Jakob Ingebrigtsen

Jakob Asserson Ingebrigtsen (born 19 September 2000) is a Norwegian middle- and long-distance runner who is the world record holder in the short track 1500 metres, short track mile, 2000 metres, 3000 metres, and two miles. He won gold medals in the 1500 metres at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, and in the 5000 metres at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Ingebrigtsen is also a two-time World champion, winning gold medals in the 5000 metres in 2022 and 2023, and a two-time World Indoor champion, winning gold medals in the 1500 metres and 3000 metres in 2025. He is a six-time European champion, a seven-time European indoor champion, and an eight-time European cross country champion. Known for his versatility at different distances, he also holds the European record in the 1500 metres and mile.
A member of the Ingebrigtsen family, Jakob's older brothers Henrik and Filip are also middle-distance runners who compete internationally. They were trained by their father, Gjert, until 2022. Ingebrigtsen had a successful junior career: at age 16, he became the youngest man in history to run a sub-four minute mile at the time. In junior competition, he won four consecutive European Cross Country Championships, a gold medal in 5000 metres at the 2017 European under-20 Championships, and set a European under-20 record in the 3000 metres steeplechase.
Ingebrigtsen is a two-time winner of the European Athletics European Athlete of the Year award, a one-time winner of the European Athletics Rising Star of the Year award, a four-time nominee of the World Athletics Athlete of the Year award, and a one-time nominee of the Laureus World Sports Breakthrough of the Year award.
Jakob Ingebrigtsen was born in Sandnes, Norway to Gjert and Tone Eva Ingebrigtsen, part of the Ingebrigtsen family of athletes. According to brother Henrik, his parents were "fishermen and farmers" with no background in sport or athletics. Ingebrigtsen tried multiple sports, such as cross-country skiing and football, but committed to running by age nine. By his own account, Ingebrigtsen was training in a professional style since age "four or five", and by age twelve had a focused training plan including weight lifting and running over 100 kilometres a week.
Ingebrigtsen was coached by his father, Gjert Ingebrigtsen, from his childhood until 2022. Gjert had no professional running or coaching background, but took an interest in his son's athletic careers and began reading books and consulting with other coaches in order to fill the role. Since 2022, Jakob Ingebrigtsen has "essentially been self-coached", alongside input from his brothers. Ingebrigtsen himself has stated that he credits much of his success to his father refining training plans that had been used by his older brothers, saying "Henrik has done a lot of stupid things, Filip has done some and I haven't really done anything stupid. That's why I am going to run so fast in the end."
On 27 May, still 16 years old, Ingebrigtsen became the youngest athlete in history to run the mile in less than four minutes, when he ran 3:58.07, finishing in eleventh place at thePrefontaine Classic in Eugene, Oregon. This record has since been beaten by Sam Ruthe of New Zealand in 2025, who ran 3:58.35 at the age of 15. On 15 June, Ingebrigtsen ran almost two seconds faster, when he won a mile run with a time of 3:56.29 at the Bislett Games in Oslo, Norway. Ingebrigtsen's time stood as an age group world record until Cameron Myers of Australia broke it in 2023, with a time of 3:55.44. On 8 July, in his first attempt at the distance, he beat the European Under-20 record in the 3000 metres steeplechase at the Guldensporenmeeting in Kortrijk, Belgium with a time of 8:26.81.
On 26 May, at age 17, Ingebrigtsen finished fourth in the Prefontaine Classic's Bowerman Mile, with a time of 3:52.28. It was the fastest mile ever run by a 17-year-old at the time. In August, Ingebrigtsen ran at the 2018 European Athletics Championships. In the 1500 metres, running alongside his brothers Henrik and Filip, he won gold with a time of 3:38.10, becoming the youngest ever European champion in this event. The next day, Ingebrigtsen ran in the 5000 metres final, winning again to become the first man ever to achieve the 1500 / 5000 metres double at the European championships. His time of 13:17.06 also broke his own European under-20 record.
On 20 February, at the PSD Bank Meeting in Düsseldorf, Ingebrigtsen set a world under-20 record in the short track 1500 metres, with a time of 3:36.02. On 5 July, Ingebrigtsen set a new personal best in the 1500 metres when he ran 3:30.16 at the Athletisimma meeting for second position. On 20 July at the Anniversary Games in London, Ingebrigtsen set a new Norwegian national record and under-20 European record in the 5000 metres with a time of 13:02.03, finishing second. On 19 October, Ingebrigtsen broke Sondre Nordstad Moen's Norwegian 10 kilometres national record at the Hytteplanmila in Hole, Norway, winning the race in 27:54. This time was also the fastest time by a European in 2019, and a European under-20 best.
On 14 August 2020, at the Herculis meeting in Monaco, Ingebrigtsen broke the 3:30 barrier in the 1500 metres for the first time, running 3:28.68, which was under Mo Farah's 7-year-old European record of 3:28.81. On 10 June 2021 at the Golden Gala in Florence, Italy, Ingebrigtsen set a new European record in the 5000 metres with his time of 12:48.45, in a race where a half-dozen competitors bested a time of 12:55.
