Scots record a consolation for Jake as he just misses medal

JAKE WIGHTMAN missed out on a shock medal in Doha but was happy to claim a Scottish record as his consolation prize.

The 25-year-old was within touching distance in a race for silver in the 1500 metres final as the World Championships came to a close last night with Kenyan kingpin Timothy Cheruiyot reigning supreme.

Coming into the home straight, there were spots on the podium up for grabs with Wightman and Edinburgh club-mate Josh Kerr still in the hunt but it slipped away as they ended up fifth and sixth with team-mate Neil Gourley down in 11th place.

Wightman is now the seventh-quickest Brit of all time as he clocked 3:31.87 to smash Chris O’Hare’s Scottish best.

He said: “As soon as they went, I thought, ‘You’re going to have to try to get a bronze.’

“There was no way Timothy was going to blow up unless there was something seriously wrong with him.

“To be within striking distance of that medal meant I was running to my limit. I couldn’t do anything else.

“To run a personal best on a day like that is all I could ask. If that gets me fifth in the world, I’ll take it. It was as good a race as I could have run.”

Cheruiyot, 23, was in a league of his own to upgrade his silver from London in 2017, striking gold in 3:29.26, a staggering two seconds clear of Algeria’s 2012 Olympic champion Taoufik Makhloufi with Pole Marcin MARK WOODS IN DOHA Lewandowski grabbing third. Wightman admitted there was no danger of stopping Tiger Tim and said: “We were prepared for it. That track is quick and it probably glorifies the times a little bit.

“You knew Timothy was going to do that. None of us can live with him in any race and it shouldn’t be different here.”

Kerr ran his own personal best of 3:32.52 but just couldn’t cut the gap.

He said: “I ran out of steam but I got beaten by some very good runners.

“I’m disappointed. I felt like a medal was up for grabs and I let that opportunity go.”

Gourley, 24, walked away from his big-time final debut after clocking 3:37.30 but vowed to come back fighting for an Olympic year.

The Glaswegian said: “I need to get better. I need to get stronger. Otherwise, I’m not going to be able to be effective in a final in the future.”

Zoey Clark lost out on a fifth medal in three years as GB were demoted into fourth in the 4x400 relay.

The Aberdonian, 24, pulled out a storming lead leg but saw anchor Laviai Nielsen slip off the pace as the USA bolted to victory. Jamaica, who came third behind Poland, were disqualified for stepping out of their lane but a counter-appeal cost the Brits a medal.

The Scot said: “We’re ready to go for next year and I really want to be in Tokyo.”