Thought it would be fun to take a deep dive into the forums and see how letsrun has reacted to Jakob over time, particularly in his younger years. I've included the first ever posts on him, and any positive or negative feedback from posters.
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2014
Post: 8th grader runs 4:17?
Karma Police wrote:
Even if true, it's all meaningless. How old, how developed and how trained? I've watched 13yos run 52 and 2.00, but they were physically developed at 11
LM wrote: So a kid ran 4:17 in 8th grade, but there is no information on it let alone a name. Skeptical is being generous here.
Pfft wrote: The 14 year old little brother of Henrik Ingebrigtsen, Jakob, recently ran an indoor 1500m in 4.05, solo.Hereforalaugh wrote: best ever 1500 for an 11-y-o.
Anon wrote: (but) there are no Kenyans on that list
PeaceBro: Only 14 years old. You heard it here first, will be crushing L.V.’s records in a few years.
Skeptic of it All wrote: The next Jason Balkman
Keeping it real wrote: He'll be a cooked goose by the time he's a college frosh. Over and done with.
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2015
Rogaland wrote: Jakob Ingebrigtsen (15), 3:31 runner Henrik Ingebrigtsens younger brother, ran and won an 800m in 1.57 and a couple of hours later won the 3000m in 8.36.61. Pretty decent time for someone so young. As all three brothers are progressing each year (Jakob is dominating his age group and above) it seems they really have figuered out what works for them. It'll be interesting to follow someone training smart and seriously from such a young age. He is now set to go on a training camp to South Africa with his older brothers.
How does this compare to runners in America at the same age?
He also ran it in training shoes, not spikes
Finee wrote:
8.36 in trainers after a 800m race is ridiculously good for a 14-year-old! Hope he keeps improving
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2016
Post: Jakob Ingebrigsten 14y, 3.50.57 on 1,500
Halviking wrote: Great news from Norway.
Henrik Ingebrigtsen's youngest brother Jacob (born September 2000) just ran a 1,500 in 3.50.57
Jjjj wrote: very impressive. That's usual 8th grade age at this stage. 3:50.57 is around a 4:08 mile! The American high school sophomore record (age 16 typically) is 4:06, while the freshman record is Eli Krahn(?) at around 4:09. This second Ingebrigtsen kid has a bright future.
Norway is the right way wrote:His father is a current runner. 3:50 miler (referencing Henrik)
Sleeping policeman wrote: As a point of reference here is the listing of the UK Under 15 age group all time performances for 1,500m.
Mo Farah = #26 in 4:06.41
Jakob Ingebritsen is therefore 9 seconds faster than any UK athlete of comparable age.
By age 16 Steve Cram's personal record was 3:47.7 so JI has two years to improve only three seconds to match Cram.
Stuff you like to pee out wrote: doping. if you all can't see this you guys need to go back to preschool.
someone call the FBI for a formal investigation.
also, get Hendrik under surveillance as well. check out his testicles in this pic:
http://gfx.dagbladet.no/labrador/250/250077/25007706/jpg/active/978x.jpg
that just ain't normal and he is highly suspect for juicing as well
Rojo wrote:
How much would it suck to be a 3:38 22-year old and be only the third best guy in the family?
Rojo, always last, wrote: LOL. You should know.
Tudman wrote: Chasing records is always death to the young and talented. Unfortunately, I think the writing's on the wall for this kid and it says, "shooting star.”
The first training talk emergesXmx wrote: As a 12 year old boy Jacob ran 70 km/week, this winter he averaged about 90 km/week. As someone mentioned, the Ingebrigtsens believe in interval training. They run a lot on their treadmills. Jacob does several workouts of aquajogg during winter training.Vo2 max video posted
LHKgdfkhfk wrote: If he continues this way, he may end up as the slowest of the three brothers
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2017
Post: Jakob 1:52 season opener
Oxford comma wrote: Yawn. Nice season opener for a youngster but if I had a quarter for every 800 runner who blasts a season opening pr before starting "speed work," only to see no improvement throughout the season, I'd be a millionaire.
Tyrone ReXXXing: His coach is Tinman. (Tinman also says the kid is in 8:05 deuce shape)
Post: A fifteen-year-old has just run 3:42
Jjjj wrote: The kid is really progressing. Isn't that at least a five second drop from last year in the 1500m?Of course, with his coaching, he is way ahead of most but you do figure that he'll be at least as good as the best of the older brothers.
Jeff tallon wrote: that he is so fast at that age,and so developed,doesnt look good for his future
Jjjj wrote: Give him five more years and, on reflection now, I think that we'll see a sub 3:30 from a Norwegian for the first time.
