1. Jakob Ingebrigtsen won gold medals in the 1500 metres at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, and in the 5000 metres at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
50 Facts About Jakob Ingebrigtsen
1. 2.
Jakob Ingebrigtsen is a six-time European champion, a seven-time European indoor champion, and an eight-time European cross country champion.
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Jakob Ingebrigtsen had a successful junior career: at age 16, he became the youngest man in history to run a sub-four minute mile at the time.
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Jakob Ingebrigtsen is a two-time winner of the European Athletics European Athlete of the Year award, a one-time winner of the European Athletics Rising Star of the Year award, a four-time nominee of the World Athletics Athlete of the Year award, and a one-time nominee of the Laureus World Sports Breakthrough of the Year award.
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Jakob Ingebrigtsen was born in Sandnes, Norway to Gjert and Tone Eva Ingebrigtsen, part of the Ingebrigtsen family of athletes.
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Jakob Ingebrigtsen tried multiple sports, such as cross-country skiing and football, but committed to running by age nine.
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Jakob Ingebrigtsen was coached by his father, Gjert Jakob Ingebrigtsen, from his childhood until 2022.
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Since 2022, Jakob Ingebrigtsen has "essentially been self-coached", alongside input from his brothers.
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Jakob Ingebrigtsen's time stood as an age group world record until Cameron Myers of Australia broke it in 2023, with a time of 3:55.44.
10.
At the European Indoor Championships in Glasgow, Jakob Ingebrigtsen won the 3000 metres and placed second behind Marcin Lewandowski in the 1500 metres, in times of 7:56.18 and 3:43.23, respectively.
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At the World Championships held in Doha, Jakob Ingebrigtsen placed fourth in the 1500 metres and fifth in the 5000 metres.
12.
On 14 August 2020, at the Herculis meeting in Monaco, Jakob Ingebrigtsen broke the 3:30 barrier in the 1500 metres for the first time, running 3:28.68, which was under Mo Farah's 7-year-old European record of 3:28.81.
13.
Jakob Ingebrigtsen broke the European record in the short track 1500 metres at the Meeting Hauts-de-France Pas-de-Calais on 9 February 2021, running a time of 3:31.80.
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At the European Indoor Championships in Torun, Jakob Ingebrigtsen won both the 1500 metres and 3000 metres, becoming the first male athlete to complete the double at the Championships.
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On 10 June 2021 at the Golden Gala in Florence, Italy, Jakob Ingebrigtsen set a new European record in the 5000 metres with his time of 12:48.45, in a race where a half-dozen competitors bested a time of 12:55.
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At the delayed 2020 Tokyo Olympics, on 7 August 2021, Jakob Ingebrigtsen set an Olympic and European record of 3:28.32 to secure gold in the 1500 metres final.
17.
At the season-ending Weltklasse Zurich meeting, which served as the 2021 Diamond League final, Jakob Ingebrigtsen placed second to Cheruiyot in the 1500 metres, who edged him out over the final sprint.
18.
On 17 February 2022, Jakob Ingebrigtsen set his first senior world record, clocking 3:30.60 for the short track 1500 metres at the Meeting Hauts-de-France Pas-de-Calais in Lievin.
19.
Jakob Ingebrigtsen broke Samuel Tefera's 3-year-old record by 0.44 seconds.
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About a month later at the 2022 World Indoor Championships held in Belgrade, he was beaten in the event by Tefera, who ran a new championship record of 3:32.77 while Jakob Ingebrigtsen placed second in a time of 3:33.02.
21.
At the 2022 World Championships in Eugene, Jakob Ingebrigtsen achieved a silver medal in the 1500 metres after being outsprinted by Jake Wightman of Great Britain.
22.
Jakob Ingebrigtsen won the gold medal in the 5000 metres, in a time of 13:09:24.
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In winning, Jakob Ingebrigtsen became the first male runner not born in Africa to win an Olympic or World Championships gold in the 5000 metres in 30 years, going back to Dieter Baumann in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.
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Jakob Ingebrigtsen set a championship record of 3:33.95 at the shorter distance and broke the Norwegian record at the longer event with a time of 7:40.32.
25.
At the Meeting de Paris on 9 June, Jakob Ingebrigtsen set the two mile world best by running 7:54.10, improving Daniel Komen's previous world best of 7:58.61, set in 1997, by 4.51 seconds.
