© Copyright – 2020 – Athletics Illustrated
Jemma Reekie, Laura Muir and Jake Wightman, were all named recipients of the Scottish Athletics 4J Studios Performer of the Year title. It is the top national athletics award and the three were named for their season of world-class performances.
In a release, Scottish Athletics said, “In a very different year from usual for obvious reasons, it was felt a tied outcome was the most suitable verdict when assessing the contenders.”
Jemma Reekie
During the 2020 season indoor and outdoor seasons, 22-year-old Reekie set six new personal best times along with three indoor national records.
In the 800-metre event, she dropped her time down to 1:58.63 in Chorzów, Pol on August 25. Eleven days prior, she ran the 1000m event in Monaco finishing at an international-level 2:31.11. During two meets in February 2020, she ran British indoor records in the 800m in Glasgow, and the 1500m, and the mile (1609m) in New York at the Armory. Her respective times were 1:57.91, 400.52, and 4:17.88.
She also won two gold medals at the 2019 European U23 Championships in Gävle.
Laura Muir
Laura Muir set the national 1500m record of 3:55.22 in August 2016 in Paris. It was a stunning performance. She has continued to run well. She now owns five national records.
In the 1000m event, she ran a 2:30.82 in Monaco this year. In February, she nearly matched her outdoor 800m best of 1:58.42, with an indoors 1:58.44 performance. Not a national record, but certainly a very strong race.
In September 2020 in Berlin, Germany, she ran her specialty, the 1500m in the time of 3:57.40. Not a personal best, but a strong performance in an odd year. She won the race in the same stadium where she had won the European Championships just two years prior. The 2020 performance for the 27-year-old set a world lead for the year.
Jake Wightman
Wightman has set at least three new personal bests during 2020 including a national indoor record in the 1000m event with a 2:17.51 performance at the Reggie Lewis Center in Boston on January 25th.
The 26-year-old ran a pb in the 800m finishing in the time of 1:44.18 at the Ostrava Golden Spike meet on September 8. He won handily.
Three weeks prior, he cracked the 3:30-benchmark for the first time in Monaco during the Diamond League meet finishing in the time of 3:29.47. He was third behind Kenya’s Timothy Cheruiyot (3:28.45, WL) and Norway’s Jakob Ingebrigtsen (3:28.68, PB). Wightman finished nearly a second ahead of Filip Ingebrigtsen.
