When Jakob Ingebrigtsen’s speed reserve was known, one couldn’t help but be surprised by the tactics of the main opponents once again, writes Pekka Holopainen.
Pekka Holopainen sports reporter
Paris Olympics on channels 26.7.–11.8. Go to the competition website here. You can find the entire program of the games here.
If the 5,000m final comes against a person who owns the European records in the 1,500m, mile, 2,000m and 3,000m races, the East African 12.40-level opponents will naturally run from under his feet, draining their speed reserves along the way and laughing all the way to the bank.
Or that’s how you’d think it would go.
Let’s see then, at what times Jakob Ingebrigtsen has now won three global-level vitos in a row, i.e. World Championship gold in Eugene 2022 and Budapest 2023 and on Saturday Olympic gold in Paris: 13.09.24, 13.11.30 and 13.13.67.
Jog for Jakob
These are really hard times and completely out of reach for the overwhelming majority of those who invest everything in that journey, but for Jakob Ingebrigtsen, they are a breeze.
When the last kilometer went, of course, at 2.21, there was nothing but dimness for the others. At the age of 23, the guy is a two-time Olympic champion, a two-time world champion and a six-time European champion.
Ethiopian Hagos Gebrhiwet attacked earlier this summer in earnest Joshua Cheptegein Against ME with Bislett: 12:36,73.
Now he bypassed the 2,000-meter finish in a pace aiming for a final time of about 14 minutes. It’s no wonder that the man left outside the podium walked through the media area with a face as if carved from stone.
There were no statistical scares
Remember Ethiopia’s statistical horrors of the season Yomif Kejelcha (12.38.95) and Kenyan Jacob Kiplimo (12.40,96) were not on the line at all, neither was ME man Cheptegei. The European record holder got the trip Mohamed Katirwhich the doping control temporarily transferred to the blanket chain.
In light of the empirical evidence, the presence of gentlemen would hardly have changed the overall picture regarding the name of the gold medalist.
A special curiosity is that after 2016, there has not been a single prestigious year in athletics without a gold medal being brought to Norway either by an athlete named Ingebrigtsen or Karsten Warholm.
Putken started 2016 at the European Championships in Amsterdam Philip Ingebrigtsenwho has been his younger brother’s accredited coach in Paris.
Dopinggratz to the competition village
You could find anything to write down about the magical evening. In the men’s race, we saw for the first time how a final time of less than 1.42 leaves the worker without a prize.
Not to get ahead of things, but with the fourth-placed USA By Bryce Hoppel there is so much hope that the bronze medalist of Algeria by Djamel Sedjat and there was a doping raid on this coach’s accommodation on Thursday and it may be heard from behind.
Laura Muir improved his record in 1,500 meters to a staggering 3:53.37, not to mention a medal. All the placings on the way require a tougher finishing time than in any previous Olympic Games.
Gianmarco Tamberi bravely came to the Stade France, despite his illness, to attempt the high jump, which was greatly appreciated by the crowd.
France struck with chalk lines
By Saturday evening, France had achieved 60 medals from its home games, the jackpot in modern Olympic history and almost double compared to Tokyo 2021.
But: the main sport of the Games was a complete mess. Rome 800m European champion Gabriel Tual was sixth in Saturday’s final race.
– In athletics, winning a medal is the most difficult in the Olympic Games, he told Urheilu.
Just a moment later, the beeper Cyrena Samba-Mayelan silver saved the race organizers from the zero club in the number one sport form of the games.
Sweden’s problems
In Sweden, there has been a downright catastrophic feeling around the athletics session in Paris. Finland “won” the national match by taking eight final spots against Sweden’s five. To the market!
Let’s say that on the day when a Finnish track and field athlete takes Olympic gold again with an ME result like Lasse Virén 1972 or Armand Duplantis 2024, it’s about failure that I could easily live with, at least personally.