Jakob Ingebrigtsen has had Achilles surgery in California

The OP did good sleuthing. We’ll know when Jakob is back when he’s racing or at the very least events are on the calendar.

Yes.

Does he not talk trash about his competitors? Does he not flex his biceps before races?

here's hoping this saxena dude didn't screw up jakob's achilles.

back in 2010, i had foot pain and got an appointment with him. i took an mri and it was plantar fasciitis. he advised me to wear a foot boot for 6 weeks, followed by 6 months of no running. this was without any surgical intervention.

looking back, 6 months of no running was probably overkiII.

not to do ad hominem (i'll do it anyways because i'm still a bit bitter that my freshman track season was derailed) but he was, bluntly speaking, kind of an a-hole. extremely overconfident in diagnosis. i remember specifically what he said in response to me suggesting that my foot was not receiving enough blood flow for recovery: "your foot is fine unless your blood circulation is like a grandmas. and because you are still young, it can't be that you have the same health as a grandma right?". extremely wrong, considering that my blood circulation was in fact lower than average at the time. just quick and immediate dismissal of any factors that might affect the injury site, the classic doctor (or in this case podiatrist) mentality of "i'm right and any possibility that varies from my expert opinion is wrong". he was friends with my coach and often came to los gatos all-comers meets in the summer, where he also had zero acknowledgement of how my foot was doing or any follow-up. insanely petty/snobby behavior.

i wonder if his office still has a picture of himself running a 2:30? marathon in the office, along with signed photos of rupp everywhere.

if i had to guess, those pictures of rupp are now replaced by pictures of jakob.
next year, it might be cole hocker.

Jakob Ingebrigtsen has confirmed on Instagram and youtube that he has had achilles surgery in California.

There was another thread last week where people were speculating he might need surgery. That thread is here:

You’re much of a sports fan if you don’t want to see the best of the best duke it out. As an Ingebrigtsen hater, wasn’t watching him get passed by three guys in Paris more satisfying than him being out with an injury?

Hey, I backed you up (saw him in Palo Alto with walking boot yesterday) and I got called nasty things by some of the losers on this site. Maybe I should have known he had surgery but I was walking when I saw someone with a walking boot on their left foot. Glanced again and then 1 more time when I thought it was Jacob. I didn't realize how tall he was so it took that extra look to confirm it was him. I'm not a stalker or a groupy. I spent about 3 seconds total looking at him and I never saw him walk. I walked away because I've never met him before and I had places to go. He was not in a wheelchair at the time.

But this is good news as the problem and surgery were relatively minor ones. Recurrent achilles tendinopathy would likely have a slower recovery with or without surgery.

I f surgery was needed, its better to have it in a non-championship year.

Yes, this is the best year to have this done. No major championships and plenty of time to recover. That being said, if any of you are familiar with achilles tendon issues (unfortunately I am), Jakob clarified that there is no issue with the integrity of the tendon itself, which is great. The main issue was the sheath around the tendon which had excessive scar tissue, which in fact once becomes inflamed can cause on and off irritation and pain. This makes sense, due to Jakob having pain free stints of training and then stints of pain. Tendon sheath surgery basically cleans out the scar tissue and allows the tendon to function smoothly with adequate blood flow. The most important phase of recovery is immediately after surgery so as to prevent any scar tissue build up and to get the blood flow through the tendon to promote proper healing. A lot of painful massage and mobility treatments will be the priority the first 4-6 weeks. Once he clears that phase, he can then get back to running and go as he feels. He has more than enough time to heal and get back into shape, and should be good to go and back training at 100% come this summer.

Wishing him the best, and look forward to seeing him back in action next season.

I thought socialist healthcare was the best in the world. Why would someone leave the superior Norwegian system to get healthcare in the US?

*moran, moran

I hope he makes a smooth recovery. The sport is more compelling with him in competitive shape.

I fully expect him to perform at a high level again. If I had to guess though, ‘23/‘24 was his absolute prime. Like Coe after ‘81 or Cram after ‘85, he’ll never be quite as fast again.

Of course this news is terrible for him and the sport - it's crazy because it was only a few weeks ago he was quoted in the Guardian (?) article talking about WR attempts over 1500, mile and 5000m this season. Clearly that is not happening.

You really have to entertain if this is it - especially when thinking about the athlete we knew in 2023 and 2024. So he turns 26 in September and best case is back next summer season. And people will point to Donovan Brazier as a case in point as to how an athlete can now come back from what seemed like a career ending predicament, but I think the circumstances are quite different.

The biggest one is that Brazier was relatively undertrained and developed career wise before his workload dramatically increased under Julian which was the direct cause of his body's break down. My feeling is that under those circumstances it's much easier to get healthy and come back vs Jakob who has significantly more career fatigue on his body due to his development from his teenage years and also the event. You can get back to a high level in the 800 without a ton of volume, relying on your talent more than the 1500-5000 where you simply have to have volume (and in Jakobs case with his training philosophy) a high combination of that and intensity.

Wish him all the best, you'd hate to see his career end this way.

and p.s for all the kids out there wearing high stack, super soft "super" shoes for every run and workouts - especially on the track? Don't.

I don’t think this Jakob situation is a reflection on national health care systems at large. It’s more like Jakob sought a surgeon with special expertise and experience and that surgeon happened to be in the U.S., a country of 340 million people, or about 61 times the population of Norway.

Bummer news! But guess it’s better than more of the past year or so. Hopefully he recovers fast — elites like him cross train like crazy so I’m sure he can get back in shape faster than people used to in the past. Hope his body holds up, of course.

Probably wasn’t so smart to race the World Champs last summer, but what can ya do — he’s a fighter and fighters wanna fight

Terrible news. I've been wondering for a while if the effects of training like a pro since early childhood would lead to an earlier prime for Jakob, and now it's really hard to shake the feeling his best days are behind him.

He's downplaying the surgery but any procedure on your Achilles is a big deal, it speaks volumes about his inability to get healthy that he's even doing this. I hope he treats this as a lost season and focuses on building back up for 2027— the one thing he can't do is try to rush back to race fitness.

He barely talks trash about his competitors. He has never flexed his biceps before a race. Only after, and only twice.

Cue the Rojo rant about his achilles surgery next pod