– I don't quite know what happened – NRK Sport – Sports news, results and broadcast schedule

– What were you talking about? NRK asks

– It's funny how you can suddenly become good friends, and then have a lot of hostility a few months ago. I don't quite know what happened there…,” says Ingebrigtsen with a sly smile on his face.

He took time to thank the crowd, sign autographs and take selfies outside the stadium.

On his way to the final round of interviews near the warm-up court, he bumped into Josh Kerr in the locker room and struck up a conversation. If you didn't know better, you might have thought that there were two friends who were happy jogging and were walking towards the press team.

-Are you friends again? asks Dagbladet

– I think that's the case… I have no idea. To be completely honest, I have no idea what these things are this winter. They have to answer that for themselves.

Shake the opponent's hand

Because the exchanges between Ingebrigtsen and Kerr before the meeting in Eugene, where the Scot won the English Mile just ahead of the Norwegian, created a special frame around the race.

The 1,609-metre drill came to an end for the evening – and it was the showdown everyone had been hoping for: Kerr versus Ingebrigtsen. The first shot of the season was taken by the British world champion, but the 23-year-old from Sandnes sees hope after running better than expected.

He came straight from an intense period of high-altitude training, which followed a nearly four-month absence from action due to injury. Shipping wasn't perfect.

But when the race was decided, he extended his hand and showed respect to his opponent.

Kerr: – Taken out of context

As Ingebrigtsen was being interviewed by NRK after the race, his boss tapped him on the shoulder – before they were seen making their way to several interviews.

-I think the media has been noisy lately, and some things have been taken out of context. So this is the best way to do it: to go out and do a good job and put on a show for the fans here today, Josh Kerr tells NRK after the race.

He looks full of confidence after eight fantastic months on the track and it is clear that will not change in the future.

– I look forward to continuing to do so. My personality is my own, and I will be a strong competitor on the track, while shaking hands with competitors after the race.

They may not agree on everything, but they are more interested in taking the fight to the field in the future. Kerr is determined to make things difficult for the Olympic champions when they meet in Paris in two months.

Winning once is one thing, but it's not as difficult as winning and coming back and winning again. That's what I'm here to do. “That's why we haven't had anyone win multiple times in a row in recent years, and I'm trying to be the guy who does that,” Kerr says.

note! Jakob Ingebrigtsen runs the 1,500 meters during the Bislett Games broadcast by NRK on Thursday night. Naturally, he has plans to win the Norwegian Athletics Evening.