Can anyone stop Jakob Ingebrigtsen at the SPAR European Cross Country Championships?
No matter the course or conditions, the 25-year-old has so far amassed a perfect record of seven victories from seven appearances at the championships since making a victorious debut in the U20 race in Chia in 2016.
With this year's SPAR European Cross Country Championships in Lagoa, Portugal just over one month away on 14 December, we look back at some of Ingebrigtsen's finest moments from the championships so far.
2016
The first of Jakob Ingebrigtsen’s seven victories at the SPAR European Cross Country Championships in Chia was arguably his most dramatic.
Still a relative novice at this level having only turned 16 less than three months prior, Ingebrigtsen won the title with relative ease but the heat and humidity on the Sardinian island took its toll on the Norwegian on the last lap. Ingebrigtsen collapsed through the finish-line and spent almost an hour in the medical tent before passing through the mixed zone and collecting his medal.
Ingebrigtsen left some interesting names in his wake, including three other future global champions. World 10,000m champion Jimmy Gressier finished fourth but led France to team gold while reigning Olympic triathlon champion Alex Yee finished 11th, although a heavy fall in the early stages ruined his chances of challenging for an individual medal.
Ingebrigtsen’s nemesis on the track Josh Kerr was also in the race, finishing 14th overall which further helped the Brits to team bronze.
2017
After unseasonably warm weather in Chia one year prior, freezing temperatures - which were pegged down even further by a biting crosswind - awaited the athletes in Samorin in Slovakia.
However, the outcome remained unchanged as Ingebrigtsen, whose stature had grown significantly in the preceding 12 months due to his exploits on the track and featuring in the reality television show Keeping Up With the Ingebrigtsens, retained his U20 title in a sprint finish ahead of Türkiye’s Ramazan Barbaros.
2018
Having just won an incredible 1500/5000m double at the European Athletics Championships in Berlin, it wouldn’t have been an exaggeration to say Ingebrigtsen would have been competitive against the seniors even at the age of 17 and over a distance of 10km.
He even quipped that he hoped to contest both the U20 and senior races in Tilburg but Ingebrigtsen had to be content with winning a third individual U20 title in Tilburg. However, a second gold medal did come in the team race as Ingebrigtsen led Norway to their first ever U20 team gold before his older brother Filip won the senior men's title.
2019
Ingebrigtsen concluded his phenomenal junior career with a destructive performance in Lisbon, winning an unprecedented fourth successive title in the U20 ranks.
Ingebrigtsen prevailed as champion by 38 seconds - the biggest winning margin in the U20 race in the history of the SPAR European Cross Country Championships - a particularly impressive feat as he only took the lead on the midway point of the penultimate lap before cutting loose.
2021
Having won Olympic 1500m gold earlier that season, the question many were asking was: could Ingebrigtsen’s range and repertoire extend to just over 10km of old school cross country running in Dublin?
The answer was an emphatic yes. Ingebrigtsen extended his unbeaten streak at the SPAR European Cross Country Championships by becoming the youngest ever winner of the senior men’s race at the age of 21.
Ingebrigtsen pulled clear of a strong field on the last lap, winning by 14 seconds from Türkiye’s former champion Aras Kaya with France’s Jimmy Gressier taking bronze, also in his debut appearance in the senior race.
2022
Ingebrigtsen also made light work of a unique course at the 2022 SPAR European Cross Country Championships which featured the novelty of an outhouse which the runners passed through on each lap of a course set in the grounds of La Mandria Castle.
Having successfully defended both his 1500m and 5000m titles at the European Athletics Championships in Munich, Ingebrigtsen added further lustre to a phenomenal season by defending his senior men’s title in Turin, beating Brit Emile Cairess by nine seconds.
2024
After missing the 2023 edition in Brussels due to injury, Ingebrigtsen regained his title with some ease in Antalya, defeating Italy’s Yemaneberhan Crippa by eight seconds.
Ingebrigtsen became just the third athlete to win the senior men’s title on three occasions after Ukraine’s Serhiy Lebid and Portugal’s Paulo Guerra who eventually won nine and four titles respectively.
