After a disappointing show in the Tokyo Olympics, only a tactical approach could have made the day for Jake Wightman in the 2022 World Athletics Championships in Eugene. After landing 4th and 3rd place finishes in the heat and semifinal round, he had to face reigning Olympic champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen in the 1500m final. But the tactical approach won the race for him on that day.

But he had to continue that form in the upcoming Commonwealth Games. Now someone needed to carry out the thinking to find out an approach and this time, Jake Wightman’s father turned coach Geoff wasn’t present on the scene. So the responsibility went to someone who knew the athlete closely. Only his girlfriend Georgie Hartigan could do something that would have resulted positively for him. Well, Georgie did, using her athlete mentality. As a result, Jake Wightman achieved his success. 

All about Jake Wightman’s girlfriend, Georgie Hartigan

Like Jake Wightman, his Irish girlfriend, Georgie Hartigan, hails from the middle-distance running sport. They have been dating since the 2014-15 season, which has familiarized them with each other’s strong and weak zones. Eventually, that knowledge of knowing each other closely helped Georgie find an approach in 2022 to make Jake’s form consistent. Based on that approach, she hid his world championship medals and other laurels from Eugene with that gold medal. Jake could not hide his disbelief at expressing the situation. He said, “My girlfriend hid everything from Worlds”. The suddenness of the situation put a cover on his aesthetic as he failed to connect the dots behind the incident. 

However, Georgie confessed the reason later. It was because of helping Jake Wightman to concentrate on the upcoming battles, looking away from his hardware from the 2022 world championships. “She said to me — and I agreed with it — ‘Otherwise you won’t be focused.’” as Jake recollected later on the incident. Understandably, the aftermath was full of memorable results. 

At first, Jake Wightman claimed the third position in the 2022 Commonwealth Games in the 1500m event. The success story continued to the New Balance Fifth Avenue Mile as the result proved to be better as Jake settled for the top position. Meanwhile, hiding those achievements from the Oregon Worlds left the runner far more relaxed, far away from feeling the pressure of expectations. Georgie knew this fact by heart and incorporated it into her boyfriend’s situation. Jake has also had certain ways to pay his girlfriend back. 

Sharing their lives, the couple sheds sweat together in their practice sessions. Such an encounter has made Georgie far more active in middle-distance running. The former national champion added that she had used to be a ‘quite lazy’ athlete before meeting with her boyfriend, Jake Wightman. But now, she knows what it takes to be a standout performer for years. For the former world champion, the experience remains, “it’s nice that someone gets that you have to go up to the mountains for four weeks at a time or probably don’t want to spend too much time on your feet between training sessions”.

A better example of Jane’s presence can be noticed in Georgie Hartigan’s performance graph. 

Is Hartigan a popular athlete?

As a middle-distance runner, Georgie Hartigan focuses on the 800m and 1500m events. And in both those events, she has achievements to prove his upper hand. This year, in the 800m events, she has failed to achieve something stunning. But in the 1500m, Georgie had her turns with the accolades. 

In the 1500m short track, she took up the crown of runner-up (4:15.35) as the National Indoor Athletics Centre hosted the BMC Sheffield Indoor Grand Prix. In the 1500m outdoor track. Jake Wightman’s girlfriend came fourth (4:22.99)in the Irish Championships. However, last year Georgie earned the Irish Championships title in the 4x400m relay event (3:51.22) in the women’s category. It was her second national championship title, as the first one had come in 2022. 

At that time, the Irish athlete clinched the 1500m short track event (4:23.26) in the National Indoor Arena in Dublin. However, throughout it all, her relationship with Jake Wightman supported her in maintaining the momentum and living the recognition. In the future as well, the couple will continue to do that.