Dumb. Kejelcha is better at longer distances. Jakob is better at shorter distances. Kejelcha beats Jakob at 10k and up. Jakob beats Kejelcha at 5k and down.
You are cherry picking. The last first: He wasn´t able to beat a number of East African lightweighters on an extremely hilly route in Aarhus 2019. This has nothing to do with what he can do in a normal XC route or in a track 10.000m
Have you ever watched his last XC win in Turkey 2024?
This race shows clearly that he is completely superior to Ndikumwenayo and Almgren who both have run around 26:50 in the 10k. :
The 2024 XC race was initially front run by one of the best British runners in an honest pace.
About 17.5 minutes in Jakob goes to the front and immediately start to gap the field apart from Crippa, Ndikumwenayo, Kimeli, Schrub and Almgren. But these top runners have to fight to hang on to Jakob who is still cruising.
About 700m out the 5 top runners are about to be gapped as well: Crippa 1 sec behind, Ndik, 2 sec, Kimeli 3 sec, Schrub and Almgren 6 sec.
On these last 700m he takes further 7 sec on Crippa, 13 sec on Ndik., 14 sec on Kimeli, 12 sec on Almgren and 13 sec on Schrub.
As I wrote recently on another thread: This can only be explained by a far superior AEROBIC capacity because Jakob of course is not 7-14 sec faster than his competition in a 700m race.
In my opinion this is a clear indication that Jakob in top shape would be significantly stronger than Ndikumwenayo and Almgren in a 10000m on the track.
My Norwegian friend "curiousdude" will disagree claiming that the other guys had a bad race and that it would be different if the race had been a 10k and not a 7.73?m race.
But that is nonsense in my opinion. None of these European top runners were possibly in top shape in December last year but that includes Jakob. If he had not got his achilles problems he will possibly have peaked at the WC in Tokyo as Kimeli, Almgren and Gressier did.
And Jakob would have destroyed the field also if it had been a 10k as he did in the Euro XC 2021 and 2022. In 2021 he destroyed Gressier with 19 seconds over the last kilometers.
So he has destroyed no 1 and 3 at the WC Tokyo 10,000m over the distance.
He hasn´t competed against Kejelcha in the 10,000m/ 10k BUT I think we can conclude from the above that Jakob can run a world class 10,000m AND he has beaten Kejelcha rather easily in the two 5000m finals they have competed in so I think there is quite evident that Kejelcha also would get a hard time in the 10,000m against a Jakob in top shape.
Yes, the 2019 wc xc course was extremely hilly. -In an post race interview Jakob stressed that his problem was that he couldn’t find “relaxation” in any part of the race, so he therefore clearly underperformed even more because of this lack of a good rhythm. But his competitors was not lightweighters -the winner Mengesha is quite tall and heavily built… The problem here, however, is that the three medal winners weren’t even the best juniors in the world -Kiplimo et co ran in the senior event. Mengesha did a 27.47 roads in the same year (2019) as opposed to Jakob’s 27.54. Conclusion: I think Jakob could have been within 10 sec of the winner in a normal xc course, since he was way faster in the 5000m than all the medalist in that xc race, and only 7 sec shy in the 10k (the xc course was 7.7k). But since Jakob’s road race was well paced, and an all out effort with a new National record (with just one sec), I think the problem was that Jakob wasn’t good enough in the 10k (to compensate for the hills)…
Yes, Jakob has toyed with the Europeans in xc, and one can only wonder how much faster he could have run if he had to. But those “continental fellow men” have been an extremely weak competition if one compare them to guys like Kiplimo and Cheptegei, and that is what is needed if the narrative of Jakob being a world beater in the 10000m would have any bearing…
In the Euros xc 2024 in Turkey Jakob for the first time met decent Euro competition (based on PB’s in the 5 and 10k). But aside of Crippa they all grossly underperformed -fact: they must have, since they were easily beaten by 13.02/27.10 man Crippa, who has prioritised marathon for some time. Or else the Italian must be way way better than his PR’s -more likely that he (and Jakob) might be a little better than some of their times, but also probably were in better relative shape that day than the rest.
