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Norway’s Jakob Ingebrigtsen insists he will only get stronger ahead of next year’s world championships in Tokyo, saying his training times continue to improve.
The Norwegian, still only 23, burst onto the scene by winning the 1,500/5,000m double at the 2018 European Championships in Berlin when he was 18.
He has since repeated this double twice on the continental stage, while also winning both events at the Tokyo Olympics.
He won the 5,000m gold medal at the Paris Games this summer after finishing fourth in the 1,500m. He also took silver in the shortest event at the last two world championships while also winning gold in the 5,000m.
Despite the relative disappointment, Ingebrigtsen said Thursday he was confident in his ability to continue to improve.
When asked if he would be in better shape in a few years, Ingebrigtsen was emphatic: “Definitely!
“Eventually we figured it would stop improving, and threshold pace – the pace at which we can run for an hour or so… would sort of reach a ceiling, without improving.
“But even if it’s just marginal, it continues to improve. We can always be stronger.”
There was nothing rocket science behind the training process, Ingebrigtsen said ahead of the Diamond League final in Brussels.
“It’s exactly the same training, keep it simple, do a lot of miles at a lower intensity and do it year after year,” he said.
“Obviously I continue to improve. So of course I believe I can improve and be a lot stronger next year and the year after that.
“At the same time, it is important not to experience major setbacks, because it is 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, whilst continuing to get back to work for the next few months and winter, so that I’m much better prepared for 2025.”
– ‘A good start’ –
Ingebrigtsen, who broke the 2,000m world record at the Brussels meet last year, will face two Americans who recently managed to break it.
Cole Hocker won Olympic gold in Paris, while Yared Nuguse beat Ingebrigtsen at last week’s Diamond League meet in Zurich.
“I feel good and I’m looking forward to fighting against a strong field tomorrow,” Ingebrigtsen said.
In addition to the rarely run 2,000m, Ingebrigtsen also holds world records in the 1,500m indoors and last month crossed the 3,000m mark.
But the long-standing 1,500m world record, Moroccan Hicham El Guerrouj’s 3:26.00 in 1998, has proven elusive, and not just for the Norwegian.
“The world record has been around for so long,” he said. “It’s a very strong record. It’s not impossible to beat it, but it’s very difficult.
“If there’s anything we know about world records, it’s that they’re not very easy. Of course, I’d like to have as many chances to run as fast as possible.
“But you still have to be realistic.
“Statistically, it’s been impossible for many, many years. But there’s always a possibility, but probably not tomorrow.”
Longer term, Ingebrigtsen remained in bullish form.
“It is possible to break all records,” he said. “There are world records for a reason, because it’s the best performance by an athlete in history.
“But we have seen, not only this year, but also over the last two years, that all the different records are beatable.”
Ingebrigtsen added: “You can’t just wake up and go racing and break a world record. Everything has to line up.
“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 lot of time and there’s still a lot of work to do . to get there and have the opportunity in all the different ways.
“Luckily I managed to beat a few attempts, but not too many, so it’s a good start.”
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