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Norway’s Jakob Ingebrigtsen says he will only get stronger heading into next year’s world championships in Tokyo, saying his training times continue to improve.
The Norwegian, aged just 23, caused a sensation by winning the 1,500/5,000m double at the 2018 European Championships in Berlin, aged 18.
Since then, he has repeated this double twice on the continental scene, while winning both events at the Tokyo Olympics.
He won 5,000m gold at the Paris Games this summer after finishing fourth in the 1,500m. He has also been beaten to silver in the shorter event at the last two world championships while winning 5,000m gold.
Despite the relative disappointment, Ingebrigtsen said Thursday he was confident that his progress would continue.
Asked if he would be in better shape in a few years, Ingebrigtsen was categorical: “Certainly!
“Eventually we thought it would stop improving and the threshold pace – the pace at which we can run for about an hour… would hit a ceiling, not improve.
“But even if it’s only marginal, it’s still improving. We can always be stronger.”
There is no rocket science behind the training process, Ingebrigtsen said ahead of the Diamond League final in Brussels.
“It’s still the same training, just doing it, doing a lot of low-intensity miles and doing it year after year,” he said.
“Of course, I’m still improving. So I believe I can improve and be much stronger next year and the year after.
“At the same time, it’s important not to have any major setbacks, because it’s crucial to have that stimulation week after week, month after month, year after year, for a longer period of time.
“This year, I think I was able to recover from the winter (when he was recovering from an Achilles injury) because I had so many years before that. But it’s still not a good thing.
“So I’m really looking forward to racing tomorrow, but I’m also going to get back to work for the next two months and the winter, to be much better prepared for 2025.”
– ‘A good start’ –
Ingebrigtsen, who broke the 2,000m world record at the Brussels meeting last year, will face two Americans who recently managed to beat it.
Cole Hocker won Olympic gold in Paris, while Yared Nuguse beat Ingebrigtsen at last week’s Diamond League in Zurich.
“I feel good and I’m looking forward to battling against a strong field tomorrow,” said Ingebrigtsen.
Besides the rarely run 2,000m, Ingebrigtsen also holds world records in the 1,500m indoors and last month broke the 3,000m barrier.
But the long-standing 1,500m world record, set by Morocco’s Hicham El Guerrouj in 1998 in 3:26.00, has proven elusive, and not just for the Norwegian.
“The world record has stood for a very long time,” he said. “It’s a really solid record. It’s not impossible to beat, but it’s very difficult.”
“If there’s one thing we know about world records, it’s that they’re not very easy to break. Of course, I’d like to have as many chances to run as fast as possible.
“But hey, it’s about being realistic.
“Statistically, it has been impossible for many, many years. But there is always a possibility, but probably not tomorrow.”
Looking further ahead, Ingebrigtsen remained in bullish form.
“It is possible to break all records,” he said. “There are world records for a reason: it is the best performance of an athlete in history.”
“But we have seen, not only this year, but also in recent years, that all records can be broken.”
Ingebrigtsen added: “You can’t just wake up, go out and break a world record. Everything has to be aligned.”
“At my best, and if I can get a chance in a lot of different events, I think I have a good chance of beating a lot of them, but it takes a long time and there’s still a lot of work to do to get there and get the opportunity in all the different events.
“Luckily I managed to beat a few attempts, not too many, so it’s a good start.”
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