Was Jakob Ingegbritsen a 'bit of a sore-loser' as Jake Wightman claims?

Jakobs amazing and I’m not gonna debate that, but I think if Jake Wightman shows up to worlds in 3:28/1:43 shape that will still be really hard for Jakob to beat in a tactical race. Sort of an El Guerrouj/Noah Ngeny type situation

I don't see any controversy anywhere. Wightman needed a perfect storm to win, and he got it: Ingebrigtsen had to use up energy to fend off two surges in the last 600, then a lane opened for Wightman to fly through. I'm not sure Ingebrigtsen could have done anything differently, but he is right that he should win that race most of the time.

You get it but you don't want to admit it. J I did the best he could at most recent 1500m W C but he still lost. J I is Mike Tyson post-December, 1989 Buster Douglas fight but J I fanboys don't want to see the truth. Mike Tyson post-December, 1989 fight went on to win many fights but no one was afraid of Mike Tyson post-December, 1989. You said it. J I did all he could do and still lost W C 1500m final. No elite 1500m runner is afraid of J I.

Found this, by Dan Bauer:

One of Vince Lombardi’s most famous quotes is, “show me a good loser and I will show you a loser.” Unfortunately, his most famous quotes like, “winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing” were edited. Most are unfamiliar with the second half of his loser quote that reads, “But show me a gracious loser and I’ll show you someone who will always be a winner.”

Good ole Vince.

By comparison, we can note the difference in attitude shown by Bannister and Landy after the "Miracle Mile" in Vancouver '54. The winner and the loser paid tribute to each other and made no mention of the ailments each had earlier incurred that might have affected the outcome. We live in different times.

What is a best day? Jakob WAS, more than likely, on his best day. He was fit. He was ready. There was nothing stopping him. The truth is that he has slow finishing speed. He has to run the kick out of his competition by keeping the race wound up. I'm sure he's smart enough to know this. The fact that he didn't might be just as much a tactical error as it is arrogance. It could also be that he didn't have the goods. It's ok for him to get beaten. Just as they say in football: "Any given Sunday, any team can beat another." I think he just got beaten. It's like throwing your hands up before the finish line and another comes in a squeaks by for the win. People aren't robots. Sometimes they deserve to lose. Jakob deserved his loss and should acknowledge that Wightman ran a hell of a race.

I like Jake (cant help it being a Brit), but hat Wightman knew he would have a hard time repeating his Eugene performance is reflected in the rest of his season. Doesn't race the 1500m at Europeans, doesn't race vs Jakob in Lausanne, meaning he can't qualify to race Jakob in Zurich. That's three opportunities to stamp his authority on the discipline and really rattle Jakob and instead he messes about vs Garcia, Arop, and Korir in the 800

Pretty obvious case of ducking to me.

Best day means being fit and ready (of course he was based on the 5000 a few days later), but it also means positioning yourself, not wasting energy or breaking trail, starting to close at the right time, etc. In that race, for whatever reason, Jakob flubbed those elements just enough AND Wightman did everything just right. No doubt the field comprises super elite pros and something like 4-6 of them could actually win if things break just right for them as they did for Jake. However, Jakob against the entire field, I think Jakob wins 90% of the time. Do you disagree? Wightman himself wins that race once every 10-20 times it’s run, something like that. That’s domination at this level of distance running. I only see the gap widening this year and next, not narrowing, but ok, let’s see.

Wrong. It was not J W's fault W C Athletics was in U.S. this past summer. Look back at Olympics held in U.S. In the summer before Am. football. It was not J W's fault W C Athletics we're not held in October as was the case in 2019. The idea is to peak for Olympics or peak for W C. All meets held after Olympics in calendar year are irrelevant. Same for W C. Fifteen-hundred meter athletes, summer 2021 were supposed to peak for W C. That's what J W did.

"Show me a good loser and I will show you a loser"

I get what you're saying. And it might be true that Jakob wins more often than not. But he does lose. and he loses with a certain amount of regularity, which means he's beatable. No one is entitled to win. If everyone had a perfect day with all that stuff you mentioned, I say Jakob gets beaten. Kipsang has shown himself capable of doing that regularly. In fact, Was it Jakob or his dad that said Jakob would never lose another 1500 race and he promptly went out and lost the next race he was in. If memory serves, I think that was following the last Olympics. Anyway, them main point of my comment is that no runner can flawlessly put together race after race of superior performance no matter how good they are and control the race circumstance to guarantee a win. Ingebrigtsen will lose again. It's the way it goes.

Well, to be fair and accurate, Gjert said Jakob would never lose to Tim again, though he did this too. I’m not saying Jakob can’t lose, just that he’s the favorite by a long way against the ENTIRE field every time out. Dominant favorites do lose sometimes, like Crouser just lost to Kocacs and Mondo lost to Nilsen and Kipchoge to….no wait, that doesn’t happen. Anyway, every time Jakob lines up on the track, it’s his race to win or lose. The others are just hoping for the crumbs that fall off his table.

Yeah, honestly, without pacers I’d say Jakob has a 60% chance of winning and the field about 40%. Again, Jakob is the best miler in the field, but doesn’t have the unbeatable turn of pace in a championship race prime Coe or Morceli did. Guys like Wightman, Kerr, Hoare, and Cheryuit can all catch him on the right day in a 3:29-3:31 type race.

Although I think if Jakob runs under 3:29 like in Tokyo he’ll win 90% of the time. I believe Jakob’s currently a 3:27/12:40-45 guy in perfect races. Essentially, close to unbeatable in 1500m time trials and championship 5ks, but likely vulnerable in championship 1500ms and someone in sub 12:40 shape in a fast 5k

As a limited number of people on this board can attest to (those criticizing Jakob), when one's training and racing come together and you've achieved the feeling of "invincibility" there is no greater feeling as an athlete, especially at the elite level. To toe the line and have the confidence that your race plan is simply to "Run Away" from the field and think "Catch me if you can", you're now at the next level. Jakob is NOT a sore loser, he simply has set a standard for himself that few if any runners at this time can match. He's a "sore loser" with himself, not JW or any other competitor. Self centered? self serving? or selfish?, call it what you will, it is a necessary trait to have in order to be the BEST, it's not a personal attack on anyone.

Jakob is at the "Next Level".

No, he spelled out his plan for the season from the start. He didn't change anything.

Ok, we are just debating the degree of dominance. Hoare didn’t even make the final, Kerr was nowhere and Tim is old and getting older fast. Katir, Garcia, race of their lives. Kipsang, was nowhere, dead legs. Hocker and Teare, Tefera, nope not even in the race. Lightening struck for Jake. Very unlikely to happen again. I’d bet my last $ on Jakob every time, and I think this will be even more true in 23/24.

It is the opposite actually. In the 1500, his success seems very dependent upon what the competition does and how the race plays out. He won the Olympic 1500 but lost the WC 1500 not because he was at his best for one and not the other (he probably would have won both if they were time trials), but because of what everyone else did in the race. The Olympic race played out exactly the way he wanted it to; the WCs did not.

I don't really care what the guy says, but let's not pretend he dominated the 1500 the past two years the way Faith Kipyegon did. She wins any 1500 on her best day, because she could have won virtually any type of final. Jakob could not, as he demonstrated.

No.

And I don't think Wightman meant it as an insult, he was just speaking imprecisely.

I wish more athletes gave interviews like Jakob, but scrutinising every word (as in this instance) isn't going to incentivise anyone to do so.

P.S. It's worth noting that although English is Jakob's second language, he seemingly speaks it better than most runners who are native English speakers.

He doesn't say "like" every second word, doesn't use cliches as crutches and he doesn't speak in circles.