Heyward just misses out on mile medal in Glasgow
Heyward just misses out on mile medal in Glasgow
Sat, August 1, 2026 at 9:21 PM UTC
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Jake Heyward finished fourth in the men's mile as home hero Josh Kerr was crowned Commonwealth Games champion in Glasgow.
World record holder Kerr claimed gold in a time of 3:54.12 ahead of Australian Cameron Myers and Kenya's Timothy Cheruiyot.
Heyward recorded a time of 3:55:54, just outside the medals in a thrilling world-class race at Scotstoun Stadium.
It is reward for Heyward who has battled back after suffering an injury-plagued couple of years.
An ongoing foot problem saw the Welshman undergo double Achilles surgery in 2024.
The 27-year-old spent nearly two years on the sidelines before he could run again and only restarted his athletics career in January 2026.
"It was amazing to be part of that race," said Heyward.
"To not run for 18 months, start again in January and be at this point is pleasing.
"But it's also gutting. I wanted to win a medal, I wanted to win a gold medal, but I wanted to win a medal.
"Being that close is tough to take but it is sport and we'll move on to the next thing.
"There's also some top-class athletes that finish behind me so someone has to win and someone has to lose, that's the way the sport goes."
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Heyward, who finished fifth in the 1,500m in Birmingham four years ago, thought he got his tactics wrong in the mile race in Glasgow.
"It's an improvement [on Birmingham] but I think this one was there for the taking," said Heyward.
"I think I had the ability to at least medal in that race and I made quite a lot of tactical errors and that probably shows the lack of racing over the last four years.
"I ran wide for a lot of the race and it's not ideal but you never want to be boxed in in a race like that when it is a slower pace.
"You're always making these calculated decisions. In hindsight, and I think I'd have to watch the race back, but I probably should have taken ownership of the race.
"But hindsight is a wonderful thing and what ifs don't matter in this sport."
Ava Lloyd finished sixth in the women's one mile race behind an Australian 1-2-3 of Abbey Caldwell, Jessica Hull and Claudia Hollingsworth.
Lloyd, 20, is coached by Jenny Meadows who also trains with Keely Hodgkinson and Georgia Hunter-Bell.
Thomas Walley finished fifth in the men's pole vault final with a best attempt of 5.30m.
The 28-year-old was making his Commonwealth debut and started confidently, clearing 4.90m with ease with his first vault.
As the bar was raised to 5.10m, Walley failed on his first attempt but cleared again with his second go at the height.
The Wrexham native achieved 5.30m at the final attempt but failed to clear 5.40m which would have been his personal best.
Source: “AOL Sports”
