Jake Wightman is OUT of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games

British middle distance runner Jake Wightman, who was a medal hopeful for Team GB, has pulled out of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games with a hamstring injury. 

Jake, who was the 1500m world champion in 2022, was selected to run the 800m in Paris and hasn’t recovered from an injury sustained in training. He’s replaced by Elliot Giles. 

Jake’s coach, his father Geoff, posted on Instagram: “Sometimes the margin between success and failure in sport is very fine.” Jake had been running well in training, with “form suggesting readiness for three hard rounds at 800m next week.”

“Unfortunately the tightness in his right hamstring that he felt in the closing stages of the final rep was scanned yesterday and revealed a tear. He is out of Paris 24. It’s a huge disappointment and overload issues are down to me. It’s an opportunity now for @elliot_levi_giles and best wishes to him at his third Games.”

It’s been a hard year for Jake who missed the British Championships due to a calf injury, which then meant he missed out on selection for his favoured event, the 1500m. He qualified for the 800m in Paris as a discretionary choice by British Athletics, where he was picked ahead of Elliot Giles. 

Elliot Giles was in a strong position at the British Championships before he fell following a collision with Josh Kerr (Kerr chose to race the 800m ahead of representing Team GB in the 1500m in Paris). Now Giles will take his place on the start line in Paris – his third Olympic Games after Rio and Tokyo. 

Image: Erik van Leeuwen (bron: Wikipedia)., GFDL, via Wikimedia Commons