18-year-old Niels Larousse from the Netherlands is making a fuss: – A talent the size of Jacob

BRUSSELS (VG) Niels Larousse (18) from the Netherlands makes Narvi Gelge Nordas (24) use big words.

During the Diamond League held last Friday in Brussels, the 18-year-old placed fourth in an unusual 2,000-meter exercise in a strong field. The time 4.49.68 is a new Dutch and European under-20 record.

In the same race, Jakob Ingebrigtsen set a world record with a time of 4.43.13. Until then, the European 2000m record, set by Ingebrigtsen in Bislett in 2020 as a 19-year-old, was 4.50.01.

Narve Gilje Nordås came in sixth place in Brussels – 96 hundredths behind Niels Laros. Nordas uses big words to describe the young man’s talent.

– It’s so huge, we’re talking about a talent the size of Jacob. No doubt about it. Now he is beating me in the 2000 metres, it is absolutely impressive that he can handle the distance so well considering that he is actually a runner who bets on the 800 and 1500 metres, Nordas tells VG.

He took bronze in the WC behind Josh Kerr and Ingebrigtsen in the 1,500 metres. Niels Laros then finished tenth with a Dutch record of 3.31.25.

-I’m a little disappointed. “I always run for first place,” Larose said.

He has long been compared to Jakob Ingebrigtsen.

– It’s great to be pitted against someone like him. “But one day I will try to beat him,” Larousse said, according to the European Athletics Federation’s website this summer.

Christian Ulriksen, himself a strong long-distance runner who, along with NRK commentator Jan Post, is behind the “I det lange løp” podcast, is excited to see how much the Dutchman has in store.

-He’s probably trained as a professional runner since he was 10-12 years old, so one might wonder how much more he has to do. “He seems to have very good speed resources,” says Ulrichsen.

– He is a great talent and at a sky-high level, but only if he can run 3.26 at 1500 metres3.26 at 1500 metresHicham El Guerrouj’s world record Let the gods know. There are many who have reached the level he is at now, so the question is about the path to Jacob.

Comparing people to Jacob is unfair. Jakob is the best, is Ulrichsen’s conclusion.

Larousse grew up in Oosterhout, a town of over 50,000 located between Eindhoven and Rotterdam. He is the son of Marcel Larousse and Sandra Larose-Hoffmans, both active athletes.

“I grew up on track and loved it,” LaRose said.

He is coached by Polish Tomasz Lewandowski. He is the brother of Marcin Lewandowski who retired in 2022. Marcin had several duels with the Ingebrigtsen brothers and took gold in the indoor 1500m in 2019 ahead of Jakob.

-If Larousse can stay injury-free until the 2024 Paris Olympics, I would be surprised. The system they run is very demanding and requires you to be really strong. “They train a lot with speed, very high threshold, spiked shoes,” says Ulrichsen.

On Saturday, Jakob Ingebrigtsen, Narvi Gelle Nordas and Nils Laros ran the English Mile (1609 metres) at the Diamond League Final in Eugene, USA. Ingebrigtsen also runs the 3,000 meters on Sunday.