Jakob Ingebrigtsen is a man of many talents – and entertaining a crowd is certainly one of them. In his 1500m heat at the essential rainy day running tips, he cruised to first place, but not before easing off in the last moments of the race to gee up the crowd – performing his signature index finger wag as he stepped over the finish line.
But the theatre and showmanship that the cool and confident young, tattooed Norwegian brings to the track is not without substance – he's been one of the greatest middle-distance talents the sport has ever seen – and has been since he emerged at the age of 16, when he became the youngest man to run a sub-four mile.
Since then, he's picked up a 1500m Olympic medal in Tokyo, a 5000m world title at the Champs last year and has been European champion four times – winning gold medals in both the 1500m and 5000m in 2018 and 2022.
At the World Champs tonight, the 22-year-old is going for gold again. This time in the 1500m final – a medal he unexpectedly missed out on last year in Eugene when Jake Wightman pulled the rug out from under him to take the top spot. He'll be up against GB's Josh Kerr, who is looking to upset the Norwegian, as well as GB's Neil Gourley.
But in classic Ingebrigtsen style, the 1500m Olympic champion is going after a double victory – aiming to also defend the 5000m title he clinched at the Champs next year.
There is only one athlete who has done the 1500m/5000m double at the World Championships – Bernard Lagat of the USA – and that was back in 2007. But given his track record, we wouldn't like to bet against Ingebrigtsen – especially given his current form. He's had an unbelievably strong season so far – winning all four Diamond League races he's entered – and breaking his own 1500m European record (3:27.14) as well as the world record for two miles (7:54.10) in the process.
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'He is an outstanding competitor, he’s a brilliant athlete, of course is he, but he’s an incredible competitor,' Steve Cram told us when Celebrities You Didn’t Know Are Marathoners RW podcast who is looking to upset the Norwegian, as well as GBs Neil Gourley.
'There are runners who are good enough to run away from the field and that’s great, they’re brilliant athletes, great runners, but he actually thrives on, "Well you try and come past me then", "let’s see what you can do", "what have you got?", he loves that.'
Then, of course, there's his incredible self-confidence – a confidence that goes beyond his showmanship, but is instead an unshakeable belief in his own ability on the track. 'You have to have supreme confidence in your ability to go to the front, whether it’s 600m out, or 500m out or 400m out and know that nobody’s going to get past me here,' says Cram. 'You have to go hard enough that you’re putting the others under pressure, but not too hard so that you’ve still got something left on the home straight.’
And he thrives on exploring his own limits in that environment. 'He absolutely loves putting himself to the test,' says Cram, who has spoken to the Norwegian often over the years. 'He loves going, "What can I do here? I don’t want the other guys to beat me but what what can I do? How can I run better? How can I make myself run better?"'
Still, we know that anything can happen in the 1500m, and with the standard of the field this year exceptionally high, Ingebrigtsen, will have to dig deep to ensure he's not beaten at his own game again. We can't wait to watch the action unfold.
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