Ingebrigtsen threatens El Guerrouj’s 2,000-meter world record

The Diamond League will face this Friday with the Van Damme Memorial in Brussels (Belgium) their last date before the final in Eugene (United States) with the main attraction centered on the 2,000-meter race, where the Norwegian Jakob Ingebrigtsen threatens the world record for the distance held by the Moroccan Hicham El Guerrouj since 1999.

Almost two weeks after his long-suffering victory at the 5,000-meter World Cup in Budapest, where he won almost at the finish line with a sprint against Spaniard Mohamed Katir, Norwegian Jakob Ingebrigtsen will return to the track. He will do so at an atypical distance, 2,000 meters, with the goal of beating, or at least getting close to, Hicham El Guerrouj’s world record of 4:44.79 on September 7, 1999.

The distance is unknown to Ingebrigtsen since June 11, 2020, in Oslo, she broke the European record with 4:50.01. In search of that new world record in the 2,000 meters, the Norwegian athlete studied parts of that mythical race in El Guerrouj.

In the case of achieving this, and waiting for the Diamond League final in Eugene, Ingebrigtsen’s summer could come full circle as she also broke her own European record of 1,500 meters in July in Silesia (Poland) with 3:27.14 and, previously, on June 9, in Paris, he had the world’s best time in two miles with 7:54.10.

In the same race of 2,000 meters is the Spanish Mario García Romosixth in the Budapest World Cup in 1,500, and the Kenyan Reynold Kipkorir Cheruiyot, but also the Norwegian Narve Gilje Nordas, trained by Gjert, Jakob’s father, who his son does not speak to.

Esther Guerrero and Marta Pérez, the two Spanish semifinalists at the recent World Cup in Budapest, had no options to compete in the final in Eugene but, taking advantage of the good form in the Hungarian city, they will look to improve personal bests in Brussels and perhaps get closer to the 1,500 national record held by Natalia Rodríguez (3:59.51) since th -28 of August 2005.

The world champion, Kenyan Faith Kipyegon, was not on the starting line for the 1,500although nine athletes have already dipped below four minutes this year, including Ethiopians Hirut Meshesha (3:54.61) and Birke Haylom (3:54.93), favorites for victory.

In the 800 meters, Saúl Ordóñez from Burgos will find the ticket to Eugene after competing less than a week ago at the previous circuit test in Xiamen (China), where he recorded 1:44.54, his best mark of the season. In front they will have a good group of top-level athletes led by Kenyan Wycliffe Kinyamal and followed by Algerians Djamel Sedjati and Slimane Moula, the French Benjamin Robert or the British Ben Pattison.

The Spanish Lorena Martín, specialist in the 800 meters, is also in Brusselsalthough in his case he will act as a hare in the 5,000 test, where the Ethiopian Medina Eisa starts as a favorite, who this year ran 14:16.54, the best mark of the seventeen that will start.

Other international stars who will try to shine in Budapest are Swedish pole vaulter Armand Duplantis; Japanese javelin thrower Haruka Kitaguchi in the javelin, Ukrainian high jumper Yaroslava Mahuchikh, Dutch hurdler Femke Bol and Jamaican sprinter Shericka Jackson in the 200 meters, all world champions in Budapest.