In Nanjing, Jakob Ingebrigtsen won the 1500m to add to his 3000m title from the day before, completing a distance double no man had managed in a quarter of a century. Only Haile Gebrselassie, in 1999, had done it first. The Norwegian took the shorter final in 3:38.79.
The lead taken with four laps left
Ingebrigtsen changed his usual plan, starting three places from the back rather than at the very rear of the field. With six laps to run he began to move through, then took the front with about four laps left. Sweden's Samuel Pihlstrom tried the outside but soon lost ground.
The move settled the race well before the bell. Portugal's Isaac Nader briefly surged into second, but Ingebrigtsen shifted gears and pulled clear off the final bend. Britain's Neil Gourley held on for silver in 3:39.07, with Luke Houser of the United States taking bronze.
A first world 1500m gold, at last
The title filled the one gap that had followed him for years. He had never won a world crown over 1500m, missing out at the 2022 World Indoors and at the last three outdoor World Championships. He is now double Olympic champion, twice world champion at 5000m, and holder of the world indoor records over the mile and 1500m set in Liévin only weeks earlier.
Ingebrigtsen was measured about the place it holds in his career. "Of course this is something special," he told reporters afterwards, adding that he prefers to focus on his own work rather than compare it with history.
At 24, he leaves China with the double that had eluded him and the record book rewritten around his name. The gap in his collection is finally closed. The rest of the season now waits.
