Will ‘stars align’ for Wightman at Glasgow 2026?

Jake Wightman, a silver medalist at the world 1500m, thinks the “stars are aligning” just in time for his one final Scottish Olympic gold attempt in Glasgow the following year.

The 31-year-old, who won world silver in Tokyo in September after a few injuries in the wake of his 2022 world victory, is one of the first three athletes to be chosen for Team Scotland for the reimagined event.

Wightman and Neil Gourley have been chosen as pre-selected for the Scotstoun Stadium’s resurrected mile race, while Megan Keith has been chosen for the 10, 000-meter race, all three of whom finished in the top 12 of their world championship events.

Wightman is determined to “upgrade” those medals in what will most likely be his final race in a Scotland vest after leaving the 2018 Games in Gold Coast and the Birmingham edition in 2022 with bronze.

He told BBC Sport Scotland, “I will unwaveringly try to win it.” If I can win a gold medal at this Commonwealth Games, which I’m fairly certain will be my last, would be nice, and doing it in front of a home crowd would make it even nicer.

Wightman’s Commonwealth journey will be capped by the Glasgow event, since his first Games took place in the city in 2014.

He was still a student at the time, and his injury hampered his chances of winning the heats. His ambitions are likely to be most threatened by a few of his childhood pals this time, along with others.

Josh Kerr, a two-time Olympic medalist, will join Gourley in the Scotstoun start line for the final on August 1st, though his selection won’t be until after a knee injury has left him outside the top 10 in Tokyo.

It could be one of the championships’ events because the three of us won the world championships, Australia always has good runners in the mile, and there will be a great Kenyan team, according to Wright, referring to an event that hasn’t been staged since 1966.

However, it’s possible for me, Neil, and Josh to appear on a podium, which would be pretty special.

Because we’ve raced in Scotstoun since we were kids, I believe there will be a home advantage for us. And it will be a special occasion, one that hopefully will enable us to perform above what we even anticipate, thanks to a home crowd.

And if Wightman completes the 1609m first, will he make another celebration from Gold Coast, where he wore a “See You, Jimmy” bunnet?

He said, “It’s funny because that’s the picture on my phone right now,” he said. When you have a Saltire around you, I would do it again because it fits.