news meets Bernard Lagat on a run in a park in central Budapest. Fortunately, it is the keen runner in news Jann Post who is given the task of interviewing the still fit 48-year-old while his legs are kicking against the ground. Lagat is the man Jakob Ingebrigtsen hopes to copy during the World Athletics Championships in Budapest. 16 years ago, the Kenyan-American athletics legend made history in Osaka, Japan. As the first and only man of all time, Lagat won both the men’s 1500 meters and 5000 meters in one and the same world championship. – It was the first time I competed for the USA, it was an honour. I stayed focused, thought about the tasks to be solved and managed to win two gold medals, he recalls back to 2007. DOUBLE: Bernard Lagat is the only one to have won 1500 and 5000 meters in the same world championship. Photo: ERIC FEFERBERG / AFP Thinks he is better at 5,000 meters Ingebrigtsen will come to Budapest brimming with self-confidence. And with good reason. The 22-year-old has been in his own class at 1500 meters this season, and has lowered his personal record to 3.27.14 at his favorite distance. This makes him the fourth fastest of all time, but still eight tenths behind Lagat – the second fastest of all time at 1500 metres. Ingebrigtsen’s 1500 form is enormous, but he has not run 5000 meters since the WC gold last summer. Not a problem, according to himself. – If I could, I wouldn’t have run 5,000 meters before the championships last year either. Now I was directly qualified because of the WC last year, so it suits me well. Jakob Ingebrigtsen’s WC program 1500 metres: Trial heat, Saturday 19 August at 19.02 Semi-final, Sunday 20 August at 17.30 Final, Wednesday 23 August at 21.15 5000 metres: Opening heat, Thursday 24 August at 19 Final, Sunday 27 August at 20.20 Ingebrigtsen is going for two golds, because he has as much faith in himself in the 5000 meters as in the 1500. – Absolutely! If anything, I’m a little better at 5000 metres. Right now I am also quite a lot better than last year, he believes and explains why: STAR: Jakob Ingebrigtsen is coming to Budapest as a gold candidate in two rehearsals. Photo: SARAH MEYSSONNIER / Reuters – I am a fitness-based runner. To do well in 5000 metres, more fitness is required than in 1500. You have to have some speed there. It is more difficult based on how I have been training for the last 10-15 years to go down to 1500. Saturday at 19.02 Ingebrigtsen and Narve Gilje run Nordå’s trial heat of 1500 metres. See the full day-by-day program here. Race full of anger Lagat had already secured the gold in the 1,500 meters before the final of the 5,000 meters in 2007. And an incident two years beforehand made him run with a lot of anger. He was then denied participation in the World Cup in 2005 because he was in the middle of the process of changing citizenship from Kenya to the USA. It wasn’t until the day before the Osaka WC that he was finally cleared to run for the USA. He filled the lust for revenge. – I had something unsettled and decided to go for two golds. If not, I would have celebrated with champagne and a feast. But I knew I didn’t have time for that. I had to reset and get ready again, he says. After a number of years alone on the double throne, Lagat now believes that he will be joined by a Norwegian. – He comes in with twice as much self-confidence. I think he’s ready now. He has been tested several times by strong athletes in the past, but is ready to deliver. – Do you want him to succeed or do you want to be the only one? – I wish him to succeed. It shows that the sport develops when young athletes come up and start breaking records. It is progress, Lagat believes. – A test of manhood news’s athletics expert Vebjørn Rodal also believes that Ingebrigtsen is capable of winning two golds. At 1500 metres, he has almost no doubts, and at the same time points out that the race plan allowed for a well-disposed doubling. EXPERT: Vebjørn Rodal. Photo: Sigmund Sagberg Andersen / news – But we must remember that this is a test of manhood. You must prepare yourself mentally for five races. It is quite demanding, says Rodal. – What is the most difficult thing about taking two golds? – Not to make trivial mistakes, such as stumbling or making a fool of yourself tactically. When we get to the 5000 final, the only thing that can threaten Jakob’s second gold is that it opens extremely hard. If not, they give the gold to Jakob, but it is not certain that such an opening can prevent him either.
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Meiner the Norwegian can copy the historic WC record – news Sport – Sports news, results and broadcast schedule
