On 7 August 2021, Jakob Ingebrigtsen seized the Olympic 1500m title in Tokyo. The 20-year-old Norwegian crossed the line in an Olympic record of 3:28.32, upsetting world champion Timothy Cheruiyot in the fastest championship 1500m race ever run.
A bold early move to dictate the pace
Ingebrigtsen took command barely 200 metres into the race. He dragged the field through an opening lap of 56.4 seconds and forced Cheruiyot to react. The Kenyan surged past and pressed hard for 800 metres, but the Norwegian stayed tucked in behind him.
The decisive move on the final bend
Just beyond the midpoint of the last turn, Ingebrigtsen shifted into a gear Cheruiyot could not match. The world champion watched the Norwegian pull away metre by metre down the home straight. With victory assured, Ingebrigtsen threw his arms into the air before crossing the line.
His winning time of 3:28.32 was both an Olympic and European record. Cheruiyot took silver in 3:29.01. Britain’s Josh Kerr smashed his personal best for bronze in 3:29.05.
First European champion since Cacho in 1992
It was the first time in 13 career meetings that Ingebrigtsen had beaten Cheruiyot. He did it against a rival who had run 3:28.28 just a month earlier. The victory made Ingebrigtsen the first European to win the Olympic 1500m since Spain’s Fermin Cacho in 1992.
“This is what you want as a professional runner,” Ingebrigtsen told reporters afterwards. “I’ve been able to do it on my first try and I feel like I am just getting started. But at the same time, I have been dreaming of this for my whole life.”
The gold confirmed a talent that had been building since his 2018 European double at age 17. Tokyo turned the young runner into a global champion, opening an era that would soon bring world titles and world records.
