The Norwegian fixed star Jakob Ingebrigtsen was the big favorite in the 1,500 meters even before entering the WC in Budapest. The favorite has followed the 23-year-old throughout the championship and as he has impressed, the favorite has grown more and more.
When it came time for Wednesday’s final, it was therefore set for a Norwegian gold medal. Ingebrigtsen, who has a personal best of 3.27.14, was the only runner to have run under 3.29 earlier in the season and it was set for another fast time for the Norwegian this Wednesday night.
Ingebrigtsen also got a good start, where he positioned himself well in the tight group. From the fine starting position, the Norwegian then chose to control the pace of the race.
When it was time for the break-up, Ingebrigtsen was still in the driver’s seat, but then Josh Kerr, from Great Britain, came into the outer lane and ran past Ingebrigtsen. From there, the Norwegian was unable to recover and after a very strong final sprint, Kerr ran in as the final winner in a time of 3:29:38, 27 hundredths ahead of the Norwegian.
– Jakob actually kept him outside him through the next whole corner, but right at the end he couldn’t hold on anymore and Josh Kerr was the strongest at the end, announced A Lennart Julin after the astonishing finish and continued:
– There were probably so many people who tipped Kerr as a winner. He has done great times, but he has never beaten Jakob Ingebrigtsen.
Why did Ingebrigtsen lose?
After the finish, there were many theories about what caused Ingebrigtsen’s collapse.
– Kerr was better, but he didn’t press hard enough. He trusted too much that he would be able to lead from the front and respond to all challenges, said A Lennart Julin.
It was also Norwegian in the bronze medal, where Narve Nordås ran in, three hundredths behind Ingebrigtsen.
At last year’s WC in Eugene, Ingebrigtsen won a silver in the distance, who, on the other hand, managed to win the final of 5,000 meters. It remains to be seen if Ingebrigtsen takes a similar revenge at this year’s championship.
This is because he is included in Thursday’s trial heat for the long distance, where the trial heat starts at 19:00.
Stream the Athletics World Championships on TV4 Play
TV4 broadcasts from the Athletics World Championships in Budapest 2023 between 19 and 27 August with several Swedish medal hopefuls and international world stars.