Jakob Ingebrigtsen was beaten by arch-rival, but still delivered a very strong race in Monaco.
The 20-year-old ran into third place in the 1500 meters in the Diamond League competition in Monaco in the strong time of 3: 29.25. It is his second fastest time of 1500 meters through the ages.
– It’s just over to run so fast when I’m so unsure of how fit I am. It only promises well, says Jakob Ingebrigtsen to NRK after the race.
Rivals with canons
Ingebrigtsen’s arch-rival Timothy Cheruiyot won the race and set a new personal record in the time of 3: 28.28. The Spaniard Mohammed Katir came in second place with a time of 3: 28.76.
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The Kenyan has now beaten Ingebrigtsen twelve out of twelve times they have met.
However, Cheruiyot has not been selected for the Olympics, as he failed in the Kenyan championship.
It went very fast from the start during the 1500 meters in Monaco, and the lap times were long down to a world record speed. Jakob started by lying down in the back of the field, but eventually ran uphill.
In another round, he was third in the field, the same position he ended up in. The 20-year-old likes that there is a high level.
– It’s cool to be a small group of athletes who are repeatedly at the highest level, and can push each other. And we see that today when there are more of us running below what was previously a magical limit, he told NRK.
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The disease plague
Ingebrigtsen has recently been out with illness, and had to stand over Bislett Games last week. Then he was bedridden with a sore throat.
– I have not necessarily been able to do what I am supposed to in the last two weeks, so it was a bit like working my way into the race and being a bit more conservative than I might otherwise have been, Ingebrigtsen said.
Dad and coach Gjert Ingebrigtsen admitted before the start that Jakob is still not one hundred percent, but he still chose to start.
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– We choose to ask, it is not pure bingo, but Jakob has no idea what the system is like, how the body will react, he said before the race.
Before Jacob’s illness, he was in great shape. In early June, he set a new European record of 5,000 meters during the Diamond League meet in Florence in the time of 12: 48.45. At the end of May, he took the victory in the 1500 meters at the Diamond League tournament in Gateshead.
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