Jakob Ingebrigtsen ran to the world championships 1,500m silver on Wednesday night. He then revealed that he had a sore throat, which he only felt on Sunday.
Before the 5,000-meter climb on Thursday, measurements showed that Ingebrigtsen had a fever. He reveals it to NRK.
– Were you shaken yesterday physically and mentally?
– no.
– What’s left yet?
I’m still not 100 percent. There is still a slight fever and the throat is still slightly swollen. “I have to try to save some energy, both in the warm-up and hopefully have a good race,” says Ingebrijtsen.
The 22-year-old says he had no fever when he woke up, but measurements showed he had a fever in the hours leading up to the onset.
– I don’t have much to lose
Ingebrigtsen is the world champion in the 5000 metres. And he answers about running with a fever:
– I don’t have much to lose. I just have to try. Today, it is primarily about getting to the final, and then finishing the season in the top eight. Of course, it’s embarrassing to be in the situation I’m in, but for now I just have to try to do my best and focus on the tasks at hand.
– Luckily, it’s warm, so I can allow myself to warm up a few minutes shorter. It’s not much more than that. I must try to do my best.
Ingebrigtsen will run with, among others, Narve Gilje Nordås in the first round of the 5000m at 19.00. In the second heat there are also two Norwegians. Henrik Ingebrigtsen and Magnus Tuv Myhre will run there.
Watch the broadcast, which starts at 18.45, here:
Learn about the course from earlier
National team doctor Uwe Talnesnes explains Ingebriggsen’s disease as follows:
– Things are going reasonably well, then. He’s relatively healthy, but he wasn’t healthy enough to win the gold medal yesterday. The matter has not worsened until today, and he chose to decide to run. Doctor says: We are very excited about how things are going.
– We know that from some competitions in the past, where it wasn’t quite in optimal shape, Talnesnes says.
Ingebrijtsen is hoping to be quicker towards a potential final in the 5,000m on Sunday night.
I don’t have the answers myself, even though I don’t feel 100 percent right. A few more days off, if I can… I can run. I’m in good shape, but it doesn’t help when the body doesn’t play well, says Ingebrigtsen.
Here’s what Ingebrigtsen had to say after the World Cup silver on Wednesday:
Nordas was knocked out after the bronze
For Narvi Gilgi Nordas, Wednesday’s 1,500m race was his final achievement at the top of the world. The 24-year-old was fastest ever in the last hundred meters and took the WC bronze – just three hundredths of a second behind Ingebrigtsen.
I’m a little tired, I’ll admit. “I didn’t sleep many hours last night,” he told NRK.
Meanwhile, he said he felt “surprisingly good” in the Thursday morning training session. Nordas has previously competed in the 5,000m at both the World Championships and the Olympics, but did not reach the final.
– I rely entirely on the tricky race to get ahead. “If there was speed from the start, I must honestly admit that I would struggle after that,” he says with a smile.
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