Jakob Ingebrigtsen on Wightman / Kerr: "I know that I win 98 out of 100 times against them."

1. that was only for when he lost against Kerr, had no excuse for Wightman

2. no proof he was sick considering he "magically felt better for the 5k"

Exactly. For some reason people are thinking of Jakob as a sort of Daniel Komen when his championship record more closely resembles El Guerrouj's.

The interesting thing is you've listed 3 Brits and there's no guarantee any of them even make it on the Olympic roster. There's Stonier, Giles, Heyward (if he's healthy), Fogg (!?) and Gourley who could all play spoiler. That trials is going to have fireworks.

I also think I'd add a couple of questions:

1) Do we get a breakout from phenoms Neils Laros or Reynold Cheruiyot?
-These are the two most promising junior 1500m athletes from Europe and Kenya since Jakob and Noah Ngeny respectively
2) Does Narve Nordas have another level?
-Nordas' emergence was the most dramatic since Mohamed Katir in 2021. He doesn't seem to have closing speed or gear-shift limitations as much as Katir did. Could he be a real threat to win with another year at the top level under Gjert's coaching?

Well, he is probably not wrong, and at this point Kerr looks mostly like a man baby just trying to stir the pot. Grow up.

Okey, let’s have a look on the evidence for your claim here:

1. WC 2022 (lost vs Wightman) -Jakob: “I was in the best shape of my life”.

2. WC U20 2018 (very close to the win in both 1500/5000m) -Jakob: “I’m very pleased with both my races”.

3. WC U20 xc 2019 (after placing 12th, totally exhausted): Not a single excuse.

4. WC 2019 ( fourth and fifth placings) -the interviewers asked if the doubling had ruined his shape? Jakob: “No, not at all. My shape was very good in both races.”

Sickness or feeling bad not much of a Modus Operandi here, if you ask me… (He’s clearly just honest -when he is sick or not in the expected shape he says so (even when he wins and runs splendid, f.dx Silensia). -When he loses without being sick he never claims bad shape (WC 2022++).

and the excuse for 2022, then?

The covid thing was against Tefera. What kind of virus it was against Kerr we don’t know.

But saying all that I also like to point out that Wightman made one of the best races in 2022 (also time wise in the WC final), and not only was the best athlete that day but also pretty near Jakob’s season best…

But 2023 was a whole other ballgame, and Jakob didn’t “magically feel better for the 5k” -although he won he did a rather poorly race here too (because he still was sick, yes even maybe worse (“dizzy all day”))…

There is no “excuse” for 2022 -I regard Wightman as the best athlete that day (WC), and even close to Jakob’s best mark that season.

Jakob beat Kerr with one place in the 2016 U20 WORLD CHAMPS 1500m final when Jakob was FIFTEEN and Kerr EIGHTEEN. Quite impressive: A boy vs. a young man!

The boy also beat the young man about half a year later in the European U20 X country Champs in December 2016. The young man was so far behind that he possibly couldn´t see the boy´s superior finish.

Kenenisa didn’t talk this way because he didn’t have to. He let his races show he was the best. Jakob is insecure because he has lost the big prize enough that he cannot just let his races do his talking, so his mouth runs. You didn’t hear Kenenisa say I would beat so and so 98 out of 100 times because we already knew it.