Jakob Ingebrigtsen

Jakob Ingebrigtsen (born 19 September 2000) is a Norwegian middle- and long-distance runner, who is the current world record holder for the indoor 1500 metres and the 2000 metres, and holds the world best time over the two mile distance. Ingebrigtsen is a two-time World champion, winning gold medals in the 5000 metres in 2022 and 2023 and a four-time European champion, winning gold medals in the 1500 m and 5000 m in 2018 and 2022. He also won a gold medal in the 1500 m at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, setting an Olympic and European record. In addition to the 1500 m, Ingebrigtsen holds European records in the mile and 5000 m, and is one of only three men (with Daniel Komen and Mohamed Katir) to run a sub-3:30 1500 m, sub-7:30 3000 m and a sub-12:50 5000 m.

As of July 2024, with his time of 3:26.73, Ingebrigtsen is the 4th fastest 1500 metre runner in history, behind Asbel Kiprop, Bernard Lagat, and Hicham El Guerrouj, all four of whom are the only men in history to have broken the 3:27 barrier.

With his mile time of 3:43.73, Ingebrigtsen is also the 3rd fastest miler in history, behind Noah Ngeny and Hicham El Guerrouj. Finally, with his time of 7:23.63, Ingebrigtsen also is the third fastest 3000 metre runner in history behind Hicham El Guerrouj and Daniel Komen.

At age 16, Ingebrigtsen became the youngest man in history to run a sub- four minute mile, and broke the European Under-20 record in the 3000 metres steeplechase. As a junior, Ingebrigtsen won four consecutive gold medals at the European Cross Country Championships and won a gold medal in the 5000 m at the 2017 European U20 Championships.

His older brothers Henrik and Filip are also middle-distance runners who compete internationally. They were trained by their father, Gjert Ingebrigtsen until 2022.

2017
On 27 May, still 16 years old, Ingebrigtsen became the youngest athlete in history to run the one-mile distance in less than 4 minutes, when he finished in 11th place in a Diamond League race at the Hayward Field in Eugene, US. On 15 June, he ran almost two seconds faster, when he won the race with a time of 3:56.29 at the Bislett Games in Oslo, Norway.

On 8 July, in his first attempt at the distance, he beat the European Under-20 record in the 3000 metres steeplechase at the Guldensporenmeeting in Kortrijk, Belgium with a time of 8:26.81.

2018: European 1500 m and 5000 m champion at age 17
On 26 May, at age 17, Ingebrigtsen ran a 3:52.28 mile in the Prefontaine Classic's Bowerman Mile for fourth place. It is the fastest mile run by a 17-year-old.

2019
On 5 July 2019, Ingebrigtsen set a new personal best and a U20 European Record in the 1500 m when he ran 3:30.16 at the Lausanne Diamond League for second position.

On 20 July at the London Diamond League, he set a new national record and U20 European Record at the 5000 m with 13:02.03, finishing second.

As of 6 October 2019 Jakob was ranked as the second best 1500 m runner in the world, only behind Timothy Cheruiyot.

Making his debut at the distance, he broke Sondre Nordstad Moen’s Norwegian 10 km record at the Hytteplanmila in Hole, Norway on 19 October, with victory in 27:54. Not only was Jakob's time a national record, it was also the fastest time by a European in 2019 as well as being a European U20 10 km best.

2020: First European record (1500 m)
On 14 August at the Monaco Diamond League, Ingebrigtsen went for the first time under 3:30 barrier in the 1500 m and broke Mo Farah's 7-year-old European record (3:28.81) with a time of 3:28.68.

2021: Tokyo Olympic 1500 m champion
On 10 June 2021 at the Diamond League in Florence, Italy, he set a new European record in the 5000 m with his time of 12:48.45, in a race where a half-dozen competitors bested a time of 12:55.

At the delayed 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Ingebrigtsen set an Olympic and European record at 3 minutes 28.32 seconds to secure gold in the 1500-meter final, after eclipsing the previous record of 3:31:65 held by the Kenyan Abel Kipsang. He became the second youngest winner in the event. On the final bend Ingebrigtsen overtook for the first time Timothy Cheruiyot, who won the silver medal. Prior to the event, Ingebrigtsen had lost twelve straight 1500m / mile races to his Kenyan rival.

At the season-ending Diamond League finale at the Zurich Weltklasse meet, Ingebrigtsen placed second to Cheruiyot, who edged him out over the final sprint.

2022: World indoor 1500 m record and World 5000 m title
On 17 February 2022, Ingebrigtsen set his first senior world record, clocking 3:30.60 for the indoor 1500 m at the Meeting Hauts-de-France Pas-de-Calais in Liévin. He broke Samuel Tefera’s 3-year-old record by 0.44 seconds.

About a month later at the 2022 World Indoor Championships held in Belgrade, Ingebrigtsen was beaten in the event by Tefera (3:32.77, CR), however, and placed second in a time of 3:33.02. He tested positive for COVID-19 the following day.

He won the silver medal in the 1500m after being outsprinted by Jake Wightman of Great Britain in the World Championships. In the same championships, he won the gold medal at the 5000 metres event at the 2022 World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon in a time of 13:09:24. Ingebrigtsen became the first male runner not born in Africa to win an Olympic or World Championships gold at the 5000 m in 30 years, going back to Dieter Baumann in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.

At the season-ending Zürich Diamond League final, he defeated Timothy Cheruiyot in the 1500 m to take his first Diamond Trophy. The victory brought his lifetime head-to-head with Cheruiyot to 7–13.

2023: 2 Mile World Best, 2000m World Record, 3rd fastest Mile & 3000m in History
In March at the European Indoor Championships held in Istanbul, Ingebrigtsen secured the 1500 m/3000 m 'double-double', winning both events for the second time. He set a championship record of 3:33.95 at the shorter distance and broke the Norwegian record at the longer event with a time of 7:40.32.

