Jakob Ingebrigtsen continues finding answers after losing the 1,500m plot in Paris Premium

Jakob Ingebrigtsen's journey from defeat to redemption, breaking world records and aiming for more in athletics.

Jakob Ingebrigtsen did not raise too many eyebrows when he declared before Paris 2024 that he was the overwhelming favourite for the 1,500 metres. “If I don’t get injured and I don’t get sick, I think it’s going to be a walk in the park,” he said. 

Ingebrigtsen has a habit of making grand proclamations. At just 18, he came up with “I don’t consider anyone better than me until it’s proven”, and last year he announced that his “goal is to become the greatest runner of all time”.

Addicted to winning

The Norwegian also walks the talk more often than not. A serial winner, he was seeking to match Briton Sebastian Coe, the only man to claim two Olympic 1,500m titles. When Ingebrigtsen raced to gold in Tokyo, he appeared untouchable in the event.

But nobody, least of all the uber-confident 23-year-old, could have foreseen back-to-back world championship defeats before Paris 2024. The first came in Eugene in 2022, when Britain’s Jake Wightman had the temerity to pass him entering the last 200 metres. A year later at the Budapest worlds, Josh Kerr delivered an amazing carbon copy for another British gold.

Ingebrigtsen, who like most elite athletes doesn’t digest defeat too well, was drawn into a war of words with Kerr. After coming up short in Budapest, he called Kerr “just the next guy”. Kerr later claimed Ingebrigtsen had “major weaknesses” and the Norwegian fired back saying he could beat the Briton “blindfolded”.

As a result, the 1,500m final in Paris, billed as a showdown between Ingebrigtsen and Kerr, was one of the most hotly anticipated races of the Games. Ingebrigtsen, who had strung together an impressive summer streak of 1,500m wins, culminating in a European record run in Monaco, was the odds-on favourite and appeared intent on stamping his authority from the start.