Reigning Olympic and world champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen returned to the track for the men’s 5000m at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo on Friday (19) desperate for form after being eliminated in the 1500m heats earlier in the week.
And after a summer plagued by an Achilles injury, he scraped through to Sunday’s (21) final in the final qualification position, placing eighth in a dramatic second heat in 13:42.15.
Running in the same heat, 10,000m champion Jimmy Gressier kept his bid for a double on track. The French athlete looked to have plenty in hand as he placed second in 13:41.64.
European silver medallist George Mills of Great Britain and France’s Yann Schrub, a European gold medallist on cross country also progressed, placing 4th and 6th in 13:41.76 and 13:42.00 respectively.
Laros and Almgren eliminated
There was further disappointment for Netherlands’ European U23 champion Niels Laros, of which a lot was expected in Tokyo. After finishing 5th in the 1500m final, he was looking to redeem himself in the 5000m, but after surging to the front at around 4k, he suddenly pulled up and hobbled off the track.
Sweden’s Andreas Almgren, who won 10,000m bronze six days earlier, also crashed out in the first heat. The European record holder did much of the early leg work but faded badly in the finishing straight and could only finish 9th in 13:16.38.
Belgium’s Isaac Kimeli, 10k bronze medallist in April’s European Running Championships, was an impressive winner of the heat in 13:13.06.