Wightman, 31, reached the pinnacle of his career to date at the 2022 World Championships in Eugene when he held off Norway’s Jakob Ingebrigtsen to win the gold medal in the 1500m.
The next two years brought only frustration, however, as a succession of injuries denied the Edinburgh AC product the chance to defend his world title in Budapest a year later, with his fellow Scot, Josh Kerr, succeeding him as champion.
Wightman was then due to compete in the 800m at last year’s Olympics in Paris, only for a hamstring problem to force him to pull out just days before the event.
He has managed to remain injury-free this year but hasn’t managed to find consistency and is determined to keep expectations low in Tokyo.
“My last race was in Brussels which was shocking from what I expected from it and what I got out of it,” he said, speaking at a Novuna-backed British camp – with the company financing the ambitions of millions across the UK, from helping business grow and individuals plan for the future, to backing British Athletics on the global stage. “There were a lot of bodies, it was busy and I just struggled to deal with that.
“That’s probably where the lack of racing in the last few years comes in because I thought the race-craft and the positioning would come back quicker than it has, and it feels like I’m not quite on autopilot as I was a few years ago.
“For me, the heats are a pretty big deal to me just because I feel like if I can go through my heat feeling comfortable, like I am on autopilot, that would be a confidence booster for me.
“Training-wise, I think I’m training as well as I ever have done and hopefully that means that I’m in my best shape, but whether that’s going to be good enough to win, to medal, to make a final I don’t know.
“I’m not going in with expectations, it’s going to be one race at a time.”
Wightman, whose best 1500m time this year is the 3:31.58 he ran at the London Diamond League meeting in July, revealed trying to get back to his best level has been more stressful than dealing with his injuries.
Considering he was competing with the likes of Kerr, Neil Gourley and Elliot Giles for selection for Tokyo, there was some understandable relief when his call-up to the Great Britain team came.
Wightman said: “As soon as I knew I was picked for the Worlds it gave me a lot more of a sense of calm because that was the big thing, not being able to make teams, to get to champs.
“Selection was always going to be tough this year, so once I got it I felt like I could now just focus on Tokyo, whereas the whole season before it was about always thinking – the start of trials, getting to standard and then getting to the games.
“I feel as calm as I have done just because there’s nothing that I’m going to do that’s going to be a potential risk, so I feel like I am ready.”
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