Jakob is good enough that the thought of being The Best Ever (tm) isn't completely out of the question (unlikely and hard, but not impossible). In order to do that he needs, at a minimum, a WR in the 1500m. Two would be nice. Grabbing the mile isn't essential, but would boost his case.
Jakob is well aware that he needs to rack up WRs to be considered among the greats. 3000/5000 probably his best bets, maybe even the 10,000 eventually. Yeah, he'll never run a 46 relay split or 1:43 because he is more strength than flat out speed, so 3:25/3:42 unlikely. But remember, the kid is only 22 years old. All of his PRs will improve from here. Sky's the limit. Great for the sport and a ton of fun to watch!
Maybe he can run more even splits if he's a strength-based runner? "Just" run 55's.
El G's 3:26 splits were pretty even: 400m 0.55; 800: 1:50.73; 1100: 2:32.73, 1200: 2:46.34 - 39.66 for the last 300 m.
Or maybe he simply isn't as fast as Lagat and El G.
3:26.00 is a ridiculous record and he got 1200 of pacing, which he then kicked off of. I think the mile/3k are more realistic targets. The 5k may be, but I wonder if there’s an attempt forthcoming to lower it from the Ugandans/Aregawi especially in 2026.
If I’m Jakob/a meet organizer, I am paying extra to have an up-and-comer like Reynold Cheruiyot/Wanyonyi/Ermias Girma to pace the Oslo Dream Mile after Sowinsky gets the field through in 1:52.
This post was edited 2 minutes after it was posted.
I'm going to rank Ingebrigsten as a hard worker runner with accurate and efficient program of training. However he don't have the stride of a true freak:
Even Mechaal behind him give a better impression when running.
Yeah that makes sense, Olympic champion, world medalist, but yeah just doesn't have the stride to be good.
What the heck are you smoking man? You're saying you're some scout that goes out to the local track and picks out the 9 year olds with 'good strides' and tells them they're going to run 3:27? Theres probably hundreds of collegians who have 'better strides' than jakob but it might be hard to see it when they're 100m behind at the end of a 1500.
He doesn't have the wheels. Remember that El G did workouts such as 12 x 300m @ 36s.
Hicham's lifetime best for the 800m was only 1:47.18 which is slower than Jakob's PB already so not having the wheels argument is flawed. Also Hicham was almost 24 when he ran 3:26:00 and similarly just shy of turning 27 when he ran his second fastest 3:26:12. Jakob doesn't even turn 23 until September. He's got a ton of time on his side to really attack the 1500m WR when he wants to.
Hicham ran 1.46 for the last 800 of his 2004 Olympic 1500 victory.
He will in the heat of competition. Anyone who watched the Olympics saw that he had so much in reserve at the end, he could have run 3:27 low or 3:26 high that day and he could have been the only runner since Herb Elliott to run a world record 1500 in the Olympics. He ran a 3:31 at 17, 5 years ago. If he was all about time trial world records he cold get them. There was an episode of Team Ingebrigtsen, I think season 5 when Philip asked him about his love for running and Jacob emphasized the most important thing to him is competition. Beating people. Winning! He has that old Michael Jordan kind of mindset and he's had it since he was like 5 of 6. He's about competition not records. That is why he runs all the championships. For goodness gracious he ran the senior division of the World Championships in the 3k steeplechase when he was 15 or 16.
He's about competition because records are beyond his reach. 22 and not one attempt? Herb Elliott was breaking them at 20. It's what the best aim for.
Jakob has stated multiple times that he wants not just world titles but also world records. There's no way he would be happy retiring without giving it all he's got to claim the world record not just in the 1500m but other middle-long distance events also. He wants to be remembered as one of the all time greats.
He doesn't need world records for that. Sites like this are a fraction of a fraction.
Jakob gets annoyed when he doesn't win the majors. He knows that's the big picture criteria.
His head is too big! What's wrong with you guys? It's obvious that his head is holding him back by at least a second or two! If he had a really slim head... would be running 325...
To those who point a lack of speed, I looked back to the footage of is 800 record : the pacer splited a 52.54 400 and Jakob was in approximately 53, meaning he maintained the same speed throughout the whole 800. Also, considering the track was wet, it is clear that he could easily perform much better. Also, his outkicking Cheptegei, Katir and co. every now and then should be a give-away...
He will in the heat of competition. Anyone who watched the Olympics saw that he had so much in reserve at the end, he could have run 3:27 low or 3:26 high that day and he could have been the only runner since Herb Elliott to run a world record 1500 in the Olympics. He ran a 3:31 at 17, 5 years ago. If he was all about time trial world records he cold get them. There was an episode of Team Ingebrigtsen, I think season 5 when Philip asked him about his love for running and Jacob emphasized the most important thing to him is competition. Beating people. Winning! He has that old Michael Jordan kind of mindset and he's had it since he was like 5 of 6. He's about competition not records. That is why he runs all the championships. For goodness gracious he ran the senior division of the World Championships in the 3k steeplechase when he was 15 or 16.
He's about competition because records are beyond his reach. 22 and not one attempt? Herb Elliott was breaking them at 20. It's what the best aim for.
Have to go back 70 odd years to find an example 😂😅
He's about competition because records are beyond his reach. 22 and not one attempt? Herb Elliott was breaking them at 20. It's what the best aim for.
Have to go back 70 odd years to find an example 😂😅
No, I don't have to go back 70 years to find an example. I could go back further - to Nurmi. Or the guy who ran 3.26. Records has always been what the sport has been about. Every decade the best of their time broke the records. But not Jakob. And he won't. They are out of reach for him.
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