For Jakob Ingebrigtsen, hanging the silver medal around his neck right after crossing the finish line was like a blow to his belt, writes journalist Atte Husu from Hayward Field.
EUGENE. This was supposed to be the biggest day of the Norwegian athletics year.
Jakob Ingebrigtsen entered the World Championships in Oregon undefeated, including outdoor races in the 1,500m, mile and 5,000m.
Tonnivitonen is, however, the main trip of the fjord endurance running miracle, where the only blemish in his career, finishing fourth at the World Championships in Doha three years ago, had to be corrected at Hayward Field.
Of course, the first World Cup medal of her career came, but when it was silver instead of gold, it was not clear to any of the spectators what Ingebrigtsen’s thought process was when the shocked fast medal was practically thrown around her neck immediately after crossing the finish line. For Ingebrigtsen, who grew up to be a winner, it was like a blow to the diaphragm.
It was easy to read from his face that he was interested like a kilo, what can I say. However, the night for the Norwegians was taking an even darker turn.
An easier version of the face number, who ran the world record for the longest fences in Tokyo and then screamed picturesquely Karsten Warholm arrived at the World Championships from a difficult starting point.
After getting injured in the season opener on June 5th, Warholm did not get a single start under his belt before the main event of the season.
Despite the difficulties, the opening and semi-finals of the World Cup gave indications that the problems are behind us. Warholm pounded his chest in the familiar animalistic way during the track introduction and was after 250 meters in the same times as in his ME run a year ago. Whether it was due to a lack of competitive feeling or not, Warholm’s rhythm was completely destroyed at the eighth fence.
The defeat in the fenced track circuit was Warholm’s first in a prestigious competition since the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic quarter-finals and the first in general since September 2018. At the finish, Warholm did not show a scream and expression comparable to a classic painting, but pure disbelief shone from his face.
Warholm’s racing career is already over, Ingebrigtsen still gets a chance on her side trip at 5,000 meters. However, getting through the gold mission is more difficult than on the main journey.
Power changed in all sports
The general main theme of World Cup Tuesday was the change of power. The British took the scepter from Ingebrigtsen Jake Wightman, for whom the title race was the first of his career. That’s what it was like for the Brazilian who derailed Warholm’s throne For Alison dos Santos.
In the end, a new king or queen was crowned in each of the four finals of the evening. Australian Eleanor Patterson didn’t look the gift horse in the mouth after the Russian who dominated the women’s high jump with Warholm-like superiority since 2017 From Marija Lasitskene was deprived of the right of representation because of the war of aggression started by his country. A Swede in the men’s discus throw Daniel Ståhl on the other hand, lost their first ranking final since the 2018 EC final.
A year ago Ståhl and Simon Petterson celebrated the Swedish double victory, but at Hayward Field the blue and yellow colors occupied the 4th and 5th places. As in many sports mentioned above, a similar result has to be sought from the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics, where no Swedish throwers were seen on the podium.
Pressure on the biting teeth
The World Championships in Oregon have reached the halfway point, and so far the Nordic countries do not have any gold medals. For the time being, Norway is in the top spot in the competition within the Nordic countries, with Ingebrigtsen’s silver and by Eivind Henriksen with the help of moukari bronze.
Sweden’s balance is very Finnish so far, one bronze brought by a competitive walker Perseus Karlstrom from 20 kilometers. If it stayed that way, we would be talking about the biggest bang of these World Cups – so superior and above all reliable Armand Duplantis is compared to its staff colleagues. Even with Khaddi Sagni has a say in women’s height.
Getting satisfaction from other people’s failures is annoying. Let’s underline again: this text does not make fun of the collapse of the Norwegian and Swedish gold dreams. No way.
Tuesday only underlined the fact that athletics is an individual sport. And when the few top individuals don’t rise to their level on the only day of the year when the result should come, it immediately leaves a massive mark on the team’s medal balance.
Ingebrigtsen, Warholm and Ståhl have played in prestigious competitions with an unimaginable success rate, but on Tuesday the realities hit them hard in the face. And the feelings it caused were not unclear to anyone.