Hugo Milner is an example of how it’s difficult to use the Euros as proof of Jakob’s 10000m capacity -as you mentioned he dominated the race in 2/3 of it. But his 10000m PB is 69 sec slower than Jakob’s (in Jakob’s “worst race ever”), and two minutes weaker than what Kiplimo did as an eighteen years old. (Which is 73 sec faster than Jakob’s 10k PB as a nineteen years old). Of course Jakob beats guys like Milner easily, and also fast guys out of form, but can he find the minute he must gain on Kiplimo..?
Jakob and his support apparatus have claimed that Jakob is better the longer the distance. But that would be something unheard of given how fast he is in the 1500 and 3000m, and therefore very unlikely. But legends are often built on things that seem unlikely, so who knows. So what has he showed for now to build such a presumption: Nothing! (In my opinion)….
Still -I hope my young countryman gets a career also in the longer distances. And a guy like Almgren (with his 11.6/22.8/48.3/1.45/3.32) has shown that it might be possible, with a shift in training focus. So maybe you and I will agree some time in the future, if everything is sorted out positively when it comes to Jakob’s longevity. But for now he can be everything from reasonably good, to quite shabby, to mediocre in the 10k/HM for all that I know, but we don’t know -he has to give us a little more relevant data…
You are cherry picking. The last first: He wasn´t able to beat a number of East African lightweighters on an extremely hilly route in Aarhus 2019. This has nothing to do with what he can do in a normal XC route or in a track 10.000m
Have you ever watched his last XC win in Turkey 2024?
This race shows clearly that he is completely superior to Ndikumwenayo and Almgren who both have run around 26:50 in the 10k. :
The 2024 XC race was initially front run by one of the best British runners in an honest pace.
About 17.5 minutes in Jakob goes to the front and immediately start to gap the field apart from Crippa, Ndikumwenayo, Kimeli, Schrub and Almgren. But these top runners have to fight to hang on to Jakob who is still cruising.
About 700m out the 5 top runners are about to be gapped as well: Crippa 1 sec behind, Ndik, 2 sec, Kimeli 3 sec, Schrub and Almgren 6 sec.
On these last 700m he takes further 7 sec on Crippa, 13 sec on Ndik., 14 sec on Kimeli, 12 sec on Almgren and 13 sec on Schrub.
As I wrote recently on another thread: This can only be explained by a far superior AEROBIC capacity because Jakob of course is not 7-14 sec faster than his competition in a 700m race.
In my opinion this is a clear indication that Jakob in top shape would be significantly stronger than Ndikumwenayo and Almgren in a 10000m on the track.
My Norwegian friend "curiousdude" will disagree claiming that the other guys had a bad race and that it would be different if the race had been a 10k and not a 7.73?m race.
But that is nonsense in my opinion. None of these European top runners were possibly in top shape in December last year but that includes Jakob. If he had not got his achilles problems he will possibly have peaked at the WC in Tokyo as Kimeli, Almgren and Gressier did.
And Jakob would have destroyed the field also if it had been a 10k as he did in the Euro XC 2021 and 2022. In 2021 he destroyed Gressier with 19 seconds over the last kilometers.
So he has destroyed no 1 and 3 at the WC Tokyo 10,000m over the distance.
He hasn´t competed against Kejelcha in the 10,000m/ 10k BUT I think we can conclude from the above that Jakob can run a world class 10,000m AND he has beaten Kejelcha rather easily in the two 5000m finals they have competed in so I think there is quite evident that Kejelcha also would get a hard time in the 10,000m against a Jakob in top shape.
