“Never gets boring this,” declared Jakob Ingebrigtsen after sealing another championship double gold at the European Indoor Championships over 1500m and 3000m.

The Norwegian is attempting that same duet at the World Athletics Indoor Championships Nanjing 25 and such is his ability to hoover up major titles, both victories seem perfectly attainable.

If he were to achieve the feat, he would become only the second man to win double individual gold in a single World Indoor Championships. The first was Haile Gebrselassie who won the 1500m and 3000m in 1999.

So long has he been in the senior ranks, it is easy to forget that Ingebrigtsen is 24 years old. Perhaps even more remarkable is the fact that he has never won a world indoor title. In the coming days, the form book would suggest that is on the precipice of changing.

When he won his last double, he proudly adorned the gold medals over the necks of his golden retrievers Maximus and Jupiter. Both can expect a potential repeat of such metallic collars in the next few days.

Ingebrigtsen boasts a phenomenal work rate, refusing to take much time off following his double in Apeldoorn and producing a final hard session of 6x400m and 6x300m just eight days out from the World Indoors before hopping on the flight to China to acclimatise before racing.

He has already etched his name further in the record books this season by breaking both the world indoor mile and 1500m records, both achieved in the same race – his first outing of the season in Lievin before he went on to take his European indoor gold medal tally to seven. Only two athletes in history boast more.

His best time of 3:29.63 over the shorter of the two distances he will attempt in China is three seconds quicker than the rest of the field.

But he has memorably been upstaged in big races when he entered them as the pre-event favourite. There was losing out on back-to-back world titles to Jake Wightman and Josh Kerr respectively in 2022 and 2023 before Cole Hocker totally ripped up the script in outclassing both Ingebrigtsen and Kerr in the Olympic final in Paris last summer.

Ingebrigtsen’s never-ending push – perhaps motivated by such near misses – shows no signs of abating. As he said in a recent interview: “I have a responsibility to see what the human race can possibly do.”

Among those hoping to find a chink in his armour is Isaac Nader, the Portuguese athlete who shared the 1500m podium with the Norwegian in the Netherlands earlier this month.

The entry list also includes Ethiopia's Samuel Tefera, who has twice won this title before – once ahead of Ingebrigtsen in 2022 and also in 2018. He is joined by his compatriot Melese Nberet.

Neil Gourley and Adam Fogg front up a strong middle-distance contingent from a relatively small travelling Great Britain and Northern Ireland team.

It is merely a month since Gourley shattered the British record for the distance while Fogg will be hoping his World Indoors starts rather better than it did a year ago when he found himself knocked to the track in the first 50 metres of his heat although was later allowed to advance to the final.

Also among those looking to make an impact will be Ireland’s Andrew Coscoran and Australia’s Oliver Hoare.

Matt Majendie for World Athletics

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