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Hobbs Kessler, 20, surpassed 2022 world champion Jake Wightman to win the 1500m race at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix Meet on Sunday. The young athlete spoiled the 29-year-old’s comeback performance at the championships as the latter settled for a second-place finish.
Kessler won the 1500m race by clocking 3:33.66 - his personal best. On the other hand, Wightman finished second by running a personal best of 3:34.06. Craig Engels, meanwhile, came third by clocking 3:37.04.
It was Wightman’s first competition ever since returning from a foot injury in 2023. His name was associated with popular athletes like Noah Lyles and Gabby Thomas competing in the 2024 New Balance Indoor Grand Prix Meet.
Nevertheless, the championship was a crucial part of the World Athletics Indoor Tour that could have given Wightman an advantage in performing at future championships this year.
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After the race, Jake Wightman expressed his disappointment and said via letsrun.com:
“I was hoping to be able to tick a lot of things off today: a win and the [3:33.50 Olympic] standard.”
“I got neither. Not the best outcome for me but gotta start somewhere, haven’t we?” the British athlete added.
The 2024 NBIGP 1500m gold medallist Hobbs Kessler previously won the one-mile race at the 2023 World Road Running Championships. He turned professional directly after high school in 2021 and signed his professional contract with Adidas just a day before competing in the Olympic Trials.
Jake Wightman did not defend his world championship title due to his foot injury in 2023
In January 2023, Jake Wightman suffered a stress fracture that left him with no option but to skip the season to heal his foot injury. He then admitted in an interview with BBC that resorting to “shortcut” solutions did not help him heal.
"I've known for a bit that this was a potential outcome," Wightman said.
"I thought I was pretty much in the clear but I shortcut a lot of corners to get back and my body's kicked up a fuss," he added.
Wightman explained that he wanted to recover completely before participating in the 2024 Paris Olympics.
"Having won worlds last year, the only thing to do is win Olympic gold," he said. "It's potentially my last Olympics so I need to make sure I do everything I possibly can to not have the season that I've had," he explained.
"I've been battling for so long to be able to try and get my body in one piece so I can start at 100 percent to make sure that I can keep it there and go into Paris running my best," Wightman added.
