Jakob Ingebrigsten says that he had a sore throat in the build-up to his World 1500m final loss to Great Britain’s Josh Kerr.
The 25-year-old Scot stunned the pre-race favourite with a powerful burst with 200 metres to go and, having come level with his opponent around the bend, he kicked on for gold up the home straight.
And with that, lightning had struck for a second time.
Widely considered as the best distance runner in the world, Ingebrigsten says himself that his ‘main goal is to become the best runner that ever existed.’
But for the second year in a row, he was not the best runner in the world 1500m final.
Jake Wightman took him down in Oregon and with Wightman ruled out through injury this time around, his training partner Josh Kerr did the damage with a powerful run here.
"That's as good a run by a British athlete as we've seen in half a century!"
Josh Kerr takes down Jakob Ingebrigtsen to win the 1,500M gold medal 🥇👏 pic.twitter.com/HHIs2AeWs8
— Eurosport (@eurosport) August 23, 2023
Afterwards, Ingebrigsten pointed to a sore throat as the reason for his below par showing.
“Unfortunately, I didn’t feel 100%,” he told reporters.
“I felt that after 500 or 600 metres my legs weren’t feeling as smooth as I would like them to be.
“I would have loved it to be more, but the last couple of days, I was hoping to be a little bit better but, not feeling 100% when it really matters, it’s really disappointing.
For the second straight year, someone in this picture ran down Jakob Ingebrigtsen to win the 1500m world title pic.twitter.com/QgqlT3tzQr
— Jonathan Gault (@jgault13) August 23, 2023
“I don’t feel like I could have done much differently. The race itself fits my perfectly.”
“Sleeping and eating and relaxing was all you can do.
“I’ve been jogging and doing strides like I usually do between rounds. But it’s of course stressful to be in that position, when you really want yourself to perform. Obviously, I’ve been feeling good for the rest of the year, so it’s frustrating to not be at your best when it matters most.
“I tried to re-fill on Vitamin C, but there’s no magic in that unfortunately.”
"It's frustrating to not be at your best when it matters most."
Jakob Ingebrigtsen reveals he has struggled with illness in recent days and wasn't feeling good from early in the race. pic.twitter.com/9Z6H9DCHBw
— Cathal Dennehy (@Cathal_Dennehy) August 23, 2023
Ingebrigsten may now look back on his show-man-like celebrations in the semi-final as a case of jumping the gun.
Because of course Jakob Ingebrigtsen would tell the #Budapest23 crowd in the final 120 meters there of a world championship semifinal race to get louder 🤣🤣.
This guy is a sprinter in a distance runner’s body. 🤣🤣
🎥 @sluggahjells pic.twitter.com/SyE9kbfFzK
— The Whole Delivery (@TWDTV1) August 20, 2023
Meanwhile, Sarah Lavin broke Derval O’Rourke’s 13-year-old Irish 100m hurdle record with a stunning 12.62 time in her semi-final. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough for her to progress however while there was another near miss on the track with Rhasidat Adeleke finishing in fourth place in the 400m final.
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