Wightman aims to emulate British greats Coe and Ovett

Jake Wightman reckons the fun-fuelled end to his whirlwind season can catapult him on the same trajectory as middle distance legends Seb Coe and Steve Ovett. The world 1500m champion rounded off a gruelling campaign with a European 800m silver medal last night after being beaten by Spaniard Mariano Garcia in Munich.

Ad Wightman, 28, stunned rival Jakob Ingebrigtsen at last month's World Championships in Oregon before the impact of a disappointing bronze medal at the Commonwealth Games left him pondering his options ahead of a third major championship in the space of five weeks. AthleticsLawrence Okoye wants Olympic and world success after European bronze28 MINUTES AGO The Scot ran a shortened distance in Germany to release the pressure and showcase his diversity and was just 0.06s away from grabbing gold at the city's 1972 Olympic Stadium.

Wightman is a student of the school of middle distance running and hopes his hard-fought silver can help him follow in the footsteps of his heroes next season. The 28-year-old, who finished above Ireland's Mark English in third and British star Ben Pattison in sixth, said: «You look at the days of Coe and Ovett in Moscow 1980, coming out and running as well in an 800m as in 1500m.

»I'd love to be like that — and this is a good stepping stone towards it for me. «800m races are fun — I think they're more fun to watch as you don't bore people with four minutes of running, and it's only two.