Ingebrigtsen fires warning shots at Bislett Games show

CaptionKenya's Timothy Cheruiyot, left, gestures as he crosses the line to win the men's 1500 meter race from Norway's Jakob Ingebrigtsen during the Diamond League athletics meeting at the Louis II stadium in Monaco AP

A Wanda Diamond League record from Jakob Ingebrigtsen in the mile, along with meeting records from Mondo Duplantis in the pole vault and Femke Bol in the 400m hurdles brightened a rainy evening at the Bislett Games in Oslo on Thursday.

Ingebrigtsen has won almost all there is to win in middle-distance events, but a senior Dream Mile victory in Oslo was one thing missing from the 21-year-old’s resume. In fact, before today no Norwegian man had ever won the prestigious discipline at the Bislett Games.

Ingebrigtsen’s win sets 1500m early warning shots ahead of World Athletics Championships in Eugene, USA, next month.

The clash will pit Olympic silver medalist Timothy Cheruiyot, Ethiopia’s two-time world indoor champion Samuel Tefera, Olympic bronze medalist Josh Kerr of UK and Abel Kipsang, fourth at the Tokyo Olympic Games. The meet in Oslo provided a bearing on who shall stand out as 1500m king in 2022.

But, racing in the final individual track event of the night, Ingebrigtsen ensured the 15,000 fans at the Bislett Stadion went home happy as he won the mile in a Norwegian record of 3:46.46, breaking the Wanda Diamond League record in the process.

Paced through the first two laps in 56.01 and 1:53.30, Ingebrigtsen was tracked closely by Australia’s Oliver Hoare and Britain’s Jake Wightman for most of the race. The Olympic 1500m champion never appeared to be under too much strain.