11th December 2012 02:10
There was double cause for celebration for Norway on Sunday at the SPAR European Cross Country Championships in Budapest.
Not only did Henrik Ingebrigtsen win the under 23 category with consummate ease, but no other Scandinavian country managed a medal of any kind. In the eternal battle between the lands of the frozen north, only Norway could celebrate a podium finish on the hard-packed snows of Szentendre.
'When he gave me the thumbs up in third place with a lap to go, I knew he was in control,' admitted team captain Finn Kollstad to the Norwegian federation website, Friidrett.no.
Up till then it had been the oddest of races. From the gun Spain's Abdelaziz Merzoughi had shot off like a scalded cat and had built up a 40m lead before folding at the half way stage.
Then Belgium's Sofiane Bouchikhi had taken over the reins and looked destined to win before Ingebrigtsen pressed the accelerator. But once the Norwegian assumed control, all doubts were swept away.
'I decided to run as conservatively as possible for five or six kilometres and then let fly,' said the man from Sandnes. It did not quite work out that way as he waited until the runners entered the barn with 500m to go that the European 1500m champion showed a clean pair of heels.
'I attacked on the last hill and felt incredibly good,' noted the winner. 'I thought my rivals gave up very quickly when I made the break.'
Ingebrigtsen came into Budapest with the intention of being in top form and tapered his training accordingly in the last week for December 9: 'I relaxed a little the week before and regarded it as a small peak,' he said.
'I was 15th last year and knew that if I had a good day it would be possible to go right to the top,' the 21-year-old said before the race, though he would go no further than to forecast a top five finish.
At the line he had put the not inconsiderable distance of 10 seconds between himself and Bouchikhi in the space of only 500m with Britain's James Wilkinson coming through for bronze.
So in this calendar year Ingebrigtsen has hung round his neck not only European track gold but cross country gold too. Was this a good way to end the season on?
'Not a bit of it,' he said, 'This is the start of the 2013 season.' As for comparisons between this medal and Helsinki gold, he insisted that 'all medals are equally good. They had a finish tape here and it was just as good to break it. When you have the feeling I had here over eight kilometres, that good feeling lasts a long time.'