FONTVIEILLE, MONACO, July 12 — Having missed out on the 1500 gold in the last two World Championships, defending Olympic champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen set out to remind his foes, pre-Paris, who they are dealing with. The Norwegian, in a typically solo performance after his pacers stepped off, ran his fastest 1500 ever to highlight the Meeting Herculis.
The world-leading effort came after Slovenia’s Žan Rudolf led through the first two laps in 55.17 and 55.49 (1:50.66) before stepping aside. Ingebrigtsen confidently took over, already with a healthy lead over Kenya’s Timothy Cheruiyot and American Yared Nuguse. He passed 1200 in 2:46.37 and showed no signs of flagging. His last 400 took just 54.06 for a European Record 3:26.73, the fastest time in the world since Asbel Kiprop ran 0.04 faster on the same track 9 years ago.
“When you achieve great results, it is easier to be confident for the future competitions,” said Ingebrigtsen, who strengthened his hold on No. 4 all-time with the No. 6 performance ever. “I am excited about Paris. I feel strong, I will do my best and hopefully bring home the gold medal.”
Behind him, Nuguse had moved into 2nd on the backstretch but showed little in the way of a kick. On the final stretch he could not match the sprints of Cheruiyot (3:28.71) and Brian Komen (3:28.80 PR), finishing 4th at 3:29.13, the No. 3 performance ever by an American.
In the 800, it is looking more and more like no one on earth will be able to stop the juggernaut that is Djamel Sedjati. The 25-year-old Algerian — of whom little was known before he burst onto the scene with a 1:44.91 3 years ago — once again demolished the world’s best two-lappers with his kick. This time he counted among his victims the reigning world champion, Marco Arop of Canada, who led onto the final stretch but could not close the deal.
Unlike in Paris, where Sejati had company at the finish, here he won going away in a national record 1:41.46 to solidify his place as No. 3 all-time. Mohamed Attaoui chopped more than 2 seconds off his best to run a Spanish record 1:42.04 in 2nd, barely ahead of France’s Gabriel Tual (1:42.10), Kenya’s Aaron Cheminingwa (1:42.13) and Britain’s Ben Pattison (1:42.27 PR). Arop had to settle for 6th with his 1:42.93.
Said Sedjati, “Now I am thinking about…
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