Ingebrigtsen beat 1500m in Zurich

Norwegian middle distance runner Jakob Ingebrigtsen, who was knocked off the podium in the 1500m at the Paris Olympics and was hoping to take his revenge, was beaten by American Yared Nuguse on Thursday evening at the Diamond League meeting in Zurich. This 1500m was highly anticipated as it looked like a big showdown between the Olympic medallists – in order American Cole Hocker, Briton Josh Kerr and Yared Nuguse – and 4th-place finisher Ingebrigtsen, who was nevertheless the favourite in Paris. In the cool of a late summer evening in Zurich and on a soggy track, Ingebrigtsen initially followed her pace set to the world record pace (3:26.00) but finally dropped the pace and was overtaken in the final meters by Yuguse, winner in 3 min 29 sec 21 (3:29.52 for Ingebrigtsen).

A difficult preparation

The Olympic champion, surprised by the distance, the American Cole Hocker took 3rd place (3:30.46) while Kerr finished 5th in 3 min 31 sec 46. At the Olympics, Ingebrigtsen started as the favorite and we expected a duel that did not happen with his great rival Josh Kerr. Starting too fast, too early, the Norwegian had not managed to keep up the pace that he had set for himself and had failed just off the podium in the 1,500 m, before nevertheless winning the Olympic title in the 5,000 m a few days later. He arrived in Zurich in the unknown. Since the end of the Games, he had won a series of victories by beating Hocker in Lausanne before smashing the illustrious world record in the 3,000 m in 7 min 17 sec 55 at the end of August.