• Wightman has not competed this year due to a stress fracture in his foot.
• He is still eligible to compete in Budapest as the defending champion.
• He is looking to focus on his Olympic year in 2024.

After a season marred by injuries, Britain’s Jake Wightman will not defend his 1500m championship at the World Championships in Budapest in August.

In Eugene a year ago, the Scot outran Olympic champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen and won a shock gold medal.

The 28-year-old went on to win silver in the European 800 meters and bronze in the Commonwealth 1500 meters, but early this year he broke his foot due to stress.

Wightman hasn’t competed yet this year and had planned to skip the UK Championships.

Despite skipping those trials, he was still eligible to compete in Budapest as the defending champion, but he has decided not participate.

“I’ve always felt as though time has been on my side to overcome my problems fully, however it has run out,” Wightman wrote on Instagram.

“This means I’m sadly going to be unable to compete at the Worlds, which has been really gutting to come to terms with.

“There are some risks I could have taken to be on that Budapest start line, however, the potential to jeopardize my Olympic year makes this the obvious decision.”

The choice was made after his withdrawal from his comeback race at the Diamond League competition last week in Lausanne.

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