2023-08-23 21:42:23
Josh Kerr crosses the finish line ahead of Jakob Ingebrigtsen to win the gold medal in the 1,500 meter final, during the World Championships in Athletics in Budapest, August 23, 2023. PETR DAVID JOSEK / AP
The 1,500m is a discipline where Jakob Ingebrigtsen crushes the competition all year round, but where a Brit inevitably ends up passing under his nose. The Norwegian, ultra-favorite of the Budapest Worlds, had however taken control from the outset, Wednesday August 23, gradually accelerating the pace of the race in accordance with his usual tactics. But the Tokyo Olympic champion in 2021 stalled out of the last corner against Briton Josh Kerr. The 2021 Olympic bronze medalist made a supersonic final straight, to offer himself, at 25, his first world title (3 min 29 s 38).
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A scenario reminiscent of the Worlds of Eugene (Oregon) in the United States, in 2022. The Norwegian, already favorite, had failed in his quest for the title by finishing behind the Briton Jake Wightman, package this year in Hungary because of injury. In the absence of his compatriot, the native of Edinburgh (Scotland) was responsible for bringing the gold medal across the Channel, once again depriving Ingebrigtsen of the only title missing from his list. “I threw all my strength into the last 200 meters, thinking about my sixteen years in this sport, and I didn’t give up until the end” explained Josh Kerr, very moved after his race.
Ingebrigtsen leaves the track headlong
While Jakob Ingebrigtsen seemed untouchable, allowing himself to harangue the crowd in the middle of the race during the semi-finals of the 1,500m, the Norwegian finally lost his footing in the final. Suffering at the end of the race, the latter was even almost overtaken by his compatriot Narve Gilje Nordås who finished three hundredths behind him, in 3 min 29 s 65. A crime of lèse-majesté, while the 24-year-old young man is trained by Ingebrigtsen’s father, Gjert, with whom relations are now very strained. Completely stunned, the Olympic champion immediately left the track, head down, without taking the time to perform the traditional lap of honor with the other medalists.
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Could the Norwegian have sinned by overconfidence? The one who had already been immensely disappointed in 2022, repeating over and over again having been “ the best athlete in the final », will have to overcome his frustration to remobilize over 5,000m, the distance over which he is defending champion. Moreover, by chasing records (2 miles, European record for 1,500 m), would the Norwegian have left feathers there? “I always try to run as fast as I can. I also want to achieve the double in Budapest and I think it is compatible”ensured, at Monde, the European champion at the Charléty meeting (Paris). It won’t be this time around.
Frenchman Azeddine Habz, long placed in fifth position, cracked in the last corner and finished his final in 11th place (3 min 33 s 14). ” I am fast over 800 meters but I will still have to work to be there next year in Paris, especially the land “, assured the person concerned at the microphone of France Télévisions. The last French world medal in this event dates back to 2003, when Mehdi Baala won silver at the Stade de France. For Great Britain, the transfer of power will have been much faster: just over a year, proof of a unique density in the discipline.
The British federation, although in full economic slump, thus confirms its excellent harvest, after five days of competition, one year before the Paris Games. After Katarina Johnson-Thompson’s title in the heptathlon, the silver medal in the 4 x 400 m mixed relay, and the bronze medal for Zharnel Hughes in the 100 m, the middle distance has responded.
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