O'Hare and Wightman vow to bounce back after 1500m disappointment

Chris OHare, left, and Jake Wightman, right, missed out on the podium. Pic: PA

The Capital star, 27, was only cleared to run in yesterday’s 1500 metres final in Birmingham following late-night scans on his injured foot following Saturday’s semi.

A hot favourite three weeks ago following brilliant victories in Boston and New York, it was a pale shadow of O’Hare at his flying best as he trailed in eighth, with Ethiopia’s Samuel Tefera claiming a gold that could have been his.

But he is set to return to his base in Oklahoma and recuperate before gearing back up for the Gold Coast.

“It was a very tough last 36 hours,” he admitted. “I will get my foot sorted and be ready for the Commonwealth Games next month. (I owe a) big thanks to my amazing family and team who helped me through this champs and got me on the track. We don’t train to be eighth in the world, but we aren’t finished yet.”

He was two spots behind Edinburgh club-mate Jake Wightman, who was left disappointed after his expected medal bid blew up.

The 23-year was less than half a second off bronze but after winning his semi-final in style, the British champion was left off the pace when it counted.

“The way I performed in the semi, I was hoping to come away with a medal,” he said. “A second separated everyone so it was about getting your positioning right which I didn’t do. I was struggling in the last 50 metres. I did a bit too much work at some points which I was hoping not to do in that race. To make the final was a tick for me to start with but I definitely wanted more than that.”

With Laura Muir landing 1500m silver on Saturday to go with her 3000 bronze, and former Edinburgh University student Eilidh Doyle landing 400m bronze, Scots females accounted for half of the GB&NI team’s haul of individual medals. And with 60m hurdler Andy Pozzi delivering a second home gold of the week, the hosts earned their seventh and last medal, an hour after the championships ended, with the women’s 4x400 squad – who were anchored by Aberdonian Zoey Clark – awarded bronze following an appeal against their earlier disqualification.