Jakob Ingebrigtsen won the Paris 5000m in 13:13.66, a season's best, and became a double Olympic champion across two distances. The Norwegian timed his effort for the final lap, when no rival could answer. It was gold on the track where, days earlier, he had missed the 1500m podium.
A last lap of 53.2 seconds settles it
Ethiopia's runners led a crowded 22-man final, and the pace stayed honest through the middle kilometres. Hagos Gebrhiwet sprinted to the front near 4400m, and Ingebrigtsen was among the few who went with him. He sat in second entering the bell, poised for one clean move.
He took the lead with 200 metres to run, glancing at the scoreboard as he rounded the final bend. The last lap took him 53.2 seconds, the closing 200m in 26.5. Ronald Kwemoi of Kenya took silver in 13:15.04, and Grant Fisher of the United States third in 13:15.13.
A second Olympic gold, on a new distance
The win joined his 1500m title from Tokyo, giving Ingebrigtsen Olympic gold at two distances. Kwemoi's medal was Kenya's first in the event since 2012. It was also the third straight global championship at which he lost the 1500m yet returned to win the 5000m.
He is already a two-time world champion over the distance, in Eugene and Budapest. Those titles marked him as a distance man as much as a miler, and Paris confirmed it. The Olympic gold was the piece the collection still needed.
Ingebrigtsen framed the recovery as part of the sport. Refocusing after an early defeat "is a big part of sports," he said, adding that the reward of the win outweighed the disappointment that came before it.
For a runner known first as a miler, the Paris title reshaped the story. The 1500m had slipped away; the 5000m did not.
