Tokyo Olympics: Twins keep running in the family

Pay attention: (Clockwise from top left) - Joseph Tooby-Smith (Angela's son), Sam and Jake Wightman, Bradley Tooby-Smith (Angela's other son), Susan Wightman, Martha Wightman (Susan's daughter), Angela Tooby-Smith

"In one interview he said he would 'rather die than let me beat him', which was a bit savage but we laugh about it now."

Twins run in families so they say - never so much as in this one.

The Tooby twins - identical sisters Angela and Susan - were among the best distance runners in the world in the 1980s.

Susan had identical twin boys - Jake and Sam - and last month Jake qualified for the Tokyo Olympic Games.

The two generations have reflected on what running - and competition in all its forms - has meant to them.

Angela Tooby leads the field, including Susan, during the women's World Cross Country Championships in New Zealand in 1988

Angela Tooby-Smith, 60, who now lives in York, ran in the 10,000m in the Seoul Olympics in 1988.

She recalls their passion for running started early in life.

"The story is that when we were girls, if we complained we were cold - in our unheated cottage in Herefordshire - our father would tell us to go for a run," she said.

"We owned fields and orchards, so we could run for quite a long way."

'Huge advantage'

Running with her twin always brought an extra edge to a race.

"Up to sixth form, Susan was better than me but once I had beaten her, at the start of our international career, I tended to be faster," she explained.

"I think I had the mental edge.

"But on the track, when we were side by side, it was a huge advantage.

"We were a team and the pressure was shared."

Susan said she was not unhappy if her sister beat her in a race

Susan Wightman, who now lives in West Sussex, feels she was less competitive.

"As a track runner I expected to be behind Angela, so I was happy she was in front," she said.

"I was as happy for her as I was for me.

"I was unhappy if I didn't run well but I wasn't unhappy if she beat me, not at all because that is what I expected."

Such was the effect of running together, their coach decided it was best for them to take up different distances, so Susan moved into marathon running.

She qualified for the distance at Seoul and came a respectable 12th.

Jake Wightman says he has loved racing for as long as he can remember

Despite having a family full of successful athletes - their father Geoff represented England in the marathon at the 1990 Commonwealth Games - Susan insists her boys were not pressured into sport.

She said: "Jake and Sam started running at school, but they were not pushed into it.

"All we said was if you commit to something, you see it through."

While both had talent, differences were obvious early on.

"Sam had always been avid performer, Jake wanted to train," she said.

"Sam was more confident growing up but he needed to be seen to do well and he won't be seen to do well if he is behind Jake.

"And that is why he took a different course."

Jake Wightman said because his mother did it, he assumed getting to the Olympics was "not that tough"

Sam Wightman, 27, now an actor in London, echoes this.

"We would always finish first and second - but there was a decent gap between his first and my second." he said.

"The only time I beat Jake in a race was when he went the wrong way once.

"If I ever got close he would find some third or fourth wind to get back into the lead.

"In one interview he said he would 'rather die than let me beat him', which was a bit savage but we laugh about it now."

'Dream job'

Jake Wightman, who attends Loughborough University, said he always had a bond with running.

Childhood holidays revolved around going to athletics meetings.

"I loved it," he said. "So from from eight or nine, I always said my dream job was to be a runner professional athlete, which I am lucky enough to be able to live out now.

"With both my parents running and my mum having been to the Olympics, you kind of get a skewed vision of how hard it is to do that.

"Because my mum had been, I assumed it's not that tough to go.

"And that's an ignorance that really helps you, at that age, because I never really lost faith in that."

'Biggest threat'

But while he enjoyed having a twin brother, it also provided him with intense motivation.

"[Training with Sam] was my biggest competitive instinct, when we would do stuff, especially within running because he was pretty good, I would always feel like he was the biggest threat because we were the most comparable.

"We would always be first and second. My fear would be that my brother would beat me in a race, I dreaded that. That was one thing I hated the thought of, which, as a result, has pushed me on a bit and given me that competitive instinct.

"I don't know what it has done to him."

You can hear more about the Wightman brothers on the BBC Multi Story podcast on the BBC Sounds app or on the podcast's website.