Underestimate Jakob Ingebrigtsen at your peril! In his first race of the year having undergone surgery on his Achilles tendon in January, the Norwegian phenomenon unleashed a devastating sprint finish to win the 5000m title in 13:15.29 ahead of Germany's Florian Bremm and France's Etienne Daguinos.
This was Ingebrigtsen’s fourth successive European 5000m title and the seventh of his incredible career, extending his record as the most successful male athlete in the history of the European Athletics Championships.
In summary
- Jakob Ingebrigtsen sprints to his fourth 5000m title in 13:15.29
- Jimmy Gressier gets run out of the medals in a last lap sprint
- European 10,000m champion Dominic Lobalu fades to seventh
Jakob Ingebrigtsen’s trademark has been to wind up the pace ferociously in the last two laps, holding off all comers en route to his countless global and continental accolades in the 5000m.
But in this instance, Ingebrigtsen waited until the home straight to make his decisive move which preserved his unbeaten streak at the European Athletics Championships which dates back to Berlin 2018 when he burst onto the senior stage at the age of 17.
World 10,000m champion Jimmy Gressier was content to watch the race unfold from afar with Ingebrigtsen in the early stages before the Frenchman began to move through the field with real intent and ultimately to the front of proceedings of a final which saw the pace ebb and flow.
In an eventful and physical two laps leading up to the bell which saw a big collision take down the likes of Dutchman Mike Foppen and Ingebrigtsen's teammate Andreas Fjeld Halvorsen and Ireland's Nick Griggs lose a spike which served as a minor obstacle on the next lap, Gressier still had nine athletes in his slipstream as he approached the bell despite inserting pace into the final with back-to-back laps of 62.58 and 60.50.
Among those shadowing Gressier were Ingebrigtsen who sat directly behind the flamboyant Frenchman, holding the inside line on the last lap. As Germany’s Florian Bremm made a bold move around the outside to challenge Gressier, Ingebrigtsen found himself temporarily boxed in but when a gap opened in the home straight, the 25-year-old struck with his characteristic cool.
Ingebrigtsen, whose last race dated back to the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, covered the last lap in a sprightly 54.94 to outpace Bremm for the title - 13:15.29 to 13:15.60 - for his seventh European title and counting.
In a dramatic denouement to the final, Gressier faded out of medal contention altogether in the home straight as he was overhauled for the bronze medal by his compatriot Etienne Daguinos who clocked 13:16.09 with Gressier fourth - and still without a medal from the European Athletics Championships although with one more shot in the men's 10,000m - in 13:16.36.
2024 European 10,000m champion Dominic Lobalu from Switzerland, who led in the middle stages of the race, wasn't a factor on the last lap as he dropped back to seventh in 13:18.24.
What they said...
Jakob Ingebrigtsen (NOR)
"Coming from the lowest of lows to be European champion again means the world to me. Not even I believed it could happen coming here. Only with 600 metres to go, I knew I would win.
"I doubted myself every day coming into this and every minute leading up to the last lap today, but I'm always hoping to do my best. I've tried my best and the last three weeks was very smooth."
Florian Bremm (GER)
"How do I feel about the silver medal? Just tears I guess, I don't know what to say, I don't know what happened. It was a brutal race. It was a dog fight. Being in lane one outside of Jimmy and Jakob, somehow I am second. I tried to conserve as much energy as possible but it's a championship race so at some point you have to be at the front and fighting for the top spot.
"I have raced with Jakob since the juniors cross country and I was always at the back chasing him and being a fanboy like everyone else. I saw him in St Moritz as we have the same training schedule and workouts but in the race he's just like everyone else that I want to beat. He's just another number in the race. But he proved he's faster than everyone else even after the injury."
Etienne Daguinos (FRA)
"When Jakob went in front I knew I couldn't stay with him. He's a legend of our sport. We knew if he's here tonight it was because he is good shape. He's so strong. He showed that tonight. I am so proud to share a podium with him."