Jakob Ingebrigtsen won the gold medal in the 1500-meter race at the Tokyo Olympics, and later won two more gold medals at the World Championships and three gold medals at the European Championships in this distance. At the Paris Games, he was therefore a favorite to triumph, but in the end he did not even make it onto the podium of the competition.
Tokyo gold medalist off podium in Paris. New Olympic record
In Tuesday's final, Ingebrigtsen set the pace from the very beginning and seemed to be able to maintain it. Josh Kerr was behind him, and his rivals decided to attack only at the very end. About 100 meters from the finish, the Norwegian favorite began to weaken, and Kerr took the lead. Cole Hocker and Yared Nuguse also sped up considerably.
In the final stretch, Hocker proved to be the best. He crossed the finish line in 3:27.65, setting a new Olympic record. Until now, the best result belonged to Ingebrigtsen, who ran in Tokyo in 3:28.32.
Behind the winner, Kerr had to defend himself from the second American. In the end, he overtook Nuguse by centimeters and took second place, while his rival took the bronze medal. Ingebrigtsen, devastated and overtaken, finished the competition only in fourth place and did not win a single medal.
Men's 1500 metres results:
- Cole Hocker (USA) – 3:27.65
- Josh Kerr (Great Britain) – 3:27.79
- Yared Nuguse (USA) – 3:27.80
- Jakob Ingebrigtsen (Norway) – 3:28.24
- Hobbs Kessler (USA) – 3:29.45
- Niels Laros (Netherlands) – 3:29.54
- Narve Gilje Nordas (Norway) – 3:30.46
- Pietro Arese (Italy) – 3:30.74
- Stefan Nillessen (Netherlands) – 3:30.75
- Neil Gourley (Great Britain) – 3:30.88
- Timothy Cheruiyot (Kenya) – 3:31.35
- Brian Komen (Kenya) – 3:35.59