Jakob Ingebrigtsen retains his European 5000m title in Munich (© AFP / Getty Images)
After Berlin the still very young Norwegian runner pulled off the feat in Munich by winning the European 1500m and 5000m titles. He was beaten by Jake Wightman in the 1500 at the World Championships a month before the continental event, but consoled himself by winning the 5000 metres a few days later.
The 1500m Olympic champion won in Lausanne on Friday with 3:29.05, the best time in the world this year. Ingebrigtsen said that he would like to compete in the 10,000m in addition to the 1500m and 5,000m at the next two world events, the 2023 World Championships in Budapest and the Paris Olympics, if the schedule allows.
The timetable for the 2023 World Championships has recently been unveiled. This is what his planned schedule would look like:
19 August 19:05 - 1500 metres, Round 1
20 August 17:35 - 1500 metres, semi-final
20 August 18:25 - 10 000 metres, FINAL
23 August 21:15 - 1500 metres, FINAL
24 August 19:00 - 5000 metres, heat
27 August 20:10 - 5000 metres, FINAL
The first two days of the World Champs could be the most difficult for him to achieve his goals, when he will have to run three times in 24 hours while burning as little energy as possible in the 1500m, otherwise he would have no chance of winning the 10 000m. However, he only has a realistic chance of doing it if the race has a slow pace.
In the 5000m he could have one of his biggest races ever against Joshua Cheptegei. And the Ugandan star will also have a few words to say about Ingebrigtsen's bold plans at 10 000 metres...
At the Tokyo Olympics, Sifan Hassan tried the same thing in the women's race that the young Norwegian is now flirting with. However, the Ethiopian-born Dutchwoman could only add a bronze in the 1500m to her gold medals in the 5000m and 10 000m.
Not so the legendary Emil Zatopek, who won the marathon at the 1952 Olympics as well as the 5000m and 10,000m, and set a race record in each. It would be an extraordinary event in Budapest if Ingebrigtsen could do what his legendary predecessor did.
