BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND, August 10 — In his first race of the year after struggling through Achilles injury and surgery, Jakob Ingebrigtsen made it golden, taking his fourth European title over 5000 with a powerful sprint up the final straight.
The Norwegian Olympic champion, who had surgery to clean up scar tissue around his left Achilles in February, sat behind world champion Jimmy Gressier of France at the bell. Despite Gressier’s 2 previous laps of 62.58 and 60.50, a pack of 9 remained in contention.
Even coming off the final turn, Ingebrigtsen was only 4th, but his final burst found no equal, his last 100 taking just 12.7. His 13:15.29 topped Germany’s Florian Bremm (13:15.60) and France’s Etienne Daguinos (13:16.09), with Gressier just missing the medals in 13:16.36.
“Not even I believed it could happen coming here,” said Ingebrigtsen, who now has 7 European titles overall. “Only with 600 meters to go, I knew I would win. I doubted myself every day coming into this and every minute leading up to the last lap today.”
He wasn’t the only successful defender today. Jessica Schilder of the Netherlands would have won her third-straight shot with any of her 5 fair throws. Her best of 68-¼ (20.73) came on her final effort, as the podium order came out the same as in Rome ’24, with Jorinde van Klinken throwing a PR 64-5¼ (19.64) for silver and Germany’s Yemisi Mabry (née Ogunleye) bronze at 63-11¾ (19.50).
“I will never get bored of winning these medals,” Schilder said.
Another repeater was Italy’s Leonardo Fabbri in the men’s shot. This time he hit 73-2½ (22.31), the second-longest throw in championships history after his own meet record from ’24. Zane Weir gave Italy a 1-2 sweep with his 69-3½ (21.12), while Sweden’s Wictor Petersson nabbed bronze with a 68-9¾ (20.97).
Admitted Fabbri, “Rome was special because I had my home crowd there and I was super confident. I was never doubting myself, I never thought about losing. Today, I was scared. I did not enjoy it so much — so I would say that this one is better.”
The mixed 4 x 400 featured a tremendous effort by Norway, which stormed to a meet record 3:09.62 with a top-notch foursome: Karsten Warholm 44.5, Amalie Iuel 50.8, Andreas Ofstad Kulseng 44.9 and Henriette Jæger 49.42. That makes Norway the No. 7 nation all-time.
Netherlands led much of the race until Jæger, the 400 favorite, struck on the last curve. The Dutch finished 3rd, as Great Britain caught them for silver, 3:10.47–3:10.77.
For Warholm, it was a first-ever international relay medal. Jæger said, “In the last 100m I tried to push a bit and it was good enough… I was hoping for a medal but did not expect the gold so I am happy.”
The final race of the night saw Britain’s Amy Hunt take the 100 gold in 11.00, after earlier leading the semis at 10.99. In the final, it was her late-race surge that put her ahead of Poland’s Ewa Swoboda (11.02) and Belgium’s Delphine Nkansa (11.05 PR). Defender Dina Asher-Smith ran 5th in 11.10.
Hunt, who was runner-up in ’24 and silver at 200 in the recent Commonwealth Games, said, “I have had such a string of silvers and I was starting to get a bit fed up with it, so I thought it was time for gold.”
EURO CHAMPS DAY 1 MEDALISTS
Men’s Events
5000: 1. Jakob Ingebrigtsen (Nor) 13:15.29 (67.1, 67.5 [2:14.6], 66.9 [3:21.5], 64.1 [4:25.6], 65.0 [5:30.6], 65.1 [6:35.7], 63.7 [7:39.4], 62.3 [8:41.7], 63.5 [9:45.2], 63.9 [10:49.1], 61.8 [11:50.9], 58.0 [12:48.9], 26.4) (12.7, 26.4, 54.8); 2. Florian Bremm (Ger) 13:15.60; 3. Etienne Daguinos (Fra) 13:16.09.
Mix4 x 400: 1. Norway 3:09.62 NR (7 W) (Warholm 44.5, Iuel 50.8, Kulseng 44.9, Jæger 49.4);
2. Great Britain 3:10.47; 3. Netherlands 3:10.77.
SP: 1. Leonardo Fabbri (Ita) 73-2½ (22.31); 2. Zane Weir (Ita) 69-3½ (21.12); 3. Wictor Petersson (Swe) 68-9¾ (20.97).
Women’s Events
100(1.0): 1. Amy Hunt (GB) 11.00; 2. Ewa Swoboda (Pol) 11.02; 3. Delphine Nkansa (Bel) 11.06 PR.
SP: 1. Jessica Schilder (Neth) 68-¼ (20.73); 2. Jorinde van Klinken (Neth) 64-5¼ (19.64) PR; 3. Yemisi Mabry (Ger) 63-11¾ (19.50).