Yes, the 2019 wc xc course was extremely hilly. -In an post race interview Jakob stressed that his problem was that he couldn’t find “relaxation” in any part of the race, so he therefore clearly underperformed even more because of this lack of a good rhythm. But his competitors was not lightweighters -the winner Mengesha is quite tall and heavily built… The problem here, however, is that the three medal winners weren’t even the best juniors in the world -Kiplimo et co ran in the senior event. Mengesha did a 27.47 roads in the same year (2019) as opposed to Jakob’s 27.54. Conclusion: I think Jakob could have been within 10 sec of the winner in a normal xc course, since he was way faster in the 5000m than all the medalist in that xc race, and only 7 sec shy in the 10k (the xc course was 7.7k). But since Jakob’s road race was well paced, and an all out effort with a new National record (with just one sec), I think the problem was that Jakob wasn’t good enough in the 10k (to compensate for the hills)…
Yes, Jakob has toyed with the Europeans in xc, and one can only wonder how much faster he could have run if he had to. But those “continental fellow men” have been an extremely weak competition if one compare them to guys like Kiplimo and Cheptegei, and that is what is needed if the narrative of Jakob being a world beater in the 10000m would have any bearing…
In the Euros xc 2024 in Turkey Jakob for the first time met decent Euro competition (based on PB’s in the 5 and 10k). But aside of Crippa they all grossly underperformed -fact: they must have, since they were easily beaten by 13.02/27.10 man Crippa, who has prioritised marathon for some time. Or else the Italian must be way way better than his PR’s -more likely that he (and Jakob) might be a little better than some of their times, but also probably were in better relative shape that day than the rest.
Hugo Milner is an example of how it’s difficult to use the Euros as proof of Jakob’s 10000m capacity -as you mentioned he dominated the race in 2/3 of it. But his 10000m PB is 69 sec slower than Jakob’s (in Jakob’s “worst race ever”), and two minutes weaker than what Kiplimo did as an eighteen years old. (Which is 73 sec faster than Jakob’s 10k PB as a nineteen years old). Of course Jakob beats guys like Milner easily, and also fast guys out of form, but can he find the minute he must gain on Kiplimo..?
Jakob and his support apparatus have claimed that Jakob is better the longer the distance. But that would be something unheard of given how fast he is in the 1500 and 3000m, and therefore very unlikely. But legends are often built on things that seem unlikely, so who knows. So what has he showed for now to build such a presumption: Nothing! (In my opinion)….
Still -I hope my young countryman gets a career also in the longer distances. And a guy like Almgren (with his 11.6/22.8/48.3/1.45/3.32) has shown that it might be possible, with a shift in training focus. So maybe you and I will agree some time in the future, if everything is sorted out positively when it comes to Jakob’s longevity. But for now he can be everything from reasonably good, to quite shabby, to mediocre in the 10k/HM for all that I know, but we don’t know -he has to give us a little more relevant data…
That Almgren has run 12:44 shows incredible strength and there’s no shift in focus that’s going to improve it.
Dumb. Kejelcha is better at longer distances. Jakob is better at shorter distances. Kejelcha beats Jakob at 10k and up. Jakob beats Kejelcha at 5k and down.
You are cherry picking. The last first: He wasn´t able to beat a number of East African lightweighters on an extremely hilly route in Aarhus 2019. This has nothing to do with what he can do in a normal XC route or in a track 10.000m
Have you ever watched his last XC win in Turkey 2024?
This race shows clearly that he is completely superior to Ndikumwenayo and Almgren who both have run around 26:50 in the 10k. :
The 2024 XC race was initially front run by one of the best British runners in an honest pace.
About 17.5 minutes in Jakob goes to the front and immediately start to gap the field apart from Crippa, Ndikumwenayo, Kimeli, Schrub and Almgren. But these top runners have to fight to hang on to Jakob who is still cruising.
About 700m out the 5 top runners are about to be gapped as well: Crippa 1 sec behind, Ndik, 2 sec, Kimeli 3 sec, Schrub and Almgren 6 sec.
