{{short description|Welsh middle-distance runner}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Use British English|date=July 2025}} {{Infobox sportsperson | name = Jake Heyward | image = Crop 1500 metres men final Tampere 2018.jpg | caption = Heyward at the 2018 IAAF World U20 Championships – Men's 1500 metres | full_name = Jake David T. Heyward | nationality = British (Welsh) | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1999|4|26|df=y}} | birth_place = Lisvane, Cardiff, Wales | height = | weight = | sport = Track and field | event = 1500 m | club = Oregon Track Club<br>Cardiff AAC | turnedpro = 2019 | pb = {{ubl |'''800 m''': 1:46.47 (Stockholm 2021) |'''1000 m''': 2:18.55 (Finn Rock, OR 2020) |'''1500 m''': 3:31.08 (Birmingham 2022) |'''Mile''': 3:51.99 (Eugene, OR 2022) |'''3000 m''': 8:00.93i (Cardiff 2018) }} <!-- Medal record --> | show-medals = | medaltemplates = {{Medal|Sport |Men's Athletics}} {{Medal|Country |{{GBR2}} }} {{Medal|Competition|European Championships}} {{Medal|Silver|2022 Munich|1500m}} {{MedalCompetition|European U20 Championships}} {{MedalGold | 2017 Grosseto|1500 m}} {{MedalCompetition|European 18 Championships}} {{Medal|Gold|2016 Tbilisi| 1500 m}} }}
'''Jake David T. Heyward''' (born 26 April 1999) is a Welsh middle-distance runner. He was a silver medalist at the 2022 European Athletics Championships in the 1500 metres, competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics and represented Wales at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
== Biography == Heyward was a European champion at under-18 and under-20 level while he was a member of the Cardiff Amateur Athletic Club. Having graduated from Cardiff University, he turned professional in 2020 with the Oregon Track Club.<ref name="lewis"/><ref name="baker"/>
Heyward went into the British Athletics Championship and Olympic trials in Manchester in 2021 with a 3:33.99 personal best for the 1,500 metres race, which was below the minimum Olympic standard, although he had broken Neil Horsfield's 31 year old Welsh record set in Brussels in 1990.<ref name="lewis">{{Cite web |url=https://www.dai-sport.com/jake-heyward-welsh-1500-record/ |title=Middle-Distance Ace Jake Heyward Obliterates 31-Year-Old Welsh 1500m Record In Olympic Qualifying Time |date=May 30, 2021 |website=Dai Sport |accessdate=15 April 2025}}</ref> On 26 June 2021 Heyward finished third in the 1,500m at the 2021 British Athletics Championships, to secure a place on the British team for the delayed 2020 Summer Games in Tokyo, Japan.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://results.britishathletics.org.uk/20210625_Manchester/timetable/index/Data/M/1500_R_f.html |title=British Athletics Results |website=results.britishathletics.org.uk |access-date=27 June 2021 |archive-date=27 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210627090056/https://results.britishathletics.org.uk/20210625_Manchester/timetable/index/Data/M/1500_R_f.html |url-status=dead}}</ref> In Tokyo, despite being hampered by an Achilles injury Heyward came through the heats and semi-finals and placed ninth in the final of the 1500m.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/wales/61919154 |date=24 Jun 2022 |accessdate=15 April 2025 |title='Maybe I bluffed the Olympics' - Jake Heyward predicts more in 2022 |website=BBC Sport}}</ref> He finished his 2021 season with a 3:52.15 mile run personal best, and Welsh record, in the 2021 Diamond League event, the Prefontaine Classic on August 21.<ref name="baker">{{cite web |website=Athletics Weekly |accessdate=15 April 2025 |title=How They Train: Jake Heyward |url=https://athleticsweekly.com/performance/how-they-train-jake-heyward-1039949210/ |date=6 October 2021}}</ref>
In June 2022, he finished fourth in the 1500 metres at the 2022 British Athletics Championships.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://worldathletics.org/competition/calendar-results/results/7184306?eventId=10229502&gender=M |website=World Athletics |accessdate=15 April 2025 |title=Müller UK Athletics Championships |date=24 June 2022}}</ref> He came fifth representing Wales in the 1500m race at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, running a new personal best time of 3:31.08. He won the silver medal in the 1500 metres at the 2022 European Athletics Championships in Munich, Germany, finishing behind Norwegian Jakob Ingebrigtsen.<ref>{{Cite web |date=20 August 2022 |accessdate=15 April 2025 |url=https://www.tntsports.co.uk/athletics/heyward-rues-missed-opportunity-at-european-championships_sto9092931/story.shtml |title=HEYWARD RUES MISSED OPPORTUNITY AT EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS |website=Eurosport}}</ref> Heyward finished as runner-up in the Fifth Avenue Mile behind three-time winner Jake Wightman in September 2022.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/athletics/62876912 |date=12 September 2022 |accessdate=15 April 2025 |title=Laura Muir and Jake Wightman win 5th Avenue Mile in New York |website=BBC Sport}}</ref>
Almost four years after his last competitive race, Heyward returned to the track at the Payton Jordan Invitational in Palo Alto on 1 May 2026, winning over 1500 metres in a time of 3:37.75.<ref>{{Cite web | url= https://www.welshathletics.org/en/blog/post/weekend-round-up-2-3-may |title= Weekend Round-Up (2 - 3 May) |access-date=6 May 2026| website=Welsh Athletics}}</ref>
== References == {{Reflist}}
==External links== * {{British Athletics}} * [https://www.welshathletics.org/en/page/jake-heyward Jake Heyward] at Welsh Athletics * {{Olympedia}} * {{Team GB}} * [https://web.archive.org/web/20230521083939/https://teamwales.cymru/athlete/jake-heyward/ Jake Heyward] at Team Wales (archived) * {{2022 Commonwealth Games profile|60045}} * {{Instagram}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Heyward, Jake}} Category:1999 births Category:Living people Category:Welsh men middle-distance runners Category:British men middle-distance runners Category:Olympic athletes for Great Britain Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Olympics Category:European Athletics Championships medalists Category:Commonwealth Games athletes for Wales Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 2022 Commonwealth Games Category:Athletes from Cardiff Category:21st-century Welsh sportsmen