Injury denied Kerr podium spot with me – Wightman

If injury had not prevented him from defending his 1500-meter title at the World Athletics Championships, Jake Wightman is adamant that his childhood friend Josh Kerr would have been present on the podium alongside him.

Wightman, the 2022 champion, won the dramatic Toyko silver medalist on Thursday after being beaten on the line by Portugal’s Isaac Nader.

Although it was anticipated that Kerr would compete for silver at the Olympics, he pulled up on the final lap, leaving Japan with a calf injury and regrets rather than a ribbon around his neck.

Wightman told BBC Scotland, “The saddest thing that happened to me was that I didn’t realize what was happening.”

I sent him a message last night to check if he was okay, and he responded with a nice message.

In the end, Kerr sat on the last line, his injuries putting him adrift and causing him to lose hope.

The 27-year-old, who won the title in Budapest two years ago, hung back for the first few laps before turning around on the third circuit with a hop and skip.

It was remarkable for him to grit his teeth and drag himself completely to the finish line. And that he did it in 11:23 seconds, which is a sign of his perseverance.

If Josh hadn’t had that knowledge, Weightman said of his fellow Scot, “You know he’s going to be at the front of that race and will do everything he can to win it.”

If he had been in good health, there would have been two of us on that podium, which I am certain would have been a very likely outcome.

We spoke about it in the warm climate where he has a blazingly busy schedule since Covid, which includes annual world championships.