EUGENE, Ore. — After he'd crossed the finish line on a warm May evening in San Juan Capistrano, his index finger wagging lest anyone doubt his victory, distance-running sensation Jakob Ingebrigtsen spent the next 45 minutes posing for dozens of teenaged fans' requests for selfies.
This was Ingebrigtsen in full, a mix of speed, showmanship and comfort in the spotlight that begged the question of nature versus nurture. Within his native Norway, Ingebrigtsen has been a celebrity for the majority of his 21 years through "Team Ingebrigtsen," a documentary series that followed his family of runners' hard-charging training for a decade.
In a country of 5 million, some episodes had been watched by as much as one-fifth of the population, said Petter Wallace, the head of content commissioning and sales for NRK, the country's public-service broadcaster, which aired the show. The outcome of December's series finale, which chronicled Ingebrigtsen winning the 1,500-meter gold medal in Tokyo last year, had been known for months, yet became one of the series' most-watched shows.
