Ingebrigtsen will seek double gold in Rome

The Norwegian middle distance runner Jakob Ingebrigtsendouble 5,000m world champion and 1,500m Olympic champion, will once again seek double gold at the European Championships in Rome.

Ingebrigtsen, who has won the 1,500m and 5,000m events twice in European Championships in Munich 2022 and Berlin 2018confirmed that he will try to defend both titles at the event that will take place from June 7 to 12 in the Italian capital.

“My hope and my expectations are probably to defend both titles,” said the 23-year-old athlete in Fire upthe podcast produced by European Athletics.

If he achieves this, he will achieve a historic triplet, which will position him as one of the best European athletes in history at only 23 years old.

“It’s a good challenge,” he added. “I think it’s exciting to race in Rome, it’s not something I’ve done many times in the past.”

The last time Ingebrigtsen competed on Roman soil was in 2020, in the 3,000m of the Diamond League, when he finished second behind Ugandan Jacob Kiplimo.

“It’s a good place and hopefully with good conditions. I think a lot of people will use it as a step towards the Olympic Games,” he said.

The great goal of the year is to Games in Paris, although Ingebrigtsen takes it very quietly. “I’ve already beaten them, so I don’t know what the fuss is about,” he said, adding, “If I hadn’t been injured or sick, I think it would have been a walk in the park.”

Beyond his overconfidence, the state of the Norwegian’s form is unknown, as he has an injury that does not allow him to compete since September 2023.

His next performance is on May 25 in Eugene, United States, where he will run in the mile event at Prefontaine Classicwhere he will face Scot Josh Kerr, with whom he has maintained a strong rivalry since the latter took the title of world champion from him at the World Cup in Budapest.