WORLD DOMINATION: Ingebrigtsen hunts for double gold in Nanjing

NANJING, China (AFP) — Jakob Ingebrigtsen said he is ready for the unpredictable, elbow-jostling cut and thrust of “stressed” indoor track running in the Norwegian’s quest for double world gold in Nanjing.

Ingebrigtsen will compete in his favored 1,500m and the 3,000m in China as part of a long season that culminates in the outdoor world championships in Tokyo in September.

A double Olympic champion and two-time world champion over 5,000m, Ingebrigtsen comes into the competition on the back of victories in the 1,500m and 3,000m at the European indoor championships in Apeldoorn.

They were his 15th and 16th European senior titles across all surfaces and championships.

In his last outing at a world indoors, Ingebrigtsen finished second in the 1,500m to Ethiopian Samuel Tefera in Belgrade in 2022.

That was sandwiched between two world outdoor 1,500m silvers as the Norwegian was twice outsprinted by Britons — Jake Wightman in 2022 and Josh Kerr a year later — for victory.

Ingebrigtsen was surprisingly beaten by Cole Hocker in the 1,500m Olympic final last year, finishing outside the medals, but bounced back to win the 5,000m gold.

He insisted his preparations had set him up well for Nanjing, including setting a new world indoor record of three minutes and 29.63 seconds for the 1,500m in Lievin last month en route to a new world best in the mile.

“I had a good start for 2025 with a couple of good races. My training has been very good since last summer,” he told reporters.

“I’ve been healthy. I feel strong. I feel good about improving. We’re definitely on the right path and doing some right things and hopefully improving in general.”

Turning to the challenges of competing indoors, where the track is just 200m, Ingebrigtsen said: “People are a little more stressed when it comes to indoors because obviously the track is half the size and there is usually still the same amount of competitors.”

“Many people feel like they only have so much time to do the things they want to do.”

“I always try to do things with a little bit of an extra margin.”

“When you run indoors everything looks a little bit more extreme and a little bit more decisive when you do the moves because the outcome can be a little bit tricky if you don’t make the right move at the right time.”

“If I pass or if I make a move, it has to be precise and it has to be executed perfectly. If not, you risk having people all of a sudden doing things that are very unexpected.”

While many runners are far more selective in their race selection, Ingebrigtsen — who is still only 24 — explained his ubiquity was born of the need to test himself.

“I really thrive in a competitive environment. That’s how I’ve always been. I’ve always enjoyed competing, not only in running, but in most things that I do in my life,” he said.

“I see competition as an exciting factor in the whole element to the whole experience, and especially in running athletics. Competition is the whole point of the whole purpose of what we’re doing.”

“I try to do as many races as I can because that’s what I like. That’s what I enjoy about running: to compete, to try myself and to compete against the best runners in the world.”

“I’m going to try to do that as much as I can, as often as I can... when I’m racing, I want to participate as much as I can. That’s the whole point.”

Hicham El-Guerrouj’s outdoor world 1,500m record of 3:26.00 still stands from 1998, but Ingebrigtsen insisted that while improving times were part of the process, record-hunting was not what motivated him.

“I’m always trying to improve my own personal bests and I always try to run faster and run better in training,” he said.

“It’s just a coincidence that there are records that I’m approaching and sometimes I’m able to beat.”