Axel Vang Christensen Strikes Back - 14:06 5,000m & 9:06 steeple @15 years old

Joel Ibler Lillesø was about half a second after Jakob Ingebrigtsen´s U18 record!

Joel ran just under 14 in both the 5000m and the 5 km road this summer when he was still 16.

And 3:44.50 on the 1500m at age 16.

Axel Vang Christensen, Danish teen phenom. King of the ectomorphs.

Axel Vang Christensen -Denmark, born 2004 (IAAF website does not list his exact birthdate)

Recent 7:59.30 indoors.

Predictions, summer 2021/and or 2022 - 3:45, 7:50, 13:35, 28:10.

This kid is the real deal.

3000 Metres 8:15.87 Tårnby Stadion, Tårnby (DEN) 02 OCT 2020 965

5000 Metres 14:06.51 Aalborg (DEN) 13 JUN 2020 978

10,000 Metres 30:50.02 Copenhagen (DEN) 04 MAY 2019 885

2000 Metres Steeplechase 5:56.99 Greve Stadion, Greve (DEN) 24 AUG 2019 939

3000 Metres Steeplechase 9:17.11 Hovedstaden, København (DEN) 16 AUG 2020 924

5 Kilometres 15:12 København (DEN) 28 DEC 2019 787

10 Kilometres 30:12 Hamburg (GER) 08 SEP 2019 945

Legend

* Not legal.

Indoor

Discipline Performance Wind Venue Date Records Results Score

3000 Metres 7:59.30 Spar Nord Arena, Skive (DEN) 16 JAN 2021 1082

5000 Metres 14:06.55 Randers Atletik Stadion, Randers (DEN) 31 DEC 2020 1021

Source: SN.DK (16/06/2020) Last summer.

“The 15-year-old local runner Axel Vang Christensen from FIF Hillerød has once again put a thick line under that he is one of the greatest running talents in Denmark.

On Saturday, he thus broke a record over 40 years old, which in its time was set by the running legend Henrik Jørgensen.

Henrik Jørgensen's record for boys under 18 in the 5,000 meters has remained untouched for four decades - right up until Saturday.

Axel Vang ran the five kilometers in 14 minutes and six seconds - five seconds faster than Henrik Jørgensen's time in 1979.

"I probably did not expect that I would run so fast. It is overwhelming," says Axel Vang Christensen to DR Sporten.

The record was set at Skovdalen Stadium in Aalborg.

Cooled cap

Axel Vang tried the other day to become the world's fastest 15-year-old in the 10 kilometer distance at Hillerød Stadium, but unfortunately had to give up along the way.

"So when I ran 5,000 meters last Saturday, I had made some changes. I ran with a chilled cap, which was completely cold and wet, and I did some things differently in my warm-up, so I got hot but not overheated," he says to DR sport.”

Axel V. Christensen is almost a carbon copy or facsimile of Julian Wanders in both his running style, physical attributes, and mentality.

https://axelvang.com/running-in-rain/

Axel’s 3000 time -7:59, is quite superior to his recent 14:06 also indoors. Actually, 7:59 points to a time of 13:48 -13:52, right now. His 30:50 /10,000 will be blown away next summer. Sub 29/10,000 ....and next two years, down to 28:10.

Emil De Oliva (Sweden) now has a rival not far away, similar culture, food and more - Dansk/Svenska - heya, heya!

It'll be interesting to see how close he can get to (or even beat) Jakob's times at the same age this summer. Axel is 4 years younger the Jakob, so if he's gonna match his times at the same age, then he'll have to aim at Jakob's 2017 times:

3000m: 8:00.01

3000m steeplechase: 8:26.81

5000m: 13:35.84

(It is worth mentioning that Jakob's time is NOT the record for 16-year-olds. It's 7:56.4 by Hansjörg Kunze in 1976. But when Jakob ran his 8:00.01 that was only 45min after he ran a 400m final. And he faced no competition and had to solo run that race. (2nd and 3rd place finished in 8:33) So I'd say Jakob was capable of a sub-7:55 that season)

Jakob is a 1500/5000 expert, while Axel is a 5000/10000 expert. It'll be interesting to see them clash in the 3000m and the 5000m in a couple of years.

Ghost1 wrote:

Axel Vang Christensen -Denmark, born 2004 (IAAF website does not list his exact birthdate)

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Axel is born 30th of July 2004 (as mentioned above)

The other Dane, Joel Ibler Lillesø, is born 17th of November 2003.

Ghost1 : Have you overlooked that Joel is better than Axel on all distances (Joel is, however, 8.5 month older than Axel).

So as I mentioned in another thread last year: The Danish U20 Cross country team would have been a hot contender for the gold in the 2020 European Championship (had it not been cancelled due to the virus).

I'm from Denmark (living in the USA) and I follow Joel and Axel with great interest!

Both are obviously huge talents. Axel has been running since a very young age (8-9 years) while Joel got into running later.

Its interesting to see how close they were on this 3000m and as expected Joel was a tiny bit faster (he did pace about 800m of the race so he definitely have more in him).

