Jakob Ingebrigtsen (21) is not worried that increased pressure on him as perhaps a double gold favorite could make him stagger towards and during the World Cup in five weeks. Nor is NRK’s expert commentator Vebjørn Rodal.
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– It’s always been there. Well then, I care about the pressure. But nothing changes, necessarily. It comes with good results and a hope that you may make it happen, or recreate success. I have to be that honest, and I can live well with that, says Jakob Ingebrigtsen – 10 months after the Olympic gold in the 1500 meters in Tokyo.
– There is no reason why he should not make it, the Olympic gold winner in the 800 meters from 1996 answers questions about Jakob Ingebrigtsen’s championship run-up and the WC in Eugene 15-24. July – where Jakob Ingebrigtsen will probably bet on taking the gold medals in the 1500 and 5000 meters.
– They have long experience with it, and are so good at it. The big difference is that he was previously in an attacking position, compared to the fact that he is now in a defensive position. He is challenged. It can get tougher. But if Jacob is where he has been, things will go well. I have a threat, adds Vebjørn Rodal (49).
With regard to the “challenged”, Rodal points out that Tony van Diepen (26) – European Championship silver winner indoors in the 400 meters – so to speak, took the trip to Bergen last Wednesday to beat Jakob Ingebrigtsen in the 800 meters in the Trond Mohn Games. The Dutchman did so with a winning time of 1.46.56. Jakob Ingebrigtsen came in 4th place with 1.47.22, also behind Norwegian Tobias Grønstad and Australian Joseph Deng.
–Jakob Ingebrigtsen started the distance that was unusual for him to get up to speed in front of Drømmemila (1609 meters) in Oslo’s Diamond League competition next Thursday, where he could be the first of the running brothers in “Team Ingebrigtsen” to have won the mile race in Bislett Games.
After the race at Fana Stadium, however, everything revolved around him. The hordes of young fans, media and competition officials all wanted a piece of the athletics favorite from Sandnes, who tried to make everyone happy.
When asked by the press if he is still discharged after “everything that happened last year”, he answers with my serious “no”, and then with a broad smile that it is a long time since the Olympics: – I barely remember it, he he.
Given that the father Gjert Ingebrigtsen no longer is part of Team Ingebrigtsen, as a coach and organizer, VG asked him questions about the “balance” when it comes to training and non-sporting tasks towards the world championships on the west coast of the USA.
Whether he during the altitude training stay in Flagstaff and in place in Eugene will manage everything on his own.
– I steer myself and the ship, he answers immediately – in the usual disarming way.
– No, of course we are a good team, with a lot of experience. We will use most of what we can, he adds.
– Who is it?
– “Who” is not so careful. It’s the three of us. I get a lot from Filip and Henrik. I think he (Henrik) will try to join as much as possible. He is part of the team and comes with a lot of good. But at some point he has to take the plane in the direction he himself is going to move, he answers.
Henrik Ingebrigtsen’s goal of the season is to stay ready to compete in the European Athletics Championships i Munich 15.-21. August.
Vebjørn Rodal thinks big brother Henrik can take care of administrative tasks related to Jakob and Philip’s World Cup preparations, and emphasizes that the trio’s longtime agent Daniel Wessfeldt is still fixing the scenes. Right before and during the World Cup itself, the athletics association’s support apparatus will ensure that everything works as it should around Norway’s golden hope.
Karsten Warholm (24) is of course an equally big gold hope in the 400 meter hurdles. The question is about the world record holder and the Olympic champion coming to the World Cup:
In Bergen, Jakob Ingebrigtsen’s cohabitant and fiancée Elisabeth Asserson was the “trainer” and “manager”, as it was written on the accreditation card she wore around her neck. In Eugene, she will take a seat in the stands, together with Filip Ingebrigtsen’s wife Astrid Mangen Ingebrigtsen.
– There he has “them” on, says Elisabeth Asserson – and puts his hands up against the temples as if to show that in championship mode he has attached the concentration blinds.
– My job is to try to be as prepared as I can be to run races. Do the best I can in all areas of everyday life, whether it is eating, sleep, recovery – all that is, says Jakob Ingebrigtsen.
He adds that he hopes to be able to do it “like this, like this and like that”.
– I see no reason why I can not do it, he says.
– Is (Timothy) Cheruiyot still the man you have to beat?
– Cheruiyot is a profile that everyone wants to be present. But he is not competitive. He is still at the top of the Diamond League and still one of the better ones. But he has a job to do, Jakob Ingebrigtsen answers.
The Kenyan was his overlord until the Olympic final, where Jakob Ingebrigtsen referred him to 2nd place. This season has Cheruiyot langt fra been himself equal.
– He probably struggles with injuries and does not have the continuity (in training) that Jakob has. If there are no new runners who are able to run under 3.30, the 1500 field will be weaker than it has been for a while, Vebjørn Rodal believes with Cheruiyot and possibly others who can stop Jakob Ingebrigtsen from winning his first World Cup gold.
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