It was Wednesday that Sandbakk wrote a post in a professional forum for middle and long-distance running on Facebook. He warned against competing and training intensively with illness in the body. It came as a result of Ingebrigtsen’s triumph in the 5000 meters in Budapest. “It is a risk one should rarely take, even if it can probably be defended in a WC in the case of Jakob”, writes Sandbakk in the post. Sandbakk, who is the day-to-day head of the Center for Top Sports Research at NTNU, elaborates to news: – Jakob should be praised and became world champion. There were certainly very calculated assessments behind this made by a professional device. In the World Cup, one can perhaps take a certain risk. But the fact that Jakob performs with illness is uncritically praised in the media worries me, says Øyvind Sandbakk to news. He emphasizes that he has no detailed knowledge of Ingebrigtsen’s case, and that there is no criticism of the Swedish Athletics Federation. But he thinks a general warning is in order now. Running with a fever Jakob Ingebrigtsen said before the 5,000 meter attempt that he had a fever. Nevertheless, he chose to compete. He didn’t feel at his best in the 5000 meter final either. Even though he sprinted to gold 14 hundredths ahead of the Spanish Mohamed Katir. Sandbakk’s warning goes to both athletes, those who work with young athletes and exercisers. He points out that it must not become common practice to compete with an illness in the body, even if Ingebrigtsen ends up with a gold medal. – When you make such choices, it must be very calculated and well thought out. You have to assess what type of illness it is and the potential after-effects, says Sandbakk and continues: – Jakob became world champion and didn’t feel well. I hope he is doing well. But they have taken a calculated risk. It’s probably going quite well, says Sandbakk. NTNU professor Øyvind Sandbakk has worked closely with some of the country’s top athletes. Photo: Kim Sørenssen, NTNU While the rest of the world’s elite meet during the Diamond League vote in Zurich on Thursday, Jakob Ingebrigtsen stands above this vote. Will not discuss on Facebook news has submitted the message to Sandbakk for national team doctor Ove Talsnes. In an SMS to news, Talsnes writes: – I am not on Facebook, those who have strong opinions in such forums are welcome to express it, but it will be without my participation. The national team doctor emphasizes at the same time that one constantly assesses risk. – That’s my job. We do this together with the athletes, and there are composite assessments with clinic, experience, situation, test results, type of athlete, changes over time, degree of illness, type of competition and a number of other factors that will require a long time to explain and in no way suitable for debate forums and forms that I understand Facebook to be, writes Talsnes, and points out that he explained some of these factors in a conversation with the media in Budapest. Ruined careers Sandbakk is clear that athletes at all levels should be warned against competing with illness. The risk is that one can get, among other things, a non-functioning condition in the body afterwards. The professor at NTNU, who was previously associated with the Olympiatoppen, points out that there are many examples of precisely this type of damage. – Many athletes have ruined their careers. There have also been athletes at the top level, who have also performed well with illness in the body, says Sandbakk. He has seen that the Norwegian Athletics Federation has been good at not taking risks with, among other things, the injury to Karoline Bjerkeli Grøvdal this summer. – You have to think about it very carefully. And the starting point must be that one never competes with illness in the body. The principle of health before performance is important to remember in the pursuit of good performance in top sport, says Sandbakk.
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