Norway has a new phenom? Andreas Fjeld Halvorsen accomplishes something Jakob Ingebrigtsen never did - Wins World Jr Gold

John Halvorsen - Wikipedia

related?

Jakob has influenced lots of Norwegian talent in track and field. Maybe more of these guys will steer away from skiing and go into track

There’s some weird obsession with saying “what’s up with the Kenyans/Ethiopians” if a European runs well? First of all this Norwegian ran 7:47 at age 17? Obviously he’s outstanding. Secondly the 5,000 had the blue-chip Kenyans/Ethiopians/Ugandans and I think they went 1-8 there. Next, Brian Musau (13:13, NCAA AA) couldn’t even make the 3k team at their trials finishing 3rd. So pretty evident Kenya’s #2 had a rough day tactically, and also that this Norwegian is really good. Ethiopia, not Kenya, seems down a bit more as Abdisa Fayisa (coming down from senior ranks) might be their only male medalist vis a vis Kenya. But they’re dominating on the womens side. And Mehary is skipping and would be a huge favorite to sweep any of the distances.

Don't forget Jakob was only 17 the last time he was eligible for the World juniors. And the 5000 he got bronze in as a 17 year old had a totally crazy line-up, with the top 7 being Zakayo, Mburu, Ingebrigtsen, Barega, Bekele, Kiplimo and Chelimo.

Halvor had lots of sons

There’s the Young Andreas Halvorsen and the Ole Andreas Halvorsen, worth $7 billion. Which would you rather be?

Jakob medaled against a horde of age cheats. Impressive.

It's not a weird obsession. The reality is African born men have DOMINATED World Jrs from the very beginning. In fact, I've come up with an amazing stat and had Jonathan write an article about it. An African born man had won every single flat distance gold at World Jrs in history until last night. They had won 73 golds in a row.

letsrun.com

Africa's 38 Year Domination of Distance Events At World U20s SNAPPED By Norway's Andreas Fjeld Halvorsen

LetsRun.com

Before Halvorsen's victory, no non-African-born man had ever won a flat distance race at World U20s. After Spain's Jon Azkueta won gold in the 2k steeple in the first World Jrs in 1986, an African-born man had won 73 straight...

Link:www.letsrun.com/news/2024/08/africas-3...

The 64-0 streak at the senior level was broken a few years back and now their 73-0 streak was broken here.

Here is some info on the 64-0 streak:

letsrun.com

WTW: Why Are We Obsessed With Jakob Ingebrigtsen, Why Noah Lyles Should Be Worried, & Shericka Jackson > Flo-Jo

LetsRun.com

Did you know that before Jakob Ingebrigtsen arrived on the scene that African-born men had gone 64-0 at Worlds in distance events. Now they've lost 2 out of 4. Yes Noah Lyles was spectacular at Worlds but there are some eerie...

Link:www.letsrun.com/news/2023/09/wtw-why-a...

Good for him but Jakob has accomplished a lot this kid won’t ever sniff—too numerous to list.

I still think it’s a weird obsession. I mean them switching it from 1500/5000/10000 to 1500/3000/5000 undoubtedly helped here. Jakob (at age 17 no less) would’ve been favored to win a 3,000 had there been one I’d bet. And yes no way I think Zakayo is in the meet if they were stringent on the age requirements. But are we gonna act like Mehary not being in the meet isn’t a huge factor here?
EDIT: Laros isn’t either, so really the meet is missing the 2 biggest talents out there

Laros not running..

Congrats to him for the gold, but as a Jakob super fan I must add some context to the comparisons :

- Jakob didn’t have the 3000m, which obviously would have been the perfect distance for him, he only had the 1500m and the 5000m.

- This final had 0 of the 9 best u20 performers this year. Andreas had the fastest PB in the field with just 7:47.
Having both a 3000m and a 5000m is just dumb and greatly dilutes the fields. Three guys in the 5000m final had 3000m PB way under 7:40 and they didn’t even win it, one even had a 8:09 two miles from last year.

- Jakob on the other hand was up against the best junior field ever in the 5000m, basically senior world championship level. At the time Selemon Barega had just run 12:43 closing in 7:32 and he couldn’t even medal.

- Andreas closed his 8:20 3000m in 2:27, Jakob closed his 5000m in 7:54 and 2:24 for third, he would have been 80 meters in front of everyone in this final.

- Moreover he was only 15 and 17 when he ran world u20s. At the same age as Andreas he was placing 4th and 5th at the senior level, running 3:30 and pushing Cheruyiot and Gebrihwet to the line.

All in all this result is very good but nothing surprising, Andreas is a great talent and he was the favorite. I wouldn’t read too much into it because the fastest africans ran the 5000m or didn’t even run.

There have been numerous studies that show success at the junior level more often than not does not translate into senior success across all sports (leaving aside sports like gymnastics).

A year younger, Jakob had already won double gold at the European championships (you know, the one for adults) and at the same age had run 3:30 and 13:02, ranked second in the world at 1500m. AFAIK this new kid hasn’t done any of those.

Rojo completely ignores the obvious age cheating by Africans. The same cheating they engaged in while competing in junior level matches in soccer. Cheating that stopped when the MRI wrist test became mandatory in the sport. Before that, some African junior teams literally had ZERO junior members.

so what ? guys is double olympic champion

son

Is that like a new Kenyan phenomenon?