 Heyward at the 2018 IAAF World U20 Championships – Men's 1500 metres | |||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born | 26 April 1999 Lisvane, Cardiff, Wales | ||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||
| Country | Wales | ||||||||||||||
| Sport | Track and field | ||||||||||||||
| Event | 1500 m | ||||||||||||||
| Club | Oregon Track Club | ||||||||||||||
| Turned pro | 2019 | ||||||||||||||
| Achievements and titles | |||||||||||||||
| Personal bests | |||||||||||||||
Medal record
| |||||||||||||||
Jake Heyward (born 26 April 1999) is a Welsh middle-distance runner. He was a silver medalist at the 2022 European Athletics Championships in the 1500m.
Heyward was a European champion at under-18 and under-20 level while he was a member of the Cardiff Amateur Athletic Club. He turned professional in 2020 with the Oregon Track Club. Heyward went into the British Athletics Championship and Olympic trials in Manchester with a with a 3:33.99 personal best for the 1,500 metres race, which was below the minimum Olympic standard. He had also broken Neil Horsfield's 31 year old Welsh record set in Brussels in 1990. [1] On 26 June 2021 Heyward finished third in the 1,500m at the British championship to secure a place on the British team for the delayed 2020 Summer Games. [2] In Tokyo, despite being hampered by an Achilles injury Heyward came through the heats and semi-finals and came ninth in the final of the 1500m. [3] In 2022, Heyward finished as runner-up in the Fifth Avenue Mile behind three-time winner Jake Wightman. [4] He came fifth in the 1500m race at the 2022 Commonwealth Games 1500m race in a new personal best time of 3:31.08 and then won silver in the 2022 European Athletics Championships – Men's 1500 metres behind Jakob Ingebrigtsen. [5]
Stephen Cram, is a British retired track and field athlete. Along with fellow Britons Sebastian Coe and Steve Ovett, he was one of the world's dominant middle distance runners during the 1980s. Nicknamed "The Jarrow Arrow", after his home town, Cram set world records in the 1,500 m, 2,000 m, and the mile during a 19-day period in the summer of 1985. He was the first man to run 1,500 m under 3 minutes and 30 seconds. He won the 1,500 m gold medal at the 1983 World Championships and the 1,500 m silver medal at the 1984 Olympic Games.
Mark Robert Rowland is a retired male distance-runner from the United Kingdom, who specialised in the 3000m steeplechase.
The 1500 metres or 1,500-metre run is the foremost middle distance track event in athletics. The distance has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 and the World Championships in Athletics since 1983. It is equivalent to 1.5 kilometers or approximately 15⁄16 miles. The event is closely associated with its slightly longer cousin, the mile race, from which it derives its nickname "the metric mile".
Peter Elliott is a former middle-distance runner from the United Kingdom. During his career, he won the gold medal in the 1500 metres at the 1990 Commonwealth Games, the silver medal in the 1500 metres at the 1988 Olympic Games, and the silver medal in the 800 metres at the 1987 World Championships.
Nicholas Ian Willis is a New Zealand middle distance runner and the country's only two-time Olympic medalist in the 1500 metres. He won the silver medal at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, and bronze at the 2016 Olympics in Rio De Janeiro. His other achievements over the same distance include the national and Oceania record (3:29.66), and medals from three consecutive Commonwealth Games.
Susan Julia Wightman is a retired long-distance runner from Great Britain. Representing Wales, she finished sixth in the 10,000 metres at the 1986 Commonwealth Games. She set her personal best of 2:31:33 in the marathon, when finishing 12th at the 1988 Seoul Olympics. At the 1988 Great North Run, she became the first British woman to run a sub-70-minute half-marathon, running 69:46 to finish second behind Greta Waitz. This would stand as the UK record until 1991 when Liz McColgan ran 69:15.
Eilish McColgan is a Scottish middle- and long-distance runner. She is the 2022 Commonwealth Games 10,000 metres champion with the Games record, and 5000 metres silver medallist. McColgan is a four-time European Championships medallist, winning silver medals for the 5000 m in 2018 and 10,000 m in 2022, bronze in the 5000 m in 2022, and a bronze for the indoor 3000 metres in 2017. She is the European record holder for the 10 km road race, and the British record holder for the 5000 m, 10,000 m, 5 km and half marathon. She also holds the European best in the 10 miles on the roads.
