Will 'stars align' for Wightman at Glasgow 2026?

Jake Wightman won 1500m bronze for Scotland at the 2018 and 2022 Commonwealth Games

World 1500m silver medallist Jake Wightman believes the "stars are aligning" at the right time for him to make one final attempt at winning a Commonwealth Games gold for Scotland in Glasgow next summer.

The 31-year-old - who claimed global silver in Tokyo in September after enduring an injury-scarred few years in the wake of his 2022 world triumph - is among the first three athletes to be named in Team Scotland for the reimagined event.

Wightman and Neil Gourley have been pre-selected for the resurrected mile race at Scotstoun Stadium, while Megan Keith has been chosen for the 10,000m - all three having finished in the top 12 of their events at the worlds.

And, after leaving the 2018 Games in Gold Coast and the Birmingham edition in 2022 with bronze, Wightman is determined to "upgrade" those medals in what will most likely be his final race in a Scotland vest.

"I definitely want to try to win it," he told BBC Sport Scotland. "I'm fairly certain this will be my last Commonwealth Games, so if I can come away with a gold, it would be pretty nice and to do it in front of a home crowd would make it even nicer.

"This will be a chance to do something I feel like I've got left to do. I just feel like it's coming at the right time, not just for myself but for a lot of Scottish athletes. It's kind of the stars aligning at the right points in our careers."

The Glasgow event will bookend Wightman's Commonwealth journey, given his first Games were in the city in 2014.

He was still a student at the time and injury hampered his hopes of progression from the heats. This time, a couple of his pals from childhood are among those who will likely pose the greatest threat to his ambitions.

Along with Gourley, two-time Olympic medallist Josh Kerr is also set to toe the Scotstoun start line for the final on 1 August - albeit his selection will not come for a while yet after injury left him outside the top 10 in Tokyo.

"The three of us made the world final, Australia always has good athletes in the mile, and there will be a great Kenyan team, so it could be one of the events of the championships," Wightman said of an event that has not been staged since 1966.

"But myself, Neil and Josh can all potentially get ourselves on a podium, which would be pretty special.

"I think there will be a home advantage for us because we've raced in Scotstoun so many times since we were kids. And, with a home crowd, it will be a special occasion, so that hopefully will propel us to be able to perform beyond what we even expect."

And should Wightman complete the 1609m first, might he repeat his celebrations from Gold Coast, when he donned a 'See You, Jimmy' bunnet?

"It's funny, because on my phone screen that's actually the picture at the moment," he said. "I'd do it again, because it fits when you've got a Saltire around you.

"For me, it's part of being able to celebrate being Scottish. We moved here when I was 10 and I learned to run here, so it's a chance to be proud of representing Scotland and hopefully hear Flower of Scotland a few times next summer."