Jakob Ingebrigtsen blasts 3:26.73 pb and world lead in Monaco
Ingebrigtsen is now the 4th fastest man in history
By Joseph Carroll
Jakob Ingebrigtsen is back and better than ever.
When there is a rabbit, we are used to seeing Olympic 1500 champ Jakob Ingebrigtsen dominating 1500 and mile races. At Prefontaine earlier this year, in his first race back from injury, Jakob’s 14-race win streak in rabbitted 1500/miles was snapped by world champion Josh Kerr although Ingebrigtsen did run 3:45.60 for the mile. Five days later, Ingebrigtsen returned to the winner’s circle in Oslo but he literally had to dive at the line to beat Kenya’s Timothy Cheruiyot, the 2021 Olympic silver medallist.
Today, Ingebrigtsen was better than his old dominant self, as he became just the 4th man to break 3:27 in the 1500 at the Herculis EBS Wanda Diamond League meeting in Monaco, clocking 3:26.73 and beating Cheruiyot by 1.98 seconds.
(We have two other articles on the rest of the meet:Rai Benjamin wins 400mh showdown as Djamel Sedjati runs 1:41 again and Quincy Hall runs 43.80, Jessica Hulls shatters 2000m WR at Monaco Diamond League)
The Race
Monaco is famous for fast men’s 1500s and the pace was hot from the gun expected. The field was strung out immediately as the lead rabbit hit 400 in 55.17 with Jakob leading the racers with Timothy Cheruiyot and American Yared Nuguse right behind. The pace continued to be hot through 800 (1:50.66). Pacer Pieter Sisk did a great job bringing it to almost 1100 as Jakob had begun to pull away between 1k and 1000. Ingebrigtsen had roughly 3 meters on the field at the bell but he would continue to hammer and the daylight between him and the field grew rapidly. With 200 to go, it was clear who the winner was and the only question was how fast would Jakob run and who would get second.
Nuguse had passed Cheruiyot with 250 to go and looked to be in a good spot with 100 to go, but faded as both Cheruiyot (3:28.71) and countryman Brian Komen (3:28.80) passed him to finish second and third respectively as Nuguse was fourth in 3:29.13.
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Monaco 1500 Results
| PLACE | ATHLETE | COUNTRY | RESULT | PB/SB/WR |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jakob Ingebrigtsen | NOR | 3:26.73 | AR WL PB |
| 2 | Timothy Cheruiyot | KEN | 3:28.71 | SB |
| 3 | Brian Komen | KEN | 3:28.80 | PB |
| 4 | Yared Nuguse | USA | 3:29.13 | SB |
| 5 | Neil Gourley | GBR | 3:30.65 | SB |
| 6 | Narve Gilje Nordås | NOR | 3:31.06 | SB |
| 7 | Oliver Hoare | AUS | 3:31.07 | SB |
| 8 | Azeddine Habz | FRA | 3:31.79 | |
| 9 | Vincent Ciattei | USA | 3:32.04 | |
| 10 | Maël Gouyette | FRA | 3:33.29 | |
| 11 | Isaac Nader | POR | 3:34.42 | |
| 12 | Pietro Arese | ITA | 3:35.19 | |
| 13 | Elliot Giles | GBR | 3:40.72 | |
| DNF | Niels Laros | NED | ||
| DNF | Zan Rudolf | SLO | ||
| DNF | Pieter Sisk | BEL |
Quick Take by Robert Johnson: What does this mean for the Olympics?
Considering that Jakob’s run today converts to a 3:43.31 mile, it’s clear that Jakob’s fitness has improved a lot since he opened in 3:45.60 for the mile at Pre, but we’re not sure it really changes too much for how we handicap the Olympics.
The reality is Jakob’s fitness needed to improve a lot if he is going to successfully defend his Olympic 1500 title as it’s super hard to win by leading from the front. As we pointed out last year, in six of the last eight global 1500 finals, someone has tried to win by leading a majority of the race. On five of those occasions, they were run down: Cheruiyot at the ’17 Worlds and ’21 Olympics, and Ingebrigtsen at the ’22 World Indoors, ’22 Worlds and ’23 Worlds. Only Cheruiyot at the ’19 Worlds was successfully able to win from the front.
Jakob lowered his PR by .41 today, is that enough to put away Josh Kerr?
Quick Take: Jakob opened up pre-race and said this year was different
At Pre, Jakob said that this season would be different from his others. Usually, he uses a big winter base block to set up his outdoor season and produces consistent results all season long. He did not have the opportunity to do that this year as he was dealing with a sacrum and Achilles injury that caused him to miss time in the winter. As a result, Jakob has had to adjust his training and said that unlike past years he will be improving every race. Some may have thought that he was saying this in case he lost or as an excuse but it appears that is not the case. Jakob’s converted time at Pre was 3:28.88, then he ran 3:26.73 today. So he is getting better over time. The only question is how much better will he get in three weeks? Quick enough to break his own 3:28.32 Olympic record? In a year where the 1500 is as deep as it is, it will likely take that sort of time to win.
Quick Take by Robert Johnson: Niels Laros remains the wild card
Dutch teen sensation Niels Laros, who ran an U20 world record in the 1k of 2:14.37 last week, was set to make his 1500 seasonal opener today but he fell in the first 200 meters of the race and did not finish. It sill remains to be seen what type of impact he’ll have in Paris. But considering Laros ran 3:31 and challenged for a medal last year at age 18, a medal in 2024 can’t be discounted.
We broke down the men’s 1500, including Yared Nuguse’s performance, a lot more on our Supporters Club podcast immediately after the race. To hear the podcast and get daily podcasts from the Olympics, join the Supporters Club today and use code CLUB25 to save 25%.
Talk about the 2024 Monaco on the LRC messageboard:
- Jakob is BACK BABY – 3:26.73!! Wow.
- I don’t believe Jakob is clean. injured and runs 3:26.7 a bit later?
- Sedjati = obvious EPO cheat: 1:41.46 800 3
- Jakob Ingebrigtsen the MF Goat will run 3:26 in Monaco
- 1500m record has only a 1 hour left
- 3:26 jakob vs 3:29 kerr
- 3:26.74 will be Jakob’s LIFETIME best.
- Yeah, Kerr ain’t winning
- After Jakob’s 3:26, Kerr’s chance of winning in Paris has INCREASED
- 2000m is NOT a WR it’s a WB
- I’m worried about Marco Arop
(We have two other articles on the rest of the meet:Rai Benjamin wins 400mh showdown as Djamel Sedjati runs 1:41 again and Quincy Hall runs 43.80, Jessica Hulls shatters 2000m WR at Monaco Diamond League)
