The rain may have fallen hard at the Bislett Stadium on Thursday ahead of the 2024 Oslo Diamond League, but the spirit of the home crowd was awaken when Jakob Ingebrigtsen took to the tracks to challenge 2019 world champion – Timothy Cheruiyot in the men’s 1500m.
After neck-to-neck challenge between Cheruiyot, Azeddine Habz of France and Elliot Giles in the final 500m, it had to finish with a dramatic dive at the line to earn Ingebrigtsen a narrow victory in 3:29.74, a world lead time.
Kenya’s Timothy Cheruiyot finished second in 3:29.77 while Azeddine Habz of France finished third in 3:30.80
Accounting for what neccesitated that memorable dive Ingebrigtsen had this to say:
“I really do not think that it was the desiccion I made /to dive into the finish line/ because everything just happened so fast.
“But I can tell you that was a sprint off. It was a good race, I felt stronger than last time. So today, it was all about my improvement and at the same time, I wanted to do my best and to give the crowd the show.
“But I can tell you that I was getting sore in the last 50m. I was expecting someone to come from the outside so I was very prepared to give it 100 per cent.
“I said yesterady already, that it is going to be an exciting summer. I know that this crowd was cheering for all of us but at the same time, they wanted a Norvegian victory. They are very enthusiastic and it helps a lot.
“Especially in the last lap and in the finish, the whole volume of the stadium rises and I wanted to give it the best, I did not want to lose even a second.
“I feel lucky that I was able to get healthy and get a couple of months of a good trainig before the summer. Without that, we would not definitely be here in this position.
“Still, every day I feel better and better. About the defending the titles at the Europeans and Olympics – I think yes.”
