Ingebrigtsen doubles up in Lievin
Norwegian star sets world record in 1,500 on way to breaking mark in mile
Thanks to the brilliance of Jakob Ingebrigtsen of Norway, Yared Nuguse’s reign as the world indoor record-holder in the men’s mile lasted all of five days.
The 25-year-old Nuguse had become the first American man to set a world record in the indoor mile since 1978 when he clocked 3:46.63 while winning the Wanamaker Mile in the Millrose Games in New York City last Saturday.
However, Ingebrigtsen crushed that record when he ran 3:45.14 in the Meeting Hauts-de-France Pas-de-Calais Trophee event in Lievin, France, on Thursday.
For good measure, the 24-year-old Ingebrigtsen came through 1,500 meters in 3:29.63, which bettered the world record of 3:30.60 that he had set in Lievin in 2022.
It marked the first time since 1954 that a man had set a world record in both the 1,500 meters and the mile in the same race.
The previous occurrence took place in Turku, Finland, when John Landy of Australia came through 1,500 meters in a hand-held time of 3:41.8 while on his way to a 3:57.9 clocking in the mile.
Landy’s time in the 1,500 had bettered the world record of 3:42.8 held by Wes Santee of the U.S. and his mark in the mile lowered the world record of 3:59.4 that Great Britain’s Roger Bannister had run about six weeks earlier when he became the first man in history to break four minutes in the mile.
“It feels amazing. This is what happens in Lievin,” Ingebrigtsen said in a trackside interview after the race. “I am a happy man.”
While Nuguse had led a record eight men to sub 3:50 clockings in the Millrose Games, Ingebrigtsen finished way ahead of second-place Stefan Nillessen of the Netherlands, who ran a national record of 3:52.70, and third-place Cathal Doyle of Ireland, who timed 3:53.18.
Ingebrigtsen was in third place when first pacesetter Filip Sasinek of Czechia came through 400 meters in 55.83 seconds and 800 in 1:52.08, and he was in second place when Pieter Sisk of Belgium passed the one-kilometer mark in 2:20.13.
But Ingebrigtsen was soon on his own after Sisk dropped out and he came through 1,200 meters in 2:48.39 and 1,500 in 3:29.63 before running the final 109 meters of the race in 15.51 seconds.
It’s interesting to compare the splits of Ingebrigtsen and Nuguse during their record efforts as the Norwegian ran his final 409 meters of his race in 56.75 seconds, while Nuguse covered that distance in 57.36.
Ingebrigtsen was only eight hundredths of a second ahead of Nuguse’s split when he came through 800 meters in 1:52.55, but he covered the third 400-meter segment of his race in 55.84 seconds, compared to Nuguse’s 56.64, and he picked up another .61 seconds during the final 409 meters.
“Yes, it’s very hard,” Ingebrigtsen said when he was asked about striking out on his own after Sisk was no longer pacing him. “You have to push all the time, and you have to be focused for the whole race. So it was tough. But of course, it’s worth it when, when it goes like this.”
In addition to his two world records on Thursday, Ingebrigtsen has set world records of 4:43.13 for 2,000 meters and 7:17.55 for 3,000 outdoors, as well as a world best of 7:54.10 for two miles.
When asked how his latest record performance in Lievin compared to the others, he smiled, and said “This is all the way up there, for sure.”
In addition to Ingebrigtsen, eight other athletes produced yearly world-leading performances on Thursday, with the highest-quality marks going to Freweyni Hailu of Ethiopia in the women’s 3,000 meters, Grant Holloway of the U.S. in the men’s 60-meter high hurdles, Ackera Nugent of Jamaica in the women’s 60 hurdles, and Katie Moon of the U.S. in the women’s pole vault.
Hailu, who won the 1,500 in last year’s World Athletics Indoor Championships in Glasgow, Scotland, clocked 8:19.98 in the 3,000 after pulling away from compatriot Gudaf Tsegay during the final 400 meters of the race.
Tsegay placed second in 8:25.12, followed by Birke Haylom, another Ethiopian, in 8:25.37.
