The 21-year-old sensation from Sandnes already has an astonishing medal haul. This week he repeated the feat of taking EC gold in both 1500 and 5000 meters in Munich. A few weeks ago he secured WC silver and WC gold at the same distances. NEW DOUBLE: Jakob Ingebrigtsen now has four European Championship golds. Photo: ANDREJ ISAKOVIC / AFP With the Olympic gold from Tokyo two years ago, Jakob Ingebrigtsen has now taken another step towards the best middle-distance runners of all time. – He is big. He is big. Talking about a fourth European title when you are 21 years old is extraordinary, says Sebastian Coe to news. – I think I was around 27 years old when I won my first European title, so he is in the same company as a handful of truly historic athletes, he continues. “Restlessly curious” Coe will continue to reign over Ingebrigtsen in a historical perspective. Coe defended the Olympic gold in the 1500 meters (1980 and 1984), won the WC gold in the 800 meters (1981) and thus secured the EC gold in the 800 meters in 1986. At the same time, he set no less than seven outdoor world records. DEFENDING THE OLYMPIC GOLD: Sebastian Coe in Los Angeles in 1984. Photo: STAFF / Afp Coe broke through in the 1977 season with a British record in the 800 meters and EC bronze. 12 years later, he won his last championship medal: World Championship silver in the 1500 meters in Barcelona. – How do you find new motivation when you have won everything? – It’s tough, Coe opens and continues: – You have to be able to motivate yourself all the time. I know it sounds strange, but sometimes you have to create your own adversity. You must be what I would describe as “restlessly curious”. You can’t give up and think you’ve achieved and done everything, says Coe. He points out that there is always something around the next corner. Those who are restlessly curious are the ones who will want to go around that corner, Coe describes. news EXPERT: Vebjørn Rodal. Photo: Tor Erik Schrøder / NTB news expert Vebjørn Rodal believes that it is precisely record hunting that can push Ingebrigtsen all the way up to the very biggest. – Now he has Olympic, World Cup and European Championship gold and if he wants to go one step further, he must start breaking records and breaking world records. Those who do so become historic to an even greater extent, says Rodal. – He can be the greatest ever. There are three world records there that are known to be very strong: 1,500, 3,000 and 5,000 metres, Rodal points out. Middle distance 800m world records: 1.40.91 – David Lekuta Rudisha (Kenya). Norwegian record: 1.42.58 – Vebjørn Rodal. 1000 metres: 2.11.96 – Noah Ngeny (Kenya). Norwegian record: 2.16.46 – Filip Ingebrigtsen. 1500 metres: 3.26.00 – Hicham El Guerrouj (Morocco). Norwegian record: 3.28,32 – Jakob Ingebrigtsen. One English mile: 3.43.13 – Hicham El Guerrouj (Morocco). Norwegian record: 3.46,46 – Jakob Ingebrigtsen. 2000 metres: 4.44.79 – Hicham El Guerrouj (Morocco). Norwegian record: 4.50.01 – Jakob Ingebrigtsen. 3000 metres: 7.20.67 – Daniel Komen (Kenya). Norwegian record: 7.27.05 – Jakob Ingebrigtsen. Long distance, 5000 metres: 12.35,36 – Joshua Cheptegei (Uganda). Norwegian record: 12.48,45 – Jakob Ingebrigtsen. Source: Great Norwegian Lexicon. Looking ahead Jakob Ingebrigtsen’s very special talent has meant that even at the age of 21 he is already being asked questions about motivation and the future. One thing is that top sporting life costs money. Another is that the medal cabinet fills up in record time. – There comes a point in everyone’s life where you feel you have achieved what you are capable of. It’s just as exciting to see how good I can become, and the day I feel like I’m stagnating, I might really want to get confirmation that now I’m not getting better, says Ingebrigtsen. The 21-year-old adds that he chooses to believe that it will only be in a while. – Many struggle to reproduce success – what are your most important factors to achieve that? – It is not so difficult to say. Of course, some assumptions must be made, but they are also created in a way. Having a structure to things and knowing what you have done and why you have done it. General principles related to training and running. If you have an understanding of things, it is a good starting point for doing it again, says the 21-year-old.
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– You have to create your own adversity – news Sport – Sports news, results and broadcasting schedule
