Wightman's silver 'special' after mental and physical scars

In February a torn meniscus led to surgery and a dramatic ending to the 15-year coaching relationship with his father, Geoff. "You can't just keep hammering the same stuff and expect the same outcome," Wightman said.

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"I was just getting these big injuries. I wasn't getting niggles. I was getting two-month injuries every single time, and it wasn't the same recurring one. I probably got a bit of PTSD from what's happened with these injuries. Even before this I felt like I was getting ill. I had a couple of little problems and thought: 'My season's not going to carry on here, this is going to be the end."

Wightman knew he needed to take drastic action, so he moved to Manchester where he is now coached by John Hartigan, the father of his fiancee, Georgie. His training has been revolutionised, too. He runs fewer miles a week, brought in more cross training, and cut back on the number of intense sessions. Suddenly something that was broken has been fixed again.

There were still mental battles to overcome in Tokyo, however, with Wightman wondering whether he could ever return to the form that made him world champion in 2022.