On these last 700m he takes further 7 sec on Crippa, 13 sec on Ndik., 14 sec on Kimeli, 12 sec on Almgren and 13 sec on Schrub.
As I wrote recently on another thread: This can only be explained by a far superior AEROBIC capacity because Jakob of course is not 7-14 sec faster than his competition in a 700m race.
In my opinion this is a clear indication that Jakob in top shape would be significantly stronger than Ndikumwenayo and Almgren in a 10000m on the track.
My Norwegian friend "curiousdude" will disagree claiming that the other guys had a bad race and that it would be different if the race had been a 10k and not a 7.73?m race.
But that is nonsense in my opinion. None of these European top runners were possibly in top shape in December last year but that includes Jakob. If he had not got his achilles problems he will possibly have peaked at the WC in Tokyo as Kimeli, Almgren and Gressier did.
And Jakob would have destroyed the field also if it had been a 10k as he did in the Euro XC 2021 and 2022. In 2021 he destroyed Gressier with 19 seconds over the last kilometers.
So he has destroyed no 1 and 3 at the WC Tokyo 10,000m over the distance.
He hasn´t competed against Kejelcha in the 10,000m/ 10k BUT I think we can conclude from the above that Jakob can run a world class 10,000m AND he has beaten Kejelcha rather easily in the two 5000m finals they have competed in so I think there is quite evident that Kejelcha also would get a hard time in the 10,000m against a Jakob in top shape.
Yes, the 2019 wc xc course was extremely hilly. -In an post race interview Jakob stressed that his problem was that he couldn’t find “relaxation” in any part of the race, so he therefore clearly underperformed even more because of this lack of a good rhythm. But his competitors was not lightweighters -the winner Mengesha is quite tall and heavily built… The problem here, however, is that the three medal winners weren’t even the best juniors in the world -Kiplimo et co ran in the senior event. Mengesha did a 27.47 roads in the same year (2019) as opposed to Jakob’s 27.54. Conclusion: I think Jakob could have been within 10 sec of the winner in a normal xc course, since he was way faster in the 5000m than all the medalist in that xc race, and only 7 sec shy in the 10k (the xc course was 7.7k). But since Jakob’s road race was well paced, and an all out effort with a new National record (with just one sec), I think the problem was that Jakob wasn’t good enough in the 10k (to compensate for the hills)…
Yes, Jakob has toyed with the Europeans in xc, and one can only wonder how much faster he could have run if he had to. But those “continental fellow men” have been an extremely weak competition if one compare them to guys like Kiplimo and Cheptegei, and that is what is needed if the narrative of Jakob being a world beater in the 10000m would have any bearing…
In the Euros xc 2024 in Turkey Jakob for the first time met decent Euro competition (based on PB’s in the 5 and 10k). But aside of Crippa they all grossly underperformed -fact: they must have, since they were easily beaten by 13.02/27.10 man Crippa, who has prioritised marathon for some time. Or else the Italian must be way way better than his PR’s -more likely that he (and Jakob) might be a little better than some of their times, but also probably were in better relative shape that day than the rest.
Hugo Milner is an example of how it’s difficult to use the Euros as proof of Jakob’s 10000m capacity -as you mentioned he dominated the race in 2/3 of it. But his 10000m PB is 69 sec slower than Jakob’s (in Jakob’s “worst race ever”), and two minutes weaker than what Kiplimo did as an eighteen years old. (Which is 73 sec faster than Jakob’s 10k PB as a nineteen years old). Of course Jakob beats guys like Milner easily, and also fast guys out of form, but can he find the minute he must gain on Kiplimo..?
Jakob and his support apparatus have claimed that Jakob is better the longer the distance. But that would be something unheard of given how fast he is in the 1500 and 3000m, and therefore very unlikely. But legends are often built on things that seem unlikely, so who knows. So what has he showed for now to build such a presumption: Nothing! (In my opinion)….
