Narve Nordas on Niels Laros: "We're talking about a talent the size of Jakob - No doubt about it."

You never want to make assumptions when it comes to young talent. But the only thing better than having a Jakob in our sport is having two Jakobs, lol.

I truly hope to see Laros rise to the level of Jakob and duke it out with him for the next decade. It would be so fun as a fan of the sport.

Truly! Hope the best for this kid. If he makes steady progress and stays as healthy as Jakob has, he could be top of the world one day. Obviously can't predict, but we can hope!

Steady progress?

The only top guys that he had not defeated (result at WC) are:

Jakob (silver)

Kerr (gold)

Nuguse (5th)

Gourley (9th - simply because he has not raced post WC, so he did not get his chance)

That’s a pretty short list for an 18 year old.

He defeated:

Nordas (bronze)

Kipsang 4th

Garcia 6th

Hocker 7th

Cheruiyot 8th

Habz 11th

I'd like to read something about the T&A youth training program in the Netherlands right now - they seem to be doing a lot of things right right now - is that where the next big household name trainer is?

He’s a fast twitch Stewart Mcsweyn.

Niels is not the product of some training system but a freak of nature.
He has good genes [his parents competed at a high level, father in WC steeple]
Some characteristics that could help: Dutch high school kids bike to school and often do multiple sports. Niels played also played soccer until a few years ago.
I wouldn't compare Niels to Jakob, but to people with better speed.
He reminds me most of Steve Ovett [also the way he celebrates looks more like Ovett than like Ingebrigsten: look up his victories this year at the EC U20].
He seems to have a good attitude. When a Dutch journalist asked him about how it is to run with adults he said it was one the one hand a bit more pushing, but on the other hand it was the same as the goal remains to win.

He appears to me as a combination of Herb Elliott and Ovett.

Crazy thing is, like Cameron Myers, it doesn't appear he has been training high mileage yet. It's just incredible talent. Imagine if Myers makes the same jump up next years, what battles we're going to witness between these two and Jakob over the next few years? Hopefully they will push each other into rewriting the record books. Not forgetting the Brits of course.

I also wonder if it's just a coincidence that these mega talents have appeared together, or whether we are going to see a Jakob/Laros level talent emerge from Europe every 2 or 3 years now?

I dunno.

Jakob won Euro Champs Golds in both the 1500m and 5k at the age of 17.

Magnus didn't have to play against Magnus.

Jakob didn't have to run vs. Jakob.

This is true

The again, I don't think this kid ran in the Euro Senior championships at age 17.

It’s Laros first junior year this year (like that year for Jakob).

He would have obviously ran in the Euro champs if they were held this year.

He was a finalist at the WC. Jakob only became a finalist in the WC in his last year as a junior (and did not medal). Of course there were no WC in his first year as a junior.

Don't forget that this guy also has none of the terrible racing traits you see among American borderline elites.

He races, and puts himself in a great place to improve and win

I met Laros and saw his group training a couple times last year. Humble and nice guy, I believe he has all the tools to succeed - runs aggressively, 800m speed, great strength (IMO he can run much faster than 13:23), very competent coach (Lewandowski) and support structure in the Netherlands. I predict a sub 3:30 next year and a world medal in 2025.

They were held in 2022 when Laros was 17 years old.

Jakob won the double in 2019 when he was 17.

To be fair, Jakob was 17 years and 9 or 10 months.

Laros was 17 and a few months when the 2022 Euro champs took place.

Laros has been incredible. But not quite as incredible as the teen age Jakob

This is a good point, but a problem with this is that 17 year old Jakob would not have beaten 21 year old Jakob in 2022. The quality of competition was higher in 2022 than in 2018. As well, the point was not that the two have identical trajectories, but rather that they have similar talents, and Laros has done enough to earn comparisons. Jakob didn't medal at world's in 2019, but he showed a lack of fear and a willingness to mix it up with the big boys, which Laros has also shown.

Jakob did get a 4th in the 1500m and a 5th in the 5k at the WC art the age of 18.
Laros ran great at this year's WC but did not achieve those placings

Jakob was more credentialed with his European double, but if we just look at his 1500 PB when he was the exact age that Laros is now, it’s 3:31.18 Jakob vs. 3:31.25 Laros. Jakob ran that time at the Monaco Diamond League, Laros ran his in the World Championship final. Then when you consider that Laros has also run 1:44.78 and 4:49.68, and his 1500m progression over the past few years:

2020 - 4:00.32

2021 - 3:44.87

2022 - 3:39.46

2023 - 3:31.25

–Nordas’s appraisal of Laros’s talent seems appropriate. I’m hoping to see him run 3:48 this weekend to cap an amazing season. If he takes another 2 seconds off his 1500 PB next year, I’ll believe he’s tracking to be a 3:26/3:27 guy.

It’s tough to compare Jakob’s accomplishments to what Laros has done at the same age. The 1500 and 5,000 are much deeper than when Jakob was winning European titles in 2018. Tough to compare Jakob’s 2019 world champs to Laros’ 2023 champs for the same reason. Laros is a different athlete. He has a tremendous amount of talent and could challenge Jakob if he continues to improve.