Katir-Ingebrigtsen: double rivalry, double challenge

the track of Budapest National Athletic Center live in World Cups a double duel with 1,500 and 5,000 meters between two of the athletes currently attracting the most spotlight: the Spaniard Mohamed Katir and Norwegian Jakob Ingebrigtsen.

The young Norwegian record

Ingebrigtsen, 22, collects medals and collects records. The Norwegian was this year’s indoor European champion in the 1,500 and 3,000 and won the four races he ran outdoors in the 1,500all belong to the Diamond League circuit in Rabat, Oslo, Lausanne and Chorzow. He also set the world record for two miles in Paris with a time of 7:54.10.

Norwegian athlete credit this season 3:27.14 outdoorsa register that only comes close, although more than a second, to the Spanish Mohamed Katir, who clocked 3:28.89, is the only one in the top ten in the rankings, along with Ingebrigtsen, who has dipped below 3:29 this year.

Katir is looking to surprise his rival

Katir, gold medalist of the European Games this 2023 in the 1,500, runner-up in Europe in Munich 2022 (5,000) and bronze medalist in the Eugene World Cup (1,500)seeking to surprise the Norwegian, as he already did at the Monaco Diamond League meeting in 2021, when he finished second in the 1,500 race and Ingebrigtsen thirdboth behind Kenyan Timothy Cheruiyot, world champion in 2019 and Olympic silver medalist in Tokyo.

The Spanish athlete feels strong and his ambition is at its highest, as he showed on July 21 in Monaco, when he broke the European record of 5,000 meters, lowering Ingebrigtsen’s mark by more than three seconds, to stop the clock in 12: 45.01.

Katir, 25, marked these World Cups in Budapest in red. “It’s in that competition that you have to prove yourself. This is my goal and I’m ready,” he said after the 1,500m final of the Spanish Championship in Torrent on July 30, where he finished second behind veteran Adel Mechaal .

Ingebrigtsen warned

For Ingebrigtsen, despite her dominance in Diamond League events, becoming the 1,500 world champion is a challenge she craves. In 2022, at the indoor World Cups in Belgrade, he was overtaken by the speed of the Ethiopian Samuel Tefera, slowed down by the effects of covid, while a few months later, at the outdoor World Cups in Oregon, he lost. by the inspired tactics of Britain’s Jake Wightman, who was absent from Budapest through injury.

“With 1,500 meters being my main test, I was not satisfied with two silver medals in 2022. Now I want to be world champion in my test”, the Norwegian admitted.