17th July 2013 02:22
Which made the 5000m later that day even more important. Though he did not have a 5000m time in the official record books, he had won the European U23 Cross Country title in Budapest in December with consummate ease. That race was contested over 8km, so he clearly had the stamina.
And when the field set off at a jog they were handing him the title. There was no one else in the field who could match his blistering pace.
“As the laps were ticked off, my hopes increased,” admitted the 22-year-old. At 3min per kilometre, it is not surprising he was feeling confident. After passing 3km in 9:00.80, it was a training run. The pace was upped by 10sec in the next kilometre, but that was still not going to affect the outcome.
“With 1500m to go I noticed the start line [of my normal event],” noted Ingebrigtsen. “That was when my race started.” There was an element of revenge in this after the morning’s events. But still he delayed his move until the final 200m when Ingebrigtsen took five metres out of British silver medallist, Tom Farrell, before the line was reached.
His final time of 14:19.94 would not make any headlines, but it was still a lifetime best. Though it is only mentioned in Norwegian stats, he does have a 5000m time from when he was 15 which shows just how talented he is: just 1.35sec slower than his Tampere time!
So Norway were finally on the medal table slightly earlier than expected. But half an hour later, there was cause for double celebration as Isabelle Pedersen secured gold in the 100m hurdles.
After watching her in the heats she was clear favourite, but Pedersen did not see it that way.
“I was afraid I was not up to it,” she admitted to friidrett.co. “I recall that I got a good start and then I thought I should just do what I normally do – my job.”
Like Ingebrigtsen, Pedersen has been here before. In 2010 she won the World Junior title to add to two European Junior silvers from 2009 and 2011 plus the World Youth crown. She is no stranger to the podium.
Shortly before getting to Tampere, Pedersen improved her lifetime best to 13.04. Had she done anything different in training this year?
“I changed the rhythm between hurdles six and seven, now I float and keep my body in a straight line. I used to be very bad over the last three to four hurdles but now I go in a straight, which is what you are supposed to do.”
There was significant pressure this time with local favourite, Norralotta Neziri, fancied to lift gold.
“My biggest opponent was Finnish and I was able to focus on my line and on my thing so I was happy about that. The pressure has been enormous so am completely done right now.”
As she finished her interviews in the mixed zone, the Norwegian national anthem was being played for Ingebrigtsen and Norway’s day was complete. From despair to elation and two gold medals in the course of one day.