a little work and preparation in the heat chamber, but I don’t think you can imitate direct sunlight. The sunlight may be a little bit, which adds a little extra to it.”

“The competition will not be so bad, but it will get hot and I will just try to stay as cold as possible during this period. I will be very sorry for the marathon and the racers because it will be very brutal in these conditions.”

For Wightman, his focus will be on the 1,500-meter dash and the athletic field, which is now Timothy Cheruiot, the 2019 world champion.

Cheruiot was originally left out of the Kenyan Olympic team after he finished out of the top three in their tests. However, Cheruyot – who has a personal best of 3:28:48 – is now replaced by 18-year-old Kamar Etyang.

Etyang was expelled from the Kenyan team for failing to meet the minimum number of out-of-competition drug tests. Whitman, in particular, is pleased to see that Cherry will be on the front line.

“If he wasn’t in it, it would be a disappointment. You want to win it against the best in the world,” Team GB athlete said.

“It will be amazing because there is no crowd,” he added about the atmosphere of the event. “But, I think that makes the role of stadium announcer more important.

“For a lot of guys, we’re still used to having him [Dad/Geoff] because he had done previous championships, so his voice is always familiar inside the stadium.

“My dream would be to take the Olympic gold with me and invite him to the race, which will be special for us. So far, I couldn’t make him lose his composure while he was at the microphone, but I hope you do.”