It’s def AI. Look at all the em dashes — that are used throughout. ChatGPT tends to use em dashes frequently. It’s a dead giveaway that something's written by AI.
I know it's AI when it's so fawking long and so repetitive. AI can't write for Sh!t. Regardless, JI is washed, done. Stop dreaming
24 is extremely young. I've rolled both ankles many times, had minor tears in both hip flexors and groins from lifting and sprinting, have had pulled hams on both sides, and have had stress fractures that made it painful to walk in both feet, and have had jumper's knee, patellar tendinitis, Achilles tendinitis, and several other issues, and I'm only 29 years old.
I ran my fastest short sprint ever less than a year ago off of minimal sprint training. I can crank my heart rate up to 215 on a 44-50 resting heart rate with almost no cardio training.
Our bodies are capable of amazing things, and professional athletes have access to yet even more therapies and turnkey lifestyle and diet interventions and support regimes than we do, we being normal folk.
On the bright side, after seeing the 10,000m final ran at a pedestrian 28min+, Jakob still has a long and golden career on the track.
But you see there is zero relationship between the 10000m at Tokyo and whatever future success Jakob could conceivably have on the track. Like you cannot be serious!
Yes it does, in that there are other events on the track other than the 1500m. The idea of Jakob's future success following this bad showing is largely in the context of him as a miler.
But you see there is zero relationship between the 10000m at Tokyo and whatever future success Jakob could conceivably have on the track. Like you cannot be serious!
Yes it does, in that there are other events on the track other than the 1500m. The idea of Jakob's future success following this bad showing is largely in the context of him as a miler.
Yes but Tokyo did not provide a new piece of data regarding the existence of other events besides the 1500m. Surely you knew this already?
Today I read on VG that Jakob Ingebrigtsen has had another setback with his Achilles. That’s it for me. That’s the moment I realized — this might be the end of the Jakob we once knew.
If you've followed this sport long enough, you know Achilles injuries are career poison. Chronic Achilles problems don’t go away. They linger, they flare, they rob you of rhythm, and in an era where everyone is running 3:28 or better, rhythm is everything. You fall just 1% off and you're no longer in the medals — you're in no man's land.
Look at the 1500 now: Kerr has gone beast mode. Hocker has ascended. Jonah Koech and Narve Nordås are leveling up. Laros might be in 3:26 shape. Phanuel Koech can drop a 3:27 on the right day. And there’s a tidal wave of 3:28–3:29 guys who can close in 52 or better. That used to be Jakob’s territory. It no longer belongs to him.
Maybe the 5000? I want to believe, I really do. But now we’ve got Fisher, Nico Young, Hocker again, Mehary, and a new breed of sub-13 guys with 52-second kicks. Jakob's strength used to be his ability to out-think, out-grind, and out-close. But now, the game has caught up. And with a newborn, a growing family, and the weight of a nation’s expectations on his shoulders — I just don’t see the fire being the same.
And please, don’t take this the wrong way. I’m not here to dance on a grave. Jakob is — and always will be — one of my favorite runners of all time. He changed the game. He inspired a new generation to run fast and close fast. He made front-running cool again. He wasn’t just a champion — he was a movement.
I’ll remember the Olympic gold in Tokyo, where he ran 3:28 like it was a solo effort. The way he torched everyone in the 2022 World Champs 5000m final, even after casually grabbing a water bottle mid-race — like he knew no one could touch him. That wild 3:43 mile at the 2023 Pre Classic, drafting Nuguse all the way to the line in one of the best miles in history. His fearless runs in the Diamond Leagues, like his 3:27 in Silesia where he looked completely untouchable. His younger days — the youngest ever sub-4 mile at Pre when he was just 16, like a prodigy out of a fairy tale. And even the painful memories — the faceplant in the 5000m at Worlds in Doha 2019, where he learned the hard way what doubling meant at the senior level. The heartbreak of silver in Budapest, but how he still showed up the next day with fire in his eyes. I'll remember the races where he looked invincible, and the one here he looked human. He gave us everything — the highs, the lows, the quotes, the stares, the swagger. He raced like it meant something.
Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe this post will look ridiculous come Tokyo or the next Worlds. But I just have a feeling. Something has shifted. And I want to give flowers while they're still fresh. It was beautiful while it lasted. Thank you, Jakob. You were the magic that made the sport feel alive again, and it hurts more than I expected to let you go.
"If you've followed this sport long enough, you know Achilles injuries are career poison. Chronic Achilles problems don’t go away. They linger, they flare, they rob you of rhythm, and in an era where everyone is running 3:28 or better, rhythm is everything. You fall just 1% off and you're no longer in the medals — you're in no man's land".
Talk about "glass half empty or half full" mentality. I wonder which one you are? I'm not bashing your post, but you've clearly NEVER have run at the elite level. If you're throwing in the towel because of an Achilles issue as a world class runner, or ANY runner for that matter, you might as well quit now. Injuries are par for the course, and if you don't understand that, you're dead in the water!
"It's NOT how you fall, it's HOW you get up". JK will be back, settle down.