Jakob Ingebrigtsen broke a 28(!) year old world record.
Nevertheless, he was snubbed on the bonus by Armand Duplantis.
Now the athletics world is reacting with anger.
Armand Duplantis won Olympic gold and broke a world record in Paris last summer. It was on a magical summer evening that a packed grandstand stayed just to watch Mondo set off on another record attempt, and no one was disappointed as he flew over 6.25 and celebrated wildly. And he didn’t have to wait long for the next record.
Two world records
In the Selesia Diamond League gala on Sunday, Armand Duplantis needed just four jumps before breaking his own record, just 20 days after his last one. Mondo continues to shock the world of athletics in almost every event he competes in, and the world record was his third this season alone. But he wasn’t the only one to write himself into the history books this weekend.
Norwegian superstar Jakob Ingebrigtsen broke one of the oldest running records on the men’s side in the world of athletics, when the 28-year-old record in the 3000 meters was completely pulverized. The record has long been considered one of the best and most difficult to beat in athletics, but Ingebrigtsen finished more than three seconds faster than the previous record – but it still wasn’t enough to break Duplantis when it came to a certain lucrative bonus…
The anger after the announcement
For the first time, a Diamond League gala presented an MVP award to a competitor. The award was to be given to the athlete with the best results according to the International Association of Athletics Federations points tables, and although Ingebrigtsen broke a 28-year-old record, it was not enough to get ahead of Mondo, who thus broke a record that had stood for 20 days .
Even before the competition, Ingebrigtsen talked about how it was unfair in advance, and that it had really been enough for Duplantis to jump 6.17 to take home the bonus. Now Duplantis broke his own world record, and then Ingebrigtsen was not even close to breaking him, despite the crushing of the 3000-meter record.
Armand Duplantis was awarded, with the MVP win, 10,000 dollars – i.e. 100,000 Swedish kronor – in cash, but also a specially made ring worth 100,000 kroner. The fact that Ingebrigtsen was snubbed for the award, and 200,000 kroner, has led to strong reactions within the world of athletics.
“It shouldn’t be allowed for Mondo to be involved in stuff like this,” writes one user on social media.
“Should have voted for this award. Both are incredible, but it’s hard not to choose Ingebrigtsen first,” writes another.
“I had expected that a world record that stood for 28 years would rank higher than one that stood for 20 days,” writes a third.
Sign up for our newsletter
Share