If what he says is to be believed, Jakob Ingebrigtsen, the world’s pre-eminent miler, has suffered some extraordinary bad luck at inopportune moments over recent years.
A day after he was unexpectedly downed by Britain’s Jake Wightman at the 2022 world championships, the Norwegian Olympic 1500m champion tested positive for Covid. When Wightman’s compatriot Josh Kerr repeated the trick the following year, Ingebrigtsen explained that he had again been suffering from illness in the days leading into the race. Two global finals, two silver medals and two ailments.
The second time there was no medical proof of a claim that many instead saw as an affliction better described as sore loseritis. Whatever, a burgeoning rivalry between a fascinating generational talent and his two British nemeses had been born.
For all that individual athletes can capture attention – hello Usain Bolt – it is competition that makes athletics most compelling. So when Ingebrigtsen and Kerr (with Wightman sadly missing from the battle due to an injury picked up before the British trials) lock horns in Paris it will be the most anticipated track race of the Olympics.
A few choice words always helps fuel matters. Since lightning struck its second world 1500m final last summer, Kerr has accused his main rival of having “flaws on the track and in the manners realm” and being surrounded by “yes men”. Ingebrigtsen has countered by claiming he could beat Kerr blindfolded when fit.
It is the type of popcorn-grabbing fare that a struggling sport such as athletics longs for and has prompted natural comparisons with the golden era of British miling in the 1980s when Seb Coe and Steve Ovett rarely hid their antipathy for one another while battling for dominance.
In truth, there is little personal animosity between Kerr and Ingebrigtsen beyond two ultra-dedicated competitors who view one another simply as losers-in-waiting.
“If Jakob doesn’t think you’ve got a chance of beating him he’ll probably be quite friendly but if you’ve beaten him he won’t be a massive fan of yours,” says Britain’s Adam Fogg, who contested the European 1500m final in June when Ingebrigtsen triumphed with ease in Kerr’s and Wightman’s absence.
Last year’s world gold and silver medalists have met only once since that encounter last August, with Kerr again downing his main rival in May, breaking the British mile record in the process. Again, Ingebrigtsen had a legitimate excuse, with the race his first since suffering an achilles problem over the winter. He has since run the fastest 1500m time in the world this year and breezed to a European 1500m/5,000m double to show no lasting effects of that injury. Kerr, meanwhile, is undefeated over 1500m or further all year.
So, to tactics. As the fastest man in the field – and fourth-fastest of all time – Ingebrigtsen will happily wear a target on his back as he likely assumes his position at the front of the pack from where he can orchestrate proceedings. Both Wightman and Kerr’s victories followed near-identical blueprints of passing the Norwegian with 200m remaining and clinging on for dear life.
“You can’t really tell that Jakob is running faster than everyone else,” says Fogg. “It’s just turning the screws. Every 100m he starts to increase his pace very subtly, which begins to string out the field. Everyone tries to go with it and not many can hang on. It will be interesting at the Olympics to see if anyone can go with him.
“It was pretty cool to see that happen two years in a row and see a big favourite get taken down. It must be pretty tough for Jakob in that championship-style race knowing you are the massive favourite, but the race can play out in so many ways. Two years in a row it hasn’t played out as he wanted.”
Other medal candidates include the American trio of Cole Hocker, Hobbs Kessler and national record holder Yared Nuguse, Kenya’s mile world junior record holder Reynold Cheruiyot and Australia’s Commonwealth champion Oliver Hoare.
“Seeing how Jakob’s come back [from injury] I’d find it hard to bet against him,” says Fogg. “If I had to choose one person it would be him. But Josh looks so good at the moment it’s hard to say.”