Emily Diamond is a British track and field athlete, who competes in the 200 metres and 400 metres. Diamond came to prominence in her breakout season of 2016 when, following her first win at the British Championships over the 400 metres distance, she collected a gold medal in the 4 x 400 metres relay at the 2016 European Athletics Championships as part of the Great Britain team, followed by a bronze in the same discipline at the 2016 Summer Olympics.
Laura Weightman is a former British middle-distance runner. She reached the 1500 metres final at the 2012 London Olympics and the 2016 Rio Olympics. She won a silver medal at the 2014 Commonwealth Games and bronze medals at the 2014 and 2018 European Championships. She also won a bronze medal in the 5000 metres at the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
Laura Muir is a Scottish middle- and long-distance runner. She is the 2020 Tokyo Olympic silver medallist in the 1500 metres, having previously finished seventh in the event at the 2016 Rio Olympics. Muir won the bronze medal at the 2022 World Championships, and has three other top five placings in 1500 m finals at the World Athletics Championships, finishing fifth in 2015, fourth in 2017 and fifth in 2019. She is a two-time European 1500 m champion from 2018 and 2022 as well as the 2022 Commonwealth Games 1500 m champion and 800 metres bronze medallist.
Timothy Cheruiyot is a Kenyan middle-distance runner specialising in the 1500 metres. He is the 2020 Tokyo Olympic silver medallist in the event and the 8th fastest athlete all time over the distance. At the World Athletics Championships, Cheruiyot won the silver medal in 2017 in London, and a gold in 2019 in Doha.
Ciara Mageean is a middle-distance runner from Portaferry in Northern Ireland who specialises in the 1500 metres. She is the 2024 European Athletics Championships gold medalist at the distance, the first individual Irish European champion since Sonia O'Sullivan.
Elliot Levi Giles is an English middle-distance runner from Birmingham, specialising in the 800 metres. He won a bronze medal at the 2016 European Championships and holds the current road mile world record at 3:51.3.
Jake Wightman is a British middle-distance runner who primarily competes in the 1500 metres. He won the gold medal at the 2022 World Championships, the first global gold in a middle distance event for a British male since Seb Coe's 1500 m title at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. At the European Athletics Championships, Wightman earned a bronze in 2018 and a silver for the 800 metres in 2022. He won bronze medals at the 2018 and 2022 Commonwealth Games.
Jakob Ingebrigtsen is a Norwegian middle- and long-distance runner who is the current world record holder in the short track 1500 metres, the 2000 metres and the 3000 metres, and holds the world best time over the two mile distance. Ingebrigtsen is a two-time Olympic champion, winning gold medals in the 1500 m at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, setting a then Olympic and European record, and in the 5000 metres at the 2024 Paris Olympics. He is also a two-time World champion, winning gold medals in the 5000 m in 2022 and 2023 and a six-time European champion, winning gold medals in the 1500 m and 5000 m in 2018, 2022, and 2024. In addition to the 1500 m, Ingebrigtsen holds European records in the mile and 5000 m. Ingebrigtsen is one of three men to run a sub-3:30 1500 m, sub-7:30 3000 m and a sub-12:50 5000 m.
Josh Kerr is a British middle-distance runner who competes primarily in the 1500 metres. He won a gold medal in the event at the 2023 World Championships, a silver medal at the 2024 Summer Olympics, a bronze medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics, and a gold medal at the 2015 European Junior Championships. Indoors he is the 2024 World Indoor champion in the 3000 metres. He holds the world best time in the short track 2 mile, the European record in the short track mile & 3000 m, and the British record in the outdoor 1500m and mile.
Neil Horsfield is a Welsh former athlete who competed mainly in the 800 metres and 1500 metres. He won a silver medal in the 1500m at the 1985 European Junior Championships, before going on to represent Wales at two Commonwealth Games and Great Britain at the 1990 European Championships.
Jemma Reekie is a Scottish middle-distance runner who competed at the 2020 and 2024 Summer Olympics.
Oliver 'Olli' Hoare is an Australian middle-distance runner who primarily competes in the 1500 metres. He notably won the 1500 m at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in a Games record of 3:30.12.
 | This biographical article relating to Welsh athletics is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
