Full interview (Google translated from Norwegian to English)
Headline: Jakob Ingebrigtsen opens up about hardship and "self-torment" - reveals the Olympic plan
Jakob Asserson Ingebrigtsen's Olympic run-up has not gone smoothly. Now he breaks his silence.
"Come on in! I just have to go out to let the dogs out for ten minutes, make yourself at home", says Jakob Ingebrigtsen, and serves a freshly brewed cup of coffee.
It has been quiet from this summer's world champion at 5000 meters since October. Now he opens up to NRK about the hardship, the support from his wife and the plans to ensure Olympic success.
The world's biggest middle-distance star has just moved into a magnificent villa with his wife, Elisabeth Asserson Ingebrigtsen.
Inside, the construction dust has barely settled. Outside, work continues on what will become a swimming pool, a garden and a courtyard.
On this day, rain hammers against concrete in Sandnes. But the most important thing is fortunately clear: the office.
"You have to go to work", Ingebrigtsen smiles, before pointing the way to a small outbuilding with a toilet, two treadmills, an elliptical machine and a strength rack.
Ingebrigtsen is often observed bare-chested during training, but today it is long tights and long-sleeved sweaters that apply.
The electronic thermometer shows 30.2 - and the sweat is dripping after a few seconds, even for those who are not going to run.
"It can contribute to a higher load or intensity without running faster, get more training effect. But normally, if it's a choice between turning up the temperature or running faster in training, I run faster 10 times out of 10", says Ingebrigtsen.
Things haven't gone smoothly for the runner over the past four months. The problem is caused by inflammation that has bitten into the membrane around the Achilles tendon on the right foot.
"When it becomes swollen, it sticks to the tendon. Then it will not work and slide as it should. If you continue, they can cause wear and tear on the tendon, and you can't get rid of that unless you operate. So it's worth it not to do anything stupid", says Ingebrigtsen.
He admitted during the WC in Budapest that he had struggled with his pelvis . He believes that this is the starting point for today's "evils".
"That is the problem with injuries. If you run with injuries, as I have since 2019, you form a habit. Then it twists a little and it becomes the way you run", explains the 23-year-old, who says that it quickly becomes painful when you are not allowed to stress it.
The challenges existed during the season, but it only hit when he had to start training after his wedding and honeymoon to the Maldives.
"I got sick during the season break. Then I couldn't charge it, and then it hurt like hell when I started again. Then I trained for a week, then the Achilles tendon snapped."
(Comment: can anyone who speaks Norwegian confirm that he "snapped" his Achilles or is this an incorrect translation?)
He is careful not to play up the consequences of the injury too much, and still believes it is possible to copy the Olympic gold from Tokyo in the 1500 meters this summer.
At the same time, autumn and winter have not turned out as he hoped.
There have been several more hours of jogging in water and on the elliptical machine than on the treadmill. Now he steps up. It started with every third running session, now it's every second. Then he should go up in the normal amount: Two per day.
It has become around 50 minutes a day on the least popular piece of equipment in the training room. When asked if he would use it in regular training, the answer comes quickly:
"No never! The elliptical machine is definitely not the prettiest, but it is gentle."
The consequences have also been obvious on other fronts. Two high-altitude stays in the Spanish Sierra Nevada had to be dropped. He has barely run in the last four months. The World Indoor Championships in Glasgow also go ahead.
He is not completely satisfied.
"It's clear, when you run all your life and that's the training you do, you get bad at a lot of other things. When you get another load, it's unpleasantly muscular. It will be a bit of self-torture, but you have to endure it", says Ingebrigtsen after the session on the treadmill, which consisted of 10 kilometers of running in 40 minutes.
After a quick shower, a few slices of mutton sausage and some scrambled eggs, the trip continues to physiotherapist and acupuncturist Steffen Vasbø.
Treatment is part of the daily routine.
"He has a very well-developed Achilles tendon. It bears the mark of having run a couple of kilometres", says Vasbø, as he applies contact gel and sends pressure waves into the injured area.
He has treated Ingebrigtsen since he was just a boy.
"I guess I know your body better than Elisabeth", jokes Vasbø.
"Almost", grins Ingebrigtsen.
What specifically can you do, in terms of training, apart from relieving yourself with the elliptical and such? asks NRK.