Still -I hope my young countryman gets a career also in the longer distances. And a guy like Almgren (with his 11.6/22.8/48.3/1.45/3.32) has shown that it might be possible, with a shift in training focus. So maybe you and I will agree some time in the future, if everything is sorted out positively when it comes to Jakob’s longevity. But for now he can be everything from reasonably good, to quite shabby, to mediocre in the 10k/HM for all that I know, but we don’t know -he has to give us a little more relevant data…
You didn´t disappoint me , CuriousDude. You stick to your narrative that Jakob is a - relatively - weak XC and 5000m runner who has been lucky to to meet weak or underperforming competition the 7 times out of 7 seven he has won Euro XC and the 4 times out 4 he has won 5000m races in DL - Florence 2021 - and in international champs. But let us take it from the beginning: So you don´t think that the East Africans were light weigthers in the 2019 U20 XC WC. When I watched the race Jakob looked by far the tallest and especially the heaviest of the top competitors. The rest were typical long distance runners with light bones and not much behind. I thought that was evident but apparently not to you since you claims that the winner - Etiophian - Milkesa Mengesha is both tall and heavily built. You don´t provide any evidence for that surprising postulate and since there doesn´t seem to be any information of Mengesha´s height and weight online I have had to find another way disprove your postulate: Look at the 2019 DL Oslo 3000m where Mengesha participated some few month after his XC win in Aarhus.
In this race also participated among others Chepetegei, Barega, McSweyn, Henrik Ingebrigtsen, Andrew Butchart - all runners which height and often also weight is known. Mengesha is the runner who starts cloest to rail. He starts rapidly and initially he is placed just after the pacemakers with Barega - in black - close behind. For me it looks like these 2 Barega and Mengesha has the same height and weight. Soon after Cheptegei is passing and going to the first place after the pacemakers. Cheptegei clearly looks bigger and more heavy than Barega and Mengesha. As the race goes on Mengesha is falling back through the field. For a while he is running just in front of McSweyn who looks to be almost a head taller. Mengesha is falling further back being past by H. Ingebrigtsen, Butchart and Hunter who all look taller and especially heavier. So how much taller and heavier do I think Jakob was compared to Mengesha in 2019? About 15 cm taller and 20 kg heavier. Jakob reportedly was 187cm and 74 g in 2023. Let´s say he was 185 cm and 73 kg. in 2019 when he was only 18. Barega is about 170cm and 53kg and I think Mengesha had the same stature in 2019. McSweyn is 188cm with unknown weight - but possibly - lower than Jakob´s. Cheptegei is 183 and 61, H. ingebrigtsen is 180 and 69, Butchart is 175 and 64 AND Drew Hunter is 180 and 64. Other top runners: Filip I. 189 and 75, Kiplimo 178 and 58, Mo Farah 175 and 58 AND Kejelcha 186 and 58. Can you see the difference between the East African runners and the Europeans and American runners? Will you recall your postulate about Mengesha´s height and weight and recognize that Jakob was SIGNIFICANTLY heavier than his East African competitors in Aarhus 2019. A sidenote: If Jakob - in good shape - had participated in the above Oslo 3000m 2019 he would possibly have been fightning for the win opposed to Mengesha who ended next to last in 7:49. Jakob had beaten Henrik easily in the Euro indoor 3000m some months earlier and Henrik broke the national record in the Oslo 3000m with 7:36. Barega won in 7:32. A month later Jakob ran 13:02 in the 5000m which equals 7:28 in the 3000. ------------------ Then you state that the Hytteplanmilan in 2019 was well paced and that Jakob was all out. Filip paced less than 3km before Jakob took over. Then Filip paced again after 5000m for perhaps 1.5 minutes. So perhaps around 3.5km of pacing. It that what you call good pacing for a 10k? I don´t think at all that Jakob was all out in this 10k perhaps apart from the last km or so where he realized that he could break the national record. I don´t think the brothers cared much about this race - remember: they came late to the start and one hadn´t had time to remove his jacket - BUT I understand you look for every point which can support your crumpling narrative. ------------------ But an extreme XC race AND a random 10k more than 5 years do not say much about one of the main topics of this thread: How Jakob would do in the 10,000m on the TRACK in Los Angeles 2028. I will try to find time to address the rest of your post later.
