A YEAR AGO Jakob Ingebrigtsen had redemption on his mind. He had been outsprinted down the homestraight in the WC 1500 and was determined to never let that happen again, so he won the 5000.
Well, as baseballer Yogi Berra famously said, “It’s déjà vu all over again,” as another homestretch sprint foiled the Norwegian’s as-yet-unrequited quest for a WC 1500 title. Now, the Budapest 5000 loomed, and his desire to exact revenge was not lost.
This, however, was not going to be an Ingebrigtsen walkover. A lingering sore throat that pestered him in the 1500 was still a concern and he also had plenty of company.
Notable in the cast of characters: world leader Berihu Aregawi, Hagos Gebrhiwet; indoor mile recordholder Yomif Kejelcha, Olympic silver medalist Moh Ahmed, ‘22 bronze medalist Jacob Krop, Oregon22 1500 bronze medalist Mohamed Katir and Guatemala’s Northern Arizona alum Luis Grijalva.
Per the WC-final norm, the pace was less than moderate and Ingebrigtsen positioned himself behind the middle of the pack. Early leaders included Kenya’s Ishmael Kipkurui at the front though 1600 (4:24.05), Gebrhiwet, who marginally increased the tempo and brought everyone by 3200 in 8:44.61 and Aregawi, who increased the slowish 65s to 62-high. That increase in pace got the attention of Ingebrigtsen, who now positioned himself in the top 7.
With 3 laps to go the bunched field was headed by Aregawi, Gebrhiwet, Grijalva, France’s Jimmy Gressier, Krop, American Abdihamid Nur, Ingebrigtsen, Katir, Kejelcha and Ahmed.
After another 62, it was still anybody’s game and with 2 to go everyone in the chain gang was hanging tight.
A 58.3 brought them to the bell and Katir was now on the shoulders of Gebrhiwet and Aregawi as the favored Ingebrigtsen was looking to get by Kejelcha and start his chase.
With 300 to go Katir opened 2m on Gebrhiwet. Ingebrigtsen went wide and was in full flight to catch the Spaniard.
With 200 to go, Ingebrigtsen was gaining ever so slightly on Katir. Down the homestretch, Katir gave it everything he had, but Ingebrigtsen was inching closer and closer and passed Katir just meters from the line.
His 52.5 last lap was enough to take the 13:11.30 victory, 0.14 ahead of Katir and 0.98 ahead of Krop, who ran down Kejelcha, Gebrhiwet, Aregawi and Grijalva to claim bronze.
“To win another world title is great of course,” Ingebrigtsen said. “But I was very tired. I tried to save my energy to win at the end because that was the only way tonight. I knew that if my tactics were better than my competitors I would have a chance to win. And that’s what happened. It worked out absolutely perfectly.
“It was a very hard run, especially in the last 40-50m. It was great racing. This title means a lot to me after losing again in the 1500m. I haven’t been at my best but I had the motivation and I had great support. My body is just getting over a virus so it’s not been a very good situation to be in. At the same time I wanted to do my best, I had to try.”
He acknowledged, “I’m really happy to defend my title in this way, especially that my final kick was enough this time. It is a bit bittersweet this week overall. I am not happy to have been ill, of course. I haven’t experienced that before, but this is a good way to end.”
Katir conceded that it’s tough to race against Ingebrigtsen, saying, “You know, [Ingebrigtsen] is the best athlete nowadays. To beat him you have to give your best. This medal proves the power of the mind. If the mind says that you can, even if you are physically exhausted, it means that you are going to fight for it.”
