Jakob Ingebrigtsen: “To be the best I came to not celebrate my birthdays”

Why did you choose Barcelona to end the year running?

We had to choose a race, we like Barcelona, ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Last year was a very good race and we wanted to try something new. So far we have never ridden at this time of year. This race is good for us, the city is beautiful and we like to run near the sea.

In the press conference, he said he ran because he enjoyed it and he didn’t do it just to achieve records.

I run for many reasons, but the main one is because I see myself with the ability to do something well, create something or because I feel that I have a purpose in life, and for me running is that. I feel like I can perform at the highest level and I thrive on competition. I’ve been running all my life, so of course I enjoy running as a sport, but I think it’s more about finding something you want to do, that you think you can do, and that you can be great

When you were young, did you skate?

I skated. When I was young, I played soccer, cross-country skiing, but most of all I ran. I do athletics and I like to play soccer in the summer. But where I grew up, on the west coast of Norway, there wasn’t much snow, so you couldn’t do cross-country skiing and I didn’t like the technical side of skiing because I couldn’t train a lot. It’s easier for me to take off my skis and run. I started running very early and as a child I was very active, so I had an advantage over my friends or anyone. I’ve noticed that this is something I’m really good at.

Run on the track, asphalt, on the field, what do you prefer?

I run everything. When I was young, I entered all the track competitions and won them all. I want to participate in everything, but when you are 9, 10 years old, people start to specialize. And I won everything at that time, I started to specialize in 600 meters, 800 meters and middle distance, and I improved to the point where I am now.

When you exercise, do you listen to music?

If there are many Week after week I always carry the same routine. When I run on the treadmill I listen to music and if I run at a relaxed pace outside too.

What makes you different?

We are not like others, we don’t want to be like others. We want to be ourselves, do what we want to do, everyone has to stand up for what they believe.

Years ago, the middle distance was for European runners.

Yes, the British.

After North Africans, Africans, and you managed to make Europeans number one again. How did you achieve this?

What I’ve done since I was little was specializing in middle distance and working on skills like endurance and distance running, so I’ll always have an edge over others. To be honest, it seems like I did everything to the fullest, I tried hard since I was 5 or 6 years old. I’m very happy with what we did. My father helped me a lot and my brothers were by my side. I specialized since I was little and I mainly focused on running and I did my best to be the best runner, for example, not to celebrate my birthday, I already did it when I was eight years old, to not risk myself or something. That’s the main reason I do what I do. Some ex-runners say that kids have more fun running, keep getting faster, and improve their stamina. For me, it’s just the opposite. I just worked on my strength at a fairly high level for my age. And I found that focusing on that when I was growing up helped my body develop the best stride for me. This means saving energy when you run. You have to be the runner with the most energy left in your body in the last hundred meters, that will win. It’s not a question of speed, it’s being the strongest runner and having more fuel in the tank than anyone else in the last hundred meters.

When did you decide to become an athlete?

I always wanted to be a runner because I always noticed that I was good at running. I feel strong and feel like I can do well in the race. I always believed in myself and felt I could achieve more. When I was five years old, I just wanted to be with my friends in races and eventually it became competitions at the local level, then international, the European youth, and bigger and bigger. For me everything is very serious and everything is very important. I still remember my biggest disappointment. It came to me at the age of 14 in a national Under-21 race, even though I lost the World Cup later, that was my biggest disappointment, at that moment it was the most important thing for me.

Do you enjoy suffering?

Not really. Suffering I don’t suffer as much because that’s the beauty of how we train, it’s more tiring, but it also depends on what you mean by suffering.

Does the mentality of a sports psychologist work?

Nope. This comes from growing up in a family of seven siblings, where there was always competition. We are competitive and we train a lot mentally. I thrive on competition when the stakes are high.

A wish for next year.

Won gold in the 1,500 meters at the World Cup (laughs). This is my main goal.