You didn´t disappoint me , CuriousDude. You stick to your narrative that Jakob is a - relatively - weak XC and 5000m runner who has been lucky to to meet weak or underperforming competition the 7 times out of 7 seven he has won Euro XC and the 4 times out 4 he has won 5000m races in DL - Florence 2021 - and in international champs. But let us take it from the beginning: So you don´t think that the East Africans were light weigthers in the 2019 U20 XC WC. When I watched the race Jakob looked by far the tallest and especially the heaviest of the top competitors. The rest were typical long distance runners with light bones and not much behind. I thought that was evident but apparently not to you since you claims that the winner - Etiophian - Milkesa Mengesha is both tall and heavily built. You don´t provide any evidence for that surprising postulate and since there doesn´t seem to be any information of Mengesha´s height and weight online I have had to find another way disprove your postulate: Look at the 2019 DL Oslo 3000m where Mengesha participated some few month after his XC win in Aarhus.
In this race also participated among others Chepetegei, Barega, McSweyn, Henrik Ingebrigtsen, Andrew Butchart - all runners which height and often also weight is known. Mengesha is the runner who starts cloest to rail. He starts rapidly and initially he is placed just after the pacemakers with Barega - in black - close behind. For me it looks like these 2 Barega and Mengesha has the same height and weight. Soon after Cheptegei is passing and going to the first place after the pacemakers. Cheptegei clearly looks bigger and more heavy than Barega and Mengesha. As the race goes on Mengesha is falling back through the field. For a while he is running just in front of McSweyn who looks to be almost a head taller. Mengesha is falling further back being past by H. Ingebrigtsen, Butchart and Hunter who all look taller and especially heavier. So how much taller and heavier do I think Jakob was compared to Mengesha in 2019? About 15 cm taller and 20 kg heavier. Jakob reportedly was 187cm and 74 g in 2023. Let´s say he was 185 cm and 73 kg. in 2019 when he was only 18. Barega is about 170cm and 53kg and I think Mengesha had the same stature in 2019. McSweyn is 188cm with unknown weight - but possibly - lower than Jakob´s. Cheptegei is 183 and 61, H. ingebrigtsen is 180 and 69, Butchart is 175 and 64 AND Drew Hunter is 180 and 64. Other top runners: Filip I. 189 and 75, Kiplimo 178 and 58, Mo Farah 175 and 58 AND Kejelcha 186 and 58. Can you see the difference between the East African runners and the Europeans and American runners? Will you recall your postulate about Mengesha´s height and weight and recognize that Jakob was SIGNIFICANTLY heavier than his East African competitors in Aarhus 2019. A sidenote: If Jakob - in good shape - had participated in the above Oslo 3000m 2019 he would possibly have been fightning for the win opposed to Mengesha who ended next to last in 7:49. Jakob had beaten Henrik easily in the Euro indoor 3000m some months earlier and Henrik broke the national record in the Oslo 3000m with 7:36. Barega won in 7:32. A month later Jakob ran 13:02 in the 5000m which equals 7:28 in the 3000. ------------------ Then you state that the Hytteplanmilan in 2019 was well paced and that Jakob was all out. Filip paced less than 3km before Jakob took over. Then Filip paced again after 5000m for perhaps 1.5 minutes. So perhaps around 3.5km of pacing. It that what you call good pacing for a 10k? I don´t think at all that Jakob was all out in this 10k perhaps apart from the last km or so where he realized that he could break the national record. I don´t think the brothers cared much about this race - remember: they came late to the start and one hadn´t had time to remove his jacket - BUT I understand you look for every point which can support your crumpling narrative. ------------------ But an extreme XC race AND a random 10k more than 5 years do not say much about one of the main topics of this thread: How Jakob would do in the 10,000m on the TRACK in Los Angeles 2028. I will try to find time to address the rest of your post later.
