In the 1,500 meters at the WC, the entire top five list was European. But only two of them will start at 1500 meters in the EC.
Jake Wightman, Jakob Ingebrigtsen, Mohamed Katir, Mario Garcia and Josh Kerr. This is what the results list looked like during the 1500 meters in the WC earlier this summer. But in the European Championships, which start on Monday, neither gold winner Wightman, bronze winner Katir nor Kerr will compete in the 1500 metres. Kerr will not be in the championships at all, while Wightman will run the 800m and Katir will run the 5000m.
Both Kerr and Wightman have also recently competed in the Commonwealth Games.
- I don't know what everyone's reasons are, but (it could be) that you don't feel you have enough chance to take gold, and that for that reason they don't choose to put as much into it to get silver and bronze, says Jakob Ingebrigtsen to VG during a digital press conference on Saturday, and continues:
- If you ask everyone else, it's completely idiotic. Medals have to be awarded, but at the same time you have to respect that athletes have a slightly different view of things than people who don't play sports. Everyone works for gold. That doesn't mean you shouldn't join, but it's always gold that everyone wants and that everyone has as a dream and goal to achieve. I choose to believe that they are not well enough prepared, and have not done the work required for them to be able to participate in the EC to show the best version of themselves. Not that they need a reason. If you're not involved, you can't have fun either, he says with a smile.
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