Nadia Battocletti of Italy, the Olympic silver medalist in the women’s 10,000 meters in Paris last summer, set an Italian record of 8:30.82 while finishing fourth.
Hailu’s time was the fourth-fastest ever run indoors and moved her to third on the all-time performer list, while Haylom’s mark put her in the No. 11 spot.
Tsegay entered the race in pursuit of the world record of 8:16.60 set by Ethiopian Genzebe Dibaba in 2014 and she was in second place when compatriot Saron Berhe paced the field through 1,000 meters in 2:45.53 and 1,400 meters in 3:51.67.
After Berhe dropped out, Tsegay was in first place when she came through 1,600 meters in 4:25.20, 2,000 in 5:31.28, and 2,600 in 7:13.71. However, Hailu was close behind her at each of those junctures and she covered her final 400 in 66.13 seconds and her last 200 in 30.97, compared to Tsegay’s splits of 71.41 and 35.79.
Hailu had opened her season on Feb. 4 by running a then-personal best of 8:24.17 in winning the 3,000 in the Czech Indoor Gala in Ostrava, Czechia.
Holloway, who won the 110 high hurdles in the Olympics after previously winning three World titles in the event, took the 60 high hurdles in 7.36 seconds on Thursday while finishing comfortably ahead of second-place Wilhem Belocian of France, who timed 7.46.
While Holloway’s time was only the 14th fastest of his career, the two-time defending World champion is so dominant in the 60 high hurdles that he has run 13 of the fastest 16 times in history, including the top four and eight of the top nine.
“The main goal today was to translate my good form into a nice performance and I think I did that,” Holloway said in quotes on the meet website. “This is usually the time of the season where I start to figure out what I need to do to run really fast.
“My opponents are getting faster all the time, so I need to keep challenging myself and my team. World Indoor Championships are a major goal for me, but first things first: making the USA team next week.”
Nugent’s indoor season had gotten off to a rough start as she ran 7.92 while finishing fourth in the women’s 60 hurdles in the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix in Brighton, Massachusetts, on Feb. 2 before she was disqualified for a false start in the Millrose Games. But her winning time of 7.75 in Lievin was the third fastest of her career and left her well in front of second-place Grace Stark of the U.S., who ran 7.82.
“I’m really happy to produce this time at my third meet of the season,” Nugent said. “I took another nice step today in building confidence and gradually improving. I will be competing in Poland on Sunday and then that’s it for me until World Indoors.”
Moon posted her third consecutive victory of the season in the women’s pole vault when her winning height of 4.83 meters (15 feet 10 inches) topped her previous world-leading mark of 4.82 (15-9¾) that she had set in the Millrose Games.
The Olympic champion in 2021 and the silver medalist last year, Moon cleared 4.55 (14-11) on her first jump of the competition before passing at 4.65 (15-3).
She then made 4.75 (15-7) and 4.83 (15-10) on her first attempts before missing three times at 4.90 (16-0¾).
Moon was one of three field athletes to post a yearly world-leading mark in their respective event.
The others were Leonardo Fabbri of Italy, who won the men’s shot put at 21.95 (72-0¼), and Leyanis Perez Hernandez of Cuba, who placed first in the women’s triple jump at 14.62 (47-11½).
Diribe Welteji of Ethiopia and Lieke Klaver of the Netherlands produced the other yearly world-leading marks during the meet.
Welteji ran 3:58.89 in the women’s 1,500 and Klaver timed 50.76 in the women’s 400.
The men’s 800 was a high-quality race as Eliott Crestan of Belgium came from behind to defeat Bryce Hoppel of the U.S., 1:44.81 to 1:44.98.
Hoppel and Crestan had finished first and third, respectively, in last year’s World indoor championships.
“I wanted to break my own Belgian record again, but I narrowly missed it,
Crestan said. “I actually felt better than in Ostrava, where I brought it down to 1:44.69.
“The European and World Indoor Championships are big goals for me, but I don’t want to put too much pressure on myself either. Before I start talking about medals, I should make sure I get to the final.”