First of all: I don’t know if my narrative is that Jakob is a relative weak xc/5000m runner, that has been lucky to meet weak/underperforming competition…
My narrative might on the contrary be that the Norwegian is a very strong 5000m runner (at worst a 12.42 man, but probably faster, maybe way way faster). But that we cannot know if he is better here than in the 3000m, before he has run a time trial or met competitors at their best… And I have to stress that being better in the 5000m would be sensational -it’s unheard of, but of course not impossible… When it comes to the xc I think he can run fast, but not in a hilly course, and not in a 10k one. The same goes for the roads. But that doesn’t mean that he cannot ever, or not for sure, be a superb 10k/long xc runner -but I think he has to change his training and focus to be able to do so. And even with such a change I don’t see this as self-evident.
Of course Jakob was the tallest and heaviest of all the runners inside one minute behind the winner. But I doubt Jakob is 1.87 and 74 kg -Filip is 1.87, and taller than his little brother (maybe only 1 cm). But more importantly the weight -think Jakob is nearer 70 kg than 74… I have a hard time getting anything about Mengesha’s height and built from the Oslo Dl -but in the WC xc 2019 we can watch him together with others for several minutes, e.g Oscar Chelimo, who is listed as 1.78. -To me Mengesha (a little corrected for his forward lean) looks slightly taller than Chelimo in that race, (maybe a couple of cm’s), and slightly lower than Worku. So I would guess around 1.80m tall if Chelimo’s height is correct. So about 6 cm lower than Jakob, and despite Mengesha has broad hips, thighs and shoulders also some kgs lighter than his Norwegian competitor.. Point here is that none of the medalist in the xc race were small, but Chelimo as a mountain runner, and Worku as quit slim must have had some advantages towards Mengesha and Ingebrigtsen, with the latter carrying most weight. And in my previous post I stressed that Jakob would have run far better in a flatter course…
Your side note: Yes, Jakob was a far better 1500/3000/5000m runner than Mengesha in 2019. But that was also my point -I think that the Ethiopian’s 7 sec better 10k roads that year explains why Jakob couldn’t compensate his disadvantage (the hills) with a better 10k strength. Because he simply didn’t have that strength -it’s clearly not his distance…!
During the “Hytteplanmila 2019” Jakob turned to the leading Filip and said: “Are you aware that your pace here is quite brisk..?” -They were running down hill the first k’s. So that’s what I meant with good pacing -it wasn’t like Jakob lost a lot on the NR because of a slow opening. On the contrary one would think he got some thoughts about a possible record given such a good beginning. And to me it looked like Jakob went for it. (Made it, by one sec). And yes, they were late, because of a misunderstanding with the line up, and exact start time, and Jakob had to throw away his jacket when he ran, and Filip zigzaged between slower runners in front of him, but Jakob ran on the gun and didn’t lose time, and the conditions and course were good…
Yes, the past doesn’t have to predict everything about a 10000m in 2028. But Jakob hasn’t run a fast one yet -that’s a fact. Can he? Maybe - a comparable guy like Almgren seems to be able to, with a slightly different focus and training. So I hope the best, but won’t at all take anything for granted. He has to earn it, and for now his PB is 1 min 16sec behind the 10000m WR, despite having pacers all the way, and in very good conditions (OK, without special preparation/rest, and maybe a bad day, and maybe because of too much 1500m focus and thinning of his training, and perhaps a sickness a week before, but still…)…In 2018 Jacob Kiplimo ran a 26.41 roads, whereas Jakob Ingebrigtsen ran a 27.54 in 2019 -I think both are better now, but our man has to show that he can close the 1min 13 sec gap, and he doesn’t do that by winning an Euro xc 7.8k with a 8 sec margin to a 13.02/27.10 guy in a tactical race..!