Jakob Ingebrigtsen banishes the demons as he wins 1,500m for rare double at world indoor c’ships

NANJING – Norway’s Jakob Ingebrigtsen won the 1,500m at the World Indoor Athletics Championships on March 23 to claim not only a first global gold in his favoured distance, but also a rare world indoor track distance double.

Ingebrigtsen, who had won the 3,000m the previous day for his first world indoor title, clocked 3min 38.79sec to emulate the double claimed by Ethiopian legend Haile Gebrselassie in Maebashi, Japan in 1999.

Britain’s Neil Gourley took silver in 3:39.07 while American Luke Houser rounded out the podium (3:39.17) in Nanjing, China.

“Of course this is something special,” said Ingebrigtsen. “A lot of things have changed and I’m not doing this because anyone else has done it before. So that’s purely a coincidence.

“It’s very difficult to compare yourself against history and what others are doing.

“I’m only focusing on myself and I feel good to have done a lot of preparations, and that was always the main goal. It’s not to do with something somebody else did before.

“I think I can do more, so I’ll try to maximise that and grab the opportunity given to me.”

Ingebrigtsen’s victory also banished some of the Norwegian’s 1,500m demons.

In his last outing at a world indoor meet in 2022, he finished second in the 1,500m to Ethiopian Samuel Tefera in Belgrade.

That was sandwiched between two world outdoor 1,500m silvers as the Norwegian was twice outsprinted by Britons – Jake Wightman in 2022 and Josh Kerr a year later – for victory.

Ingebrigtsen was then surprisingly beaten by American Cole Hocker in the 1,500m Paris Olympics final in 2024, finishing outside the medals, but he bounced back to win the 5,000m gold.

“The main goal is obviously to win both distances, but I would say so far a pretty good indoor season, getting out and succeeding with the things that I wanted to accomplish, so it’s been good,” said Ingebrigtsen, who started at the back of the nine-strong pack before moving to the front with four laps left.

The Norwegian kept not only his speed but also his nerve to see off his rivals, crossing the finish line with a brief look over his shoulder and a wagging index finger.

The previous day, he had won the 3,000m in 7:46.09, just 0.16sec ahead of Ethiopia’s Berihu Aregawi as two other greats – Sweden’s Armand Duplantis and American Grant Holloway also triumphed.

Duplantis bagged a third world indoor pole vault gold with 6.15m after being pushed all the way by Greece’s Emmanouil Karalis, and Holloway claimed an unprecedented third successive 60m hurdles victory in 7.42sec that extended his indoor win streak to 94 races dating back 11 years to when he was 16 years old.

On March 23, Ethiopia’s Gudaf Tsegay set a championship record of 3:54.86 en route to the women’s 1,500m title, ahead of compatriot Diribe Welteji (3:59.30) and Briton Georgia Hunter Bell (3:59.84).

“It wasn’t an easy race, this was a fast time, so I’m very happy about that,” Tsegay said.

“It was my training that led to this.”

American Claire Bryant produced a personal best of 6.96 metres to win the women’s long jump gold in the morning session at Nanjing’s Cube. Switzerland’s Annik Kalin was second with 6.83m and Spain’s Fatima Diame finished third with 6.72m.

“If someone had told me that I would walk away from Nanjing with the title, I would thank them for that vote of confidence,” said the 23-year-old Bryant.

“I didn’t come in with expectations, I just wanted to enjoy the moment. Every part of this is so cool. I woke up at 4.45am, I felt like it was Christmas morning and I knew there was something waiting for me.

“You can always surprise yourself in track, and I think that’s what’s so great about this sport. Seven metres is coming, for sure.”

Australia claimed a one-two in the women’s high jump as Nicola Olyslagers

retained her title by clearing 1.97m,

winning on countback ahead of compatriot Eleanor Patterson.

Ukraine’s world-record holder and reigning Olympic champion Yaroslava Mahuchikh completed the podium with a leap of 1.95m, beating Serbia’s Angelina Topic on countback.

“I knew that if I wanted to jump as high as I wanted, to be as competitive as I wanted, I needed to do things outside of my normal comfort zone,” said Olysagers.

“I needed to do something new, like start a world championships as my first competition of the season, something crazy.”

The 24-year-old, who competed as Nicola McDermott before her marriage in 2022, had won the silver medal at both the Tokyo and Paris Olympics.

Mahuchikh, 23, said she was carrying an ankle injury picked up after winning a third Euro indoor title in Apeldoorn, the Netherlands, on March 9.

“I started running and I felt that my ankle is not good, unfortunately. I need more work with my ankle since I feel it’s not stable. I’ll work on it to come back stronger. I’ll be looking forward to the coming outdoor season,” she said.

The last time she tasted defeat in the event was at the 2024 world indoors in Glasgow, where she surrendered her title to Olyslagers. AFP, REUTERS