To be Jakob Ingebrigtsen is never easy. At 23, the Norwegian runner has two Olympic golds coming from both middle- and long-distance running events. And stunningly, he snagged his second Olympic gold day after finishing fourth, failing to defend his first Olympic achievement. That superhuman ability made him go further, entering another prestigious contest just hardly a week after his Paris Olympics endeavor. Well, this is not the end. 

After successfully defending his Diamond League title on September 13, Ingebrigtsen gave himself another target, as he is eyeing to grab 10 world records in track before retiring. But this time, the new road took his test badly. He stood shaking the dust in the end but left questions on his future. 

Jakob Ingebrigtsen’s first day in office goes wrong 

Today Jakob Ingebrigtsen was set to compete in the Copenhagen Half Marathon. He had big names in the opponent box, as Jacob Kiplimo, the current world record holder, had also entered the event. But in the penultimate race, the inability to cross the distance became the pebbles in his shoes. He had no time to think about the Ugandan opponent. Rather, after covering the 10 km distance in a scintillating 27.27 time frame, Ingebrigtsen looked to be hellishly tired. He had to stop several times to catch his breath. In the end, the expected result didn’t come in the way of the two-time world champion. 

Despite matching the pace with the lead group up to 10km, the streak of abrupt breaks hindered Jakob’s chance to enter the leaderboard. However, the current world record holder couldn’t also settle for the top podium. Ultimately, Sabastian Sawe dropped the juggernaut and unfolded to be the champion in the Copenhagen Half Marathon. He took 58.04 to win the race, whereas Ingebrigtsen ended his shot in 63.13 minutes, claiming the 34th position. Meanwhile, Kiplimo remained the runner-up, taking 58.09 minutes to cover the distance. Although the LED leaderboard displayed the exact positions of the runners, it came as a mixed bag for Jakob Ingebrigtsen. 

A heartening loss is still capable of creating echoes 

After bagging his third Diamond League final in a trot two days ago, Jakob Ingebrigtsen had boasted, “The season is not over yet.” He had his special training drills to back him up today. Yet, nothing worked out positively. He was with the leaders at 58.00 pace and found the demon in a lack of habits. The concerted result of tiredness and the disappointing result made him acknowledge the difficulty of the event. 

In the post-race conversation, the former world championship medalist had to concede, “21km is definitely too long. I’m definitely not going to try (a half-marathon) again for a couple of years. It was fun but tough. I tried to stay with the leading group for as long as I could.” Still, he has done his job already. The rumor of him entering the Half Marathon had been on the air last week. But after concluding the Brussels Diamond League final, Ingebrigtsen put a stamp on the news. And his attitude impressed Faith Kipyegon to try out her feet in a similar event in the future. Now would Ingebrigtsen’s suffering in the event make the women’s 1500m Olympic champion ponder her wish? What do you think?