Post: Jakob 3:42
Karma Police wrote: Should a 15yo be training that much? All remains to be seen. This is a subject I've got a vested interest in. I've got an elite 2000 born kid, though in a different track event. We've been wrestling with how hard he should be training him.
Typical letsrun doomsayer wrote: After declaring Brazier and Centro to be DONE, I must add Jakob Ingebrigtsen to the list. Just because I'm a doomsayer.
Post: Ingbrigsten Jakob
yyy wrote: running 14:38 in the 5000m after competing in the 800m and 1500m the same weekend. He turns 16 next month.
Koose wrote: He's gonna plateau early. We won't be hearing much from him in 5 years from now.
Post: J. Ingebrigsten wins European Cross Country
An observer wrote:The 16 year old Norway prodigy won the euro xc in the sub 20 category. By a good margin also it seems. I'm surprised there were no threads yet.
xfghsfth wrote: I'm a huge fan of the Ingebrigtsens, so I'm always happy to see them succeed. Jakob might be the best one yet,I mean Filip is better than henrik, so if this one is better than filip he could medal some day
Mk28 wrote: ...sounds like Jakob is going to be another star
Inside. wrote: According to the father, who have coached them all, Jakob have been better in training than both Henrik and Filip this fall. Henrik still have a long way back from a very serious hamstring injury he chose to run with this summer, explaining his lacking performances. Filip has had some injuries too, but this is quite the story. Before the race the father told the norwegian press that he had seen nothing like Jakob ever before and was sure he would get the win.
Why Letsrun, both the Brojos, and the readers still doesn't follow this boy closely is a mystery.
Justwonderingman wrote: Tbh why would we want to be interested in this kid.
I'll take Ratcliffe and Hunter over Ingeb
ConnorCallum wrote: It's clear that Ingebrigsten is already training like a professional (as seriously, if not as much volume yet), and going to all the professional training hotbeds with his brothers. He's running 3:42 at the same age as a 9th grader, and probably something like 3:38 (if not better) as what would be a 10th grader in the US, but it's not quite the same thing as a high schooler here running those kinds of times after only a year or two of running.
Does not matter. He's incredibly good. His older brothers have proved that his father's training and his genetics are good enough to reach the pinnacle of the sport. I doubt he keeps setting age group world records until he eventually sets the world record, but unless something goes awfully wrong, he'll be in the Olympics some day soon.
Douglas Burke Wrote:Wait until he gets a top coach, he will be better than his 2 brothers, I see maybe sub 3:30 for 1500 and sub 13 for 5000 in 4-5 years.
Rojo wrote: We are featuring this kid in the Week That Was that will come out tomorrow.The only thing that strikes me as weird is that he's tweeting in English. I knwo 90% of Norwegians can speak it but do they normally tweet in it?
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2017
Post: Jakob Ingebrigtsen 16y 3.43 on 1500m at Portland Twilight
Halviking: The Ingebrigtsen family took a trip to Portland to get the outdoor season started. Jakob, (born September 2000) won the 1,500m on 3.43.
Is this the fastest 1,500m run by a 16y old in the USA.
Badabing wrote: Really smart run for him. Last place for the first 500, only led the chase pack by about the 1000 mark, and then destroyed the leaders on the last lap.
El Gureoujj wrote: Kid looks like a real show-off
Wow awesome man wrote: This kid is more talented than Jim Ryun. He'll be challenging 3:26 in a several years.
Yyy wrote: sometimes double threshold sessions on the first day.
Post: Anyone know who the youngest sub-4:00 miler in history is? 16 yo Jakob I is trying to do it at Pre
Hoooo hummm wrote: Big deal. Wake me up when he runs the equivalent of 1:41 800m at age 18 like GOAT Nijel Amos.
editor's note: In May, Jakob became the youngest and fastest to ever run sub-4, at the prefontaine classic.
Post: Will JI run below 3:53 before he turns 17?
Goat teenage miler wrote: He possibly could make the 2020 Olympic 1500m final. He is that talented!
Post: Jakob runs age 16 WR of 3:56.31 in Oslo!
Rich guys 205 wrote: ...yes he will run faster than Ryun did. The question is will he break the world record and win a gold medallion?
Subway Surfers Addiction: No he will reach his peak at a young age
Bad Wigins wrote: There would already be 10 3:56's and probably some 3:55's if anyone but Britain, the US, and Dream-Mile panderer Norway gave a snot about the mile distance. The Kenyans and Ethiopians would have long since put it out of Jakob's reach.
