Jake can be the best by some middle distancé

SAYS GB OLYMPIC LEGEND SER COE

- ALEX SPINK

SEBASTIAN COE says Jake Wightman has the chance to become Britain's most successful ever middle-distance runner.

He believes the Scot can also pave the way for the greatest generation of track talent since the 1980s.

Coe, president of World Athletics, won back-to-back Olympic titles at 1500metres and set a dozen world records.

But so impressed was he watching Wightman be crowned world champion over the same distance that he declared the 28-year-old had an opportunity to tread new ground.

"This is potentially a real purple patch for Jake because of the way the calendar is now, Coe said, pointing to a schedule condensed by the pandemic. "He will defend this next year and then, hopefully, be in great shape for the Olympics a year later." Factor in the Commonwealth Games and Europeans still to come this summer and Coe reckons there is the potential for Wightman to fill his boots.