by Larry Eder
The European Athletics Championships begin Monday, August 15, and go to Sunday, August 21, 2022. There will be thirty-one defending champions in Munich, Germany, protecting their titles! Jakob Ingebrigtsen is one of them.
The video below from European Athletics shows that the Norwegian superstar is very serious about defending his titles. This is his third global championship of the year.
An unprecedented double at the age of 17! 🙌
Jakob Ingebrigtsen 🇳🇴 became the first athlete in history to win a 1500/5000m double at the 2018 European Championships in Berlin. 🥇🥇
And he is set to defend both titles in #Munich2022! ✨ #BackToTheRoofs pic.twitter.com/doyjl1laqI
— European Athletics (@EuroAthletics) August 13, 2022
Jakob Ingebrigtsen took silver in the 1,500 meters last March at the World Indoor Championships in Belgrade, Serbia. The next day, Jakob tested positive for COVID.
In July, Jakob took silver in a tightly fought race with Team GBR’s Jake Wightman. Jakob kept his focus, and ran smartly in the 5,000m heat the next day, moving to the final.
In the final, Jakob stayed cool and blasted away with 400 meters to go, giving Norway it’s only gold of the championships.
After that race, Jakob had this to say to the media:
“It feels amazing to win this gold. This is already my fifth attempt to become a world champion outdoors and my third world championship. So finally, I became the world champion. Just an amazing feeling.
It has been very difficult since the 1500. But I have a very good team around me. My fiancé, my brother, is here to support me. I have been very, very disappointed even though I got the silver medal. But with myself, I know that I could have done better, so that was the reason why I was disappointed with myself, but today, I felt very good.
I have been thinking a lot about this race to prepare myself in the best way possible, and finally, I am a world champion.
I knew I would not get beaten by the others in the last laps. But the 5k is a very tough race. For me, coming from the 1500 – the 1500 is run with a very high pace, but here, you have many, many laps, so it is a tough distance. But I had to get some water because it was very dry and I felt very strong after the heat. In Munich, I just want to do better times than I did here. Of course, I am happy with the silver and gold, but still, there are some improvements to be made.”
In Munich, Germany, Jakob will be the focus of every European athlete who makes the final in the 1,500 meters and 5,000 meters. Both races will be his to lose. However, his focus and what he learned from the 1,500 meters in Eugene (that he sure does not like to lose close races), should help keep him focused in Munich.
Jakob has a busy week. On Monday, August 15, Jakob has the 1,500-meter heats at 8:15 PM Local Munich time. On August 16, Jakob has the 5,000 meters final at 9:08 PM Local Munich time. And, after a day of rest, on Thursday, August 18, at 9:05 PM Local Munich time, Jakob will compete in the 1,500-meter final.
A busy four days for the Norwegian star, but Jakob Ingebrigtsen loves challenges!