Joel is more a 1500-3000m runner while Axel is a 5000-1000om runner.

Both as I see it are results of the Ingebrigtsen effect, they have proved that you dont have to be from East Africa to run fast even at an early age.

charlesfjt wrote:

Jakob is a 1500/5000 expert, while Axel is a 5000/10000 expert. It'll be interesting to see them clash in the 3000m and the 5000m in a couple of years.

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I think it will be very difficult for Axel to compete with Jakob "in a couple of years".

Jakob is the best ever non African teenager so Axel (and/ or Joel) must have a fantastic progression the next MANY years to come close Jakob.

In the 3000m there is still more than 30 seconds to cover and most likely they are chasing a moving target since Jakob at 20 will probably continue to develop until his mid twenties.

It is even worse in the 5000m. Jakob had possibly potential to run sub 12:50 last summer so Axel and Joel are around 80 and 70 seconds respectively away.

With a optimum progression Axel and Joel could perhaps compete on the same level as Jakob in about 8 years when they are in their mid twenties where most athletes peak.

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But Axel and Joel are better than the best young American runners such as Drew Hunter, Grant Fisher and Nico Young were at the same age. And also better than Galen was.

bjergsoe wrote:

"Joel is more a 1500-3000m runner while Axel is a 5000-1000om runner. "

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I think it is difficult to say what kind of runner Joel is. He already one year ago ran around 30 in a 10km so I think he could have run around 29 last summer in a 10,000m/ 10km judging from his sub 14 5,000m/5km. (5,000m time x 2 +1).

I guess Joel best distance will be 5,000m in the short term and even longer in the long term.

But at the moment Joel reportedly consider himself a 1500m runner. Very similar to Jakob who, however, consider himself a HM runner in the long term!

Joel Ibler Lilleso (17/11/2003)Denmark

800 Metres 1:54.36 Skovdalen Stadion, Aalborg (DEN) 13 SEP 2020 905

1500 Metres 3:44.50 Skovdalen Stadion, Aalborg (DEN) 22 AUG 2020 1047

3000 Metres 8:28.97 Tårnby (DEN) 28 MAY 2019 893

5000 Metres 13:57.60 Osterbro Stadion, København (DEN) 25 AUG 2020 1008

5 Kilometres 13:59 Flakkebjerg (DEN) 20 JUN 2020 AU18B 1020

10 Kilometres 30:02 Copenhagen (DEN) 02 FEB 2020 960

Legend

* Not legal.

Indoor

Discipline Performance Wind Venue Date Records Results Score

3000 Metres 7:57.39 Spar Nord Arena, Skive (DEN) 16 JAN 2021 1094

Ghost1 wrote:

Joel Ibler Lilleso (17/11/2003)Denmark

800 Metres 1:54.36 Skovdalen Stadion, Aalborg (DEN) 13 SEP 2020 905

1500 Metres 3:44.50 Skovdalen Stadion, Aalborg (DEN) 22 AUG 2020 1047

3000 Metres 8:28.97 Tårnby (DEN) 28 MAY 2019 893

5000 Metres 13:57.60 Osterbro Stadion, København (DEN) 25 AUG 2020 1008

5 Kilometres 13:59 Flakkebjerg (DEN) 20 JUN 2020 AU18B 1020

10 Kilometres 30:02 Copenhagen (DEN) 02 FEB 2020 960

Legend

* Not legal.

Indoor

Discipline Performance Wind Venue Date Records Results Score

3000 Metres 7:57.39 Spar Nord Arena, Skive (DEN) 16 JAN 2021 1094

The new world order in distance running, European variety,Joel Ibler Lilleso (Denmark). 7:57.39, Age 17.+

Christensen and Lilleso....the future...

Joel in action in 2018, strong finish, good style, slight forward lean, similar to G.Kamworor.

Joel Lilleso and Axel Vang Christensen = 2 future monsters from Denmark on the world running scene.

Wanders, Gressier, Crippa and co.....new company soon....

Denmark power/Dansk power.

Good video you have found.

Joel was only 14 in the summer of 2018.

I guess that the big guys in the front are older.

Hopefully in the next few years these two superstars Joel and Axel can work together to raise the level of distance running in Denmark and inspire other athletes in Denmark to take up the sport.

Axel, who has now run 7:59 and 13:44, DOMINATED the Euro U20 xc meet last weekend. We talked about him a lot on this week's podcast.

https://podcast.letsrun.com/episode/3c638f6d/nick-willis-guest-eurocross-eastbay-s-jakob-ingebrigtsen-allie-o-steps-back-danish-juniors-better-than-newbury-park

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Cathal Dennehy has a nice profile out on him wtih some specifics about his training.

Dennehy wrote:

"When I was 14, I did 120 kilometres per week (74.6 miles) and at 15, on a summer camp, I had one week with more than 150km (93.2 miles) ," he says.

"These days 160km a week (99.4 miles) is pretty normal and in training camp I can even go up to 180 per week (111.8 miles)".

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PS. I've merged two threads on him into 1.