It is a has-been distance, every record is soft and meaningless, get over it. It's 8 times the length of a medieval English peasant's plowed field. Track is metric. No more miles.
Post: 2017 Official Stockholm Discussion Thread
Halviking wrote:Jakob Ingebrigtsen up next on 1500m
kmaclam wrote: Why race the 16 yr old SO much?????
Post: Ingebrigsten: 3:39 in Stockholm!
Artojas wrote: Burnt out with 18? PB of 3:34 at best?
Coach JS wrote: I also had this thoughts when he was 14-15 but when I saw how he trains I understand he is "light taken" and I really think there is much more to come.
His father who coach him seems to have 100% control.
Artojas wrote: Being this fast at 16 has NEVER worked out for any elite track runner.
YMMV wrote: No one has brought up that this kid is probably training like a professional for years already? Webb had maybe a year of semi-decent training at 16. Long-term I am not convinced this guy is the Second Coming.
Gloria wrote: A message for Jakob. Don't let them put you down, don't let 'em push you around
July Post: Jakob Ingebrigsten 8:26 3000m SC debut
Clay wrote: He is a great talent and at 16 someone to watch for years to come.
Post: Jakob, please don’t start this attitude (regarding showboating at worlds)
Subway Surfers Addictions wrote: How many times have we seen these teenage phenoms always come a cropper in their early twenties? One day he will hit the wall, his confidence will go and other people his age will start passing him.
Damine Rune wrote: He is only 16. He might never place this high after 20 or so. Let him have this moment
Rupp fan wrote: I really hope a stocky 800 specialist beats his @ss after the race one of these days. That's the only way he will learn.
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2018:
Post: Jakob can break 60 in half marathon, claims father
DC Wonk wrote: Sounds like the elder Ingebrigtsen is the LaVar Ball of track...sure, Jakob has some talent, that's clear, but let's not start throwing BS like this. I don't think Jakob realizes that his dad is setting him up for failure.
Lavar "Big Baller" Ball wrote: Wow, a dad over exaggerating their kid's potential? Who would do such a thing???
Ex-runner wrote: The Kenyans don't care about Jakob…
Middledist wrote: 3km and above is perfect, maybe [Jakob is] too slow for 1500
Reptilians wrote: The Lavar Ball of track and field.
Subway Surfers Addiction wrote: He will peak at 19 like Ryun, etc
Ex-runner wrote: The fact is he will get stuck around 3:31 like his brothers.
Subway Surfers Addiction wrote: I have thirty years experience in the sport… I can see him improving to say 3:37 in the next year or two which would get him into big races and in doing so he could be dragged to 3:33 - 3:34…after that it is all incremental
Coevett wrote: And 5000 seems to be his best event. He improved by over a minute last year to 13:35. It's not inconceivable is it that he could cut another 35 seconds off that in the next 3 years is it (when he'll still only be 20)?
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My thoughts: Hindsight is 20/20, of course. But it is fun looking back and seeing what a high percentage doubted the young man from day 1. First he was a Jason Rexxing. Then he was overtrained. Then he was going to burn out early, peak early, and finally, as his times started dropping, never break 335/333/331/329.
My point is, no matter how far Jakob makes it in life, the goalposts will always be moved back for him. It was also enjoyable seeing the various letsrun personalities appear over the years, complete with their typical idiosyncratic ways. For example, Rojo being flummoxed not by Jakob's running times, but the fact that he was tweeting in English and not Norwegian. And trolls such as Bad Wigins and Subway Surfer with atrocious takes (as is tradition) and then JS with a surprisingly competent take on the young coach! Also, props to Clay and Halviking who were behind Jakob from day 1.
And then the numerous Lavar comparisons are the icing on the cake. Back then Lavar was seen as all hot air, and the sons, with their horrific-looking 'slingshot' shots, a bit of a joke themselves. Fast forward to present day and all 3 of his sons made the NBA, two already borderline all-stars.
Around 2017 the talk on the boards expanded to include two fellow young phenoms, Brandon Miller and Mondo Duplantis. Responses to both of their performances were similar to Jakob's, in particular Brandon Miller's 1:50 800 at 14. But both have also panned out; Duplantis an Olympic gold medalist and world record holder, and Miller winning NCAAs and setting the world's 2nd fastest indoor 800 time in '22 (1:45.2).
Toward the end of 2018 the boards were quite clearly becoming increasingly divisive, with most talk being arguments regarding age cheats, doping, and Kenyan vs white runners. Politics also began to infiltrate nearly all the threads. Thus I stopped there and didn't continue with the exercise.