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Jakob Ingebrigtsen repeated as the gold-medal winner in the 5000 metres.
27.
Less than two weeks later, Jakob Ingebrigtsen set a new world record in the 2000 metres at the King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels, with a time of 4:43.13, eclipsing Hicham El Guerrouj's previous record of 4:44.79 set in 1999 by 1.66 seconds.
28.
Jakob Ingebrigtsen edged Yared Nuguse for the win in the mile, winning in 3:43.73 and missing the world record by 0.60 seconds.
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Jakob Ingebrigtsen's time was a new European record and the third-fastest time ever run, behind Noah Ngeny's 3:43.40 and Hicham El Guerrouj's world record of 3:43.13, both ran in 1999.
30.
At the time, Jakob Ingebrigtsen's clocking of 7:23.63 was the third fastest ever run at the distance, behind El Guerrouj's 1999 time of 7:23.09 and Daniel Komen's world record of 7:20.67, set in 1996.
31.
In fall of 2023, post-track season, Jakob Ingebrigtsen suffered an injury around the sacrum region, causing him, for the first time in seven years, to not defend his continental title at the European Cross Country Championships.
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Jakob Ingebrigtsen skipped his indoor season, including the 2024 World Athletics Indoor Championships in Glasgow, Scotland, due to an achilles injury.
33.
Kerr took the win in 3:45.34, a new British record, while Jakob Ingebrigtsen came second in 3:45.60, and Nuguse in third at 3:46.22.
34.
On 12 July, in the final weeks before the 2024 Summer Olympics, Jakob Ingebrigtsen improved his European record in the 1500 metres to 3:26.73 at Monaco's Herculis meeting, becoming the fourth man in history to break the 3:27 barrier.
35.
On 25 August, Jakob Ingebrigtsen set a new 3000 metres world record at the Kamila Skolimowska Memorial, finishing in 7:17.55 to break the previous mark of 7:20.67 set by Kenya's Daniel Komen in 1996.
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Jakob Ingebrigtsen had reported being sick after setting his world record in the 3000 metres.
37.
On 13 September, at the Memorial Van Damme in Brussels, which served as the 2024 Diamond League final, Jakob Ingebrigtsen ended his track season with a Diamond League title in the 1500 metres, winning in a time of 3:30.37.
38.
Jakob Ingebrigtsen briefly stopped at the 10 kilometres mark, but still continued to finish the half marathon in a time of 1:03:13, which was 34th overall in the elite race.
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Jakob Ingebrigtsen ended his 2024 season by winning the senior race at the European Cross Country Championships in Antalya, his third win in the event.
40.
At the 2025 European Athletics Indoor Championships in Apeldoorn, Jakob Ingebrigtsen won the 1500 metres and the 3000 metres races, completing the distance double for the third time.
41.
On 22 March, at the 2025 World Athletics Indoor Championships in Nanjing, China, Jakob Ingebrigtsen achieved his first world indoor title, winning the 3000 metres over Berihu Aregawi in a time of 7:46.09 to Aregawi's 7:46.25.
42.
Jakob Ingebrigtsen's performance makes him the sixth male distance runner to win a gold medal at the Olympic Games, World Outdoor Championships, and World Indoor Championships.
43.
In October 2023, Jakob, Filip, and Henrik Ingebrigtsen released a statement accusing their father and former coach Gjert of "aggression, control, and physical violence", saying that he "took the joy out of the sport they once loved".
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Jakob Ingebrigtsen accused his father specifically of slapping him twice in 2008, and theatening to beat him "to death".
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Jakob Ingebrigtsen has stated he would like to break every record from the 1500 metres up to the marathon.
46.
Outside of professional competition, Jakob Ingebrigtsen has a personal best of 5:22 in the beer mile, which he ran at his bachelor party.
47.
From 2016 to 2021, Jakob Ingebrigtsen starred in a Norwegian reality show called Team Jakob Ingebrigtsen, which revolved around him and his brothers, showing the trials and tribulations of middle-distance running.
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The concept for the show was inspired years earlier, when Jakob Ingebrigtsen appeared as a ten year old on a Norwegian show that profiled young athletes.
49.
The New York Times described the show as "relentlessly authentic", and it became so popular in Norway that Jakob Ingebrigtsen has stated he has trouble going outside in his home country without being recognized.
50.
In September 2024, Amazon Prime released the first season of Jakob Ingebrigtsen: Born to Run, a six-episode documentary series.