To anyone who doubted the likelihood of Jakob Ingebrigtsen defending his Olympic 1,500m title in Paris next month, those doubts were put to rest on Friday in Monaco, when the Norwegian ran a blistering 3:26.74 to break his own European record by more than a quarter of a second. His time is the fourth fastest in history, and less than three quarters of a second off Hicham El Gherrouj’s world record of 3:26.00.
MONACO MAGIC 🪄
🇳🇴’s Jakob Ingebrigtsen smashes the European 1500m record with 3:26.73 🥵
He’s the first man to break 3:27 since 2015 ‼️#DiamondLeague pic.twitter.com/HsiJRRsaZx
— World Athletics (@WorldAthletics) July 12, 2024
It was also Ingebrigtsen’s first victory in this event at the Monaco Diamond League. He went to the front early in the race, which also included Kenya’s Timothy Cheruiyot, American record holder Yared Nuguse and Australia’s Ollie Hoare, chasing the wave lights and challenging the pacer to stay in the race until the bell. No one was able to match his speed, and he pulled away around the final bend, beating Cheruiyot (who ran a season’s best 3:28.71) by almost two seconds. Kenya’s Brian Komen was third, with a new personal best of 3:28.80, and Nuguse was fourth, with a season’s best 3:29.13.
It was a repeat of Ingebrigtsen’s performance in Oslo last month, when he beat Cheruiyot by diving across the finish line.
He set the previous European record at 3:27.95 last year at Oslo Diamond League.
Women’s world and Canadian records go down
In other events, Australia’s Jessica Hull broke the women’s 2,000m world record with 5:19.70, and Lucia Stafford broke the Canadian record with 5:31.18. For that story, click here.
For full results, click here.