"I don't know, it's not that much. But there is something that somehow keeps it going. It's a bit like that with this type of thing, that if you go off 100% load, it won't be good."
So it actually requires maintaining continuity?
"Yes, but at a low enough level that it can be recovered in a way."
It doesn't look simple.
"No, it is a very difficult balance that you have to find. You should charge it, but what is enough and what is not too much? And then you have to do it long enough for it to turn around and get better. And then you don't know anything. So it's kind of like that, it's been quite difficult."
Is that the worst thing?
"The worst thing is definitely if you don't know if you are doing the right thing. And that is the advantage of training well over a long period of time. If something happens, you have a lot to play for."
Now he looks forward to the escalation and believes it will be weeks before he is back in training with full load.
Another advantage of not being able to follow the plan and travel to an altitude of 2,300 meters in the Sierra Nevada is that there will be more time with the wife. She is constantly singled out as his closest and most important supporter. Especially in a period that offers some hardship.
"I think it's important when you have someone who can help me focus on other things. And not just be locked in that rush to find answers, or try to get well. You have to try to stick to that when you go to training and go to physiotherapists", says Ingebrigtsen, who calls his wife an enormous support.
"It's important to relax and not get locked in your own head, where you just chase after something that you can't find an answer to."
But even if there was one major setback on the athletics track, which we will return to, the 2023 season will be remembered for a number of memorable achievements:
"The best feeling I'm left with after last year is probably feeling a pretty big improvement in the 1,500 meters, where I managed to set a pretty good personal record. It is a very good sign that you are doing a lot right."
Ingebrigtsen's personal record from the 2021 Olympics of 3.28.32 minutes was lowered on two occasions. First at Bislett, then in Poland. His European record is now 3.27.14 – 1.14 seconds behind Hicham El Guerrouj's world record.
"The best thing of all is to get it out in competition, so I have a very positive view of next season."
What was the worst?
"The worst has to be the one time I lost", says Ingebrigtsen without hesitation.
Scottish Josh Kerr ran away with the gold in the 1500 metres, almost in the same way as Jake Wightman did in 2022. Ingebrigtsen took his second WC silver at the distance.
"The advantage of running many races is that you get many chances to show what you are good at, and compete against the best in the world. The most important race for me and the one that mattered the most is where I was unfortunately beaten. Of course it remains."
Big brother Henrik Ingebrigtsen recently hinted to Athletics Weekly that the total load in the last year was too great for his little brother, who fell ill when it was to be decided in Budapest.
"It is clear that you do many things in life that require energy and that you show up, but the job is to be as prepared as I can, especially in competitions." That is what matters, says Ingebrigtsen, who admits that it was a hectic year.
Between May and October there was WC gold in the 5000 meters and WC silver in the 1500 metres. He set world records for 2,000 meters and two English miles, as well as European records for 1,500 meters, one English mile and 3,000 meters.
In mid-September, he ended the season with a double victory in the Diamond League finals in Eugene. On the way home, he was almost dragged off the plane. There was one English mile waiting, but this time in the "Beer Mile" format. He naturally beat the rest of the stag team strongly, even though four darts had to go down during the four laps around the course.
On 23 September, Ingebrigtsen got married in Drammen.
And three months later he moved into a new house.
"I tried to shield myself and use as little energy on other things as possible", says Ingebrigtsen.
Now the focus is on what will happen in seven months in Paris.
"Plan A is to start the season in Eugene, run Bislett Games, European Championships in Rome, National Championships in Sandnes. Then maybe Monaco. I think that will work well this year. And then full focus on the Olympics after that, so most likely a good season in the late summer", says the 23-year-old.
At the same time, he emphasizes that it is easy to drop something if it destroys the Olympics.
He uses the loss in the WC final to Josh Kerr as a lesson.
"It is again very important to try to analyze what you have done, or what you have been through, to see that it is not necessarily to blame, but what you can perhaps do differently. And I'm a big fan of that", says the 23-year-old.
And continues:
"But it is not necessarily to conclude for the wrong reason. I am realistic, but also confident that my training plan and what I do."
When asked if he - with the current situation in mind - thinks he can win another Olympic gold, Ingebrigtsen confidently answers with a smile:
"Yes, you have to believe that."