At the Diamond League Paris meet on 9 June 2023, Ingebrigtsen set the 2-mile world best by running 7:54.10. This improved Daniel Komen's previous world best of 7:58.61, set in 1997, by 4.51 seconds.

On 15 June, Ingebrigtsen improved his own European record in the 1500 metres at the Bislett Games, breaking the 3:28 barrier for the first time by running 3:27.95. On 16 July, at the Silesia Diamond League, Ingebrigtsen would further improve his time to 3:27.14 to become the fourth fastest man at the distance.

For the second successive championships, Ingebrigtsen finished second in the final sprint to a Scottish and British athlete, Josh Kerr, in the 1500m final at the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest. He repeated as the gold-medal winner in the 5000m. Less than two weeks later, Ingebrigtsen set a world record in the 2000m at the King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels. His record of 4:43.13 eclipsed the previous record of 4:44.79 that was set by Hicham El Guerrouj in 1999.

The Norwegian ended his season with victories in the mile and 3000m at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Oregon, which also served as the Diamond League final. He edged Yared Nuguse for the win in the mile, winning in 3:43.73 and missing the world record by 0.6 seconds. His time was a new European record and the third-fastest time ever run, behind Noah Ngeny's 3:43.40 and Hicham El Guerrouj's world record of 3:43.13, which were both ran in 1999. In the 3000m, Ingebrigtsen defeated Yomif Kejelcha of Ethiopia, by one hundredth of a second, in a sprint finish. Ingebrigtsen's time of 7:23.63 was the third fastest ever run at the distance, behind El Guerrouj's 1999 time of 7:23.09 and Daniel Komen's world record of 7:20.67, set in 1996.

In fall of 2023, post-track season, Ingebrigtsen suffered an injury around the sacrum region, causing him, for the first time in seven years, to not defend his continental title at the European Cross Country Championships. According to Ingebrigtsen's spokesperson Espen Skoland, Ingebrigtsen focused on recovery and training during this time, after a lengthy, challenging 2023 season, to prepare for an important Olympic Year in 2024.

2024: Sub 3:27 1500 metres
Ingebrigtsen skipped his indoor season, including the 2024 World Athletics Indoor Championships in Glascow, Scotland, due to an achilles injury. Instead, he focused on preparation & training, for both the 2024 European Championships in Rome and the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris, held in June and August, respectively.

Ingebrigtsen's first race of 2024 was on May 25th, at the Prefontaine Classic's Bowerman Mile, against rivals Josh Kerr and Yared Nuguse.

With the historically deep field, and the highly anticipated pre-Olympic match-up between Ingebrigtsen and Kerr, who last raced each other at the 2023 World Championships, the 2024 Bowerman Mile was billed as the "Mile Race of the Century". Kerr took the win in 3:45.34, a new British record, while Ingebrigtsen came second in 3:45.60, and Nuguse in third at 3:46.22.

Ingebrigtsen won the 1500m race at the 2024 Oslo Diamond League meet in a time of 3:29.74, edging out Timothy Cheruiyot by three hundredths of a second. Ingebrigtsen's dramatic dive across the finish line secured his victory. This marked the world's best time in the 1500m so far in 2024.

Ingebrigtsen also won the 1500m race at the European Athletics Championships, with a time of 3:31.95, and the 5000m race in a time of 13:20.11.

On 12 July 2024, in the final weeks before the 2024 Olympic Games, Ingebrigtsen improved his European record in the 1500 metres to 3:26.73 at Monaco's Herculis Meeting, becoming the fourth man in history to break the 3:27 barrier. Only Asbel Kiprop, Bernard Lagat, and Hicham El Guerrouj have run faster than Ingebrigtsen's mark in the metric mile. Kiprop ran 3:26.69 in 2015, also at Monaco, Lagat ran 3:26.34 in 2001 at Brussels, and El Guerrouj ran the current world record of 3:26.00 in 1998 at Rome.

Personal life
Jakob Ingebrigtsen starred in a five-season Norwegian reality show called Team Ingebrigtsen from 2016 to 2021, which revolved around him and his brothers, showing the trials and tribulations of middle-distance running. In March 2024, a representative for Amazon Prime confirmed the development of a new show that will follow Jakob and his brothers in the lead up to the 2024 Olympics in Paris.

In October 2023, Jakob, Filip, and Henrik Ingebrigtsen released a statement accusing their father and former coach Gjert of "aggression, control, and physical violence", also saying that he "took the joy out of the sport they once loved". Gjert stopped coaching his sons in 2022, and was not accredited at the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest.

On 23 September 2023, Ingebrigtsen married Elisabeth Asserson. Their daughter, Filippa, was born on 25 June 2024.

Achievements
All information from World Athletics profile.

Circuit wins and titles

 * Diamond League Champion (3): Diamond League plain icon.svg 2022: 1500m, Diamond League plain icon.svg 2023: Mile, 3000m
 * 2020 (1): Brussels Memorial Van Damme (1500m)
 * 2021 (4): Gateshead British Grand Prix (1500m), Florence Golden Gala (5000m, ), Eugene Prefontaine Classic (One mile), Lausanne Athletissima (3000m)
 * 2022 (4): Eugene (One mile, WL), Oslo Bislett Games (One mile, WL ' '), Lausanne (1500m, WL), Zürich Weltklasse (1500m, WL)
 * 2023 (6): Rabat Meeting International, Oslo (AR, MR, WL), Lausanne (MR), Chorzów Kamila Skolimowska Memorial (AR MR WL), Brussels (2000m, ), Eugene (Mile: AR DLR MR WL & 3000m: AR DLR MR WL)