American sprint legend Justin Gatlin has showered praise on Norwegian middle-distance runner Jakob Ingebrigtsen after his historic performance at the Silesia Diamond League, where he shattered the 3000m world record.
Competing in his second event since his successful outing at the 2024 Paris Olympics, Ingebrigtsen clocked an astonishing 7:17.55 to cross the finish line on August 25, breaking the 28-year-old world record held by Kenya’s Daniel Komen.
Gatlin, speaking on the August 30 episode of the ‘Ready Set Go’ podcast, could not hold back his admiration for the 23-year-old Norwegian, who has been making waves in the world of long-distance running.
“I never thought I would see this day happen where a distance race is dominated by a non-African,” Gatlin remarked.
“There’s an old saying, ‘All we need is one’. Y’all can sweep from second position onwards you can have it but we got the No.1 spot.”
The American sprinter, who won gold in the 100m at the 2004 Athens Olympics, highlighted how Ingebrigtsen’s achievement marks a significant shift in the long-distance running landscape, which has been dominated by African athletes for decades.
Jakob Ingebrigtsen’s record-breaking run at the Silesia Diamond League wasn’t his only moment of glory this year.
The 23-year-old also ended his 2024 Paris Olympic campaign with another gold medal, this time in the Men’s 5000m event.
In a race that saw him compete against some of the world’s best, including Kenya’s Ronald Kwemoi and the USA’s Grant Fisher, Ingebrigtsen emerged victorious with a season-best time of 13:13.66.
He beat Kwemoi by more than two seconds, with the Kenyan clocking 13:15.04 and Fisher finishing third in 13:15.13.
Despite his triumph in the 5000m, Ingebrigtsen faced disappointment in the 1500m event, where he was the defending Olympic champion.
In a fiercely contested race he finished in fourth place with a time of 3:28.24 narrowly missing out on a medal.
The gold in the 1500m went to American runner Cole Hocker who finished in 3:27.65 while Ingebrigtsen’s arch-rival Britain’s Josh Kerr took the silver.