MEN’S 5000 RESULTS
FINAL (August 27)
1. Jakob Ingebrigtsen (Nor) 13:11.30
(2:53.72, [5:36.85], 2:37.76 [8:14.61], 2:35.62 [10:50.23], 2:21.07)
(13.25, 26.20, 52.45, 1:50.65, 3:54.14);
2. Mohamed Katir (Spa) 13:11.44
(13.66, 26.73, 52.66, 1:50.57, 3:54.80);
3. Jacob Krop (Ken) 13:12.28
(13.24, 26.62, 53.04, 1:51.66, 3:55.31);
4. Luis Grijalva (Gua) 13:12.50
(13.30, 27.03, 53.63, 1:52.09, 3:56.22);
5. Yomif Kejelcha (Eth) 13:12.51
(13.59, 27.15, 53.66, 1:51.83, 3:55.62);
6. Hagos Gebrhiwet (Eth) 13:12.65
(13.96, 27.51, 54.08, 1:51.89, 3:56.65);
7. Moh Ahmed (Can) 13:12.92
(13.90, 27.22, 53.83, 1:51.85, 3:55.85);
8. Berihu Aregawi (Eth) 13:12.99
(14.14, 27.87, 54.33, 1:52.69, 3:56.69);
9. Jimmy Gressier (Fra) 13:17.20; 10. Ishmael Kipkurui (Ken) 13:21.20; 11. Mohamed Ismail Ibrahim (Dji) 13:23.89; 12. Abdihamid Nur (US) 13:23.90 (13.17, 27.63, 59.60, 2:01.81, 4:06.46); 13. Stewart McSweyn (Aus) 13:26.58; 14. Narve Gilje Nordås (Nor) 13:28.73; 15. Paul Chelimo (US) 13:30.88 (14.91, 29.34, 60.40, 2:04.45, 4:12.46); 16. Ouassim Oumaiz (Spa) 13:31.99;… dnf—Oscar Chelimo (Uga).
(leader kilos: Kipkurui 2:46.56, 5:29.34; Gebrhiwet 8:13.11; Aregawi 10:49.71)
HEATS (August 24)
I–1. Katir 13:35.90; 2. Gebrhiwet 13:36.15; 3. Ingebrigtsen 13:36.21; 4. Oumaiz 13:36.35; 5. Nur 13:36.37; 6. Gressier 13:36.42; 7. Chelimo 13:36.51; 8. Nordås 13:36.55; 9. Andreas Almgren (Swe) 13:36.57; 10. Egide Ntakarutimana (Bur) 13:37.53; 11. Ben Flanagan (Can) 13:38.69; 12. Mike Foppen (Neth) 13:38.94; 13. John Heymans (Bel) 13:39.67; 14. Nicholas Kipkorir (Ken) 13:40.43; 15. Birhanu Balew (Bhr) 13:41.00; 16. Brian Fay (Ire) 13:42.86; 17. Cornelius Kemboi (Ken) 13:44.32; 18. Kazuya Shiojiri (Jpn) 13:51.00; 19. McSweyn 13:56.81; 20. Sam Parsons (Ger) 14:03.14; 21. Valentin Soca (Uru) 14:16.15.
II–1. Grijalva 13:32.72; 2. Kejelcha 13:32.83; 3. Ahmed 13:33.16; 4. Aregawi 13:33.23; 5. Chelimo 13:33.40; 6. Ibrahim 13:33.51; 7. Krop 13:33.63; 7. Kipkurui 13:33.63; 9. Thierry Ndikumwenayo (Spa) 13:34.03; 10. Rodrigue Kwizéra (Bur) 13:35.81; 11. Magnus Tuv Myhre (Nor) 13:36.36; 12. Jonas Raess (Swi) 13:37.84; 13. Henrik Børkja Ingebrigtsen (Nor) 13:38.80; 14. Hugo Hay (Fra) 13:39.76; 15. Sean McGorty (US) 13:40.28; 16. Morgan McDonald (Aus) 13:43.58; 17. Hyuga Endo (Jpn) 13:50.49; 18. Emil Danielsson (Swe) 13:54.35; 19. Robin Hendrix (Bel) 13:55.81; 20. Samuel Freire (CPV) 14:07.38 PR; 21. Ferenc Soma Kovács (Hun) 14:11.99; 22. Mohamed Hrezi (Lby) 14:14.72.