At the delayed 2020 Tokyo Olympics, on 7 August 2021, Ingebrigtsen set an Olympic and European record of 3:28.32 to secure gold in the 1500 metres final. This eclipsed the newly set Olympic record of 3:31.65 established by the Kenyan Abel Kipsang in the Tokyo semifinals, and the previous Olympic record of 3:32.07 set by Noah Ngeny in the 2000 Summer Olympics. Ingebrigtsen became the second youngest winner in this event. On the final bend, he overtook for the first time his Kenyan rival Timothy Cheruiyot, who won the silver medal. At the season-ending Weltklasse Zürich meeting, which served as the 2021 Diamond League final, Ingebrigtsen placed second to Cheruiyot in the 1500 metres, who edged him out over the final sprint.
On 17 February 2022, Ingebrigtsen set his first senior world record, clocking 3:30.60 for the short track 1500 metres at the Meeting Hauts-de-France Pas-de-Calais in Liévin. He broke Samuel Tefera's 3-year-old record by 0.44 seconds.
About a month later at the 2022 World Indoor Championships held in Belgrade, he was beaten in the event by Tefera, who ran a new championship record of 3:32.77 while Ingebrigtsen placed second in a time of 3:33.02. Ingebrigtsen tested positive for COVID-19 the following day.
At the 2022 World Championships in Eugene, Ingebrigtsen achieved a silver medal in the 1500 metres after being outsprinted by Jake Wightman of Great Britain. He also won the gold medal in the 5000 metres, in a time of 13:09:24. In winning, Ingebrigtsen became the first male runner not born in Africa to win an Olympic or World Championships gold in the 5000 metres in 30 years, going back to Dieter Baumann in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.
In August, Ingebrigtsen won both the 1500 metres and 5000 metres at the 2022 European Championships. In the former event, he set a championship record of 3:32.76, and in the latter event he finished in 13:21.13.
At the season-ending Weltklasse Zürich meeting, which served as the 2022 Diamond League final, he defeated Timothy Cheruiyot in the 1500 metres to take his first Diamond League title. The victory brought his lifetime head-to-head with Cheruiyot to 7–13 at the time.
In March at the European Indoor Championships held in Istanbul, Turkey, Ingebrigtsen secured the 1500 / 3000 metres 'double-double', winning both events for the second time. He set a championship record of 3:33.95 at the shorter distance and broke the Norwegian record at the longer event with a time of 7:40.32.
At the Meeting de Paris on 9 June, Ingebrigtsen set the two mile world best by running 7:54.10, improving Daniel Komen's previous world best of 7:58.61, set in 1997, by 4.51 seconds. This made Ingebrigtsen the second man in history, after Komen, to break eight minutes in the two mile and thus average two miles at a sub four minute mile pace.
On 15 June, Ingebrigtsen improved his own European record in the 1500 metres at the Bislett Games, breaking the 3:28 barrier for the first time by running 3:27.95. On 16 July, at the Kamila Skolimowska Memorial, Ingebrigtsen would further improve his time to 3:27.14 to become the fourth fastest man at the distance.
For the second successive championships, Ingebrigtsen finished second in the final sprint to a Scottish and British athlete, Josh Kerr, in the 1500 metres final at the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest. He repeated as the gold-medal winner in the 5000 metres. Less than two weeks later, Ingebrigtsen set a new world record in the 2000 metres at the King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels, with a time of 4:43.13, eclipsing Hicham El Guerrouj's previous record of 4:44.79 set in 1999 by 1.66 seconds.
The Norwegian ended his season with victories in the mile and 3000 metres at the Prefontaine Classic, which also served as the 2023 Diamond League final. He edged Yared Nuguse for the win in the mile, winning in 3:43.73 and missing the world record by 0.60 seconds. His time was a new European record and the third-fastest time ever run, behind Noah Ngeny's 3:43.40 and Hicham El Guerrouj's world record of 3:43.13, both ran in 1999. In the 3000 metres, Ingebrigtsen defeated Yomif Kejelcha of Ethiopia, by one hundredth of a second, in a sprint finish. At the time, Ingebrigtsen's clocking of 7:23.63 was the third fastest ever run at the distance, behind El Guerrouj's 1999 time of 7:23.09 and Daniel Komen's world record of 7:20.67, set in 1996.
In fall of 2023, post-track season, Ingebrigtsen suffered an injury around the sacrum region, causing him, for the first time in seven years, to not defend his continental title at the European Cross Country Championships. According to Ingebrigtsen's spokesperson Espen Skoland, he focused on recovery and training during this time, after a lengthy, challenging 2023 season, to prepare for an important Olympic year in 2024.
Ingebrigtsen skipped his indoor season, including the 2024 World Athletics Indoor Championships in Glasgow, Scotland, due to an achilles injury. Instead, he focused on preparation & training, for both the 2024 European Championships in Rome and the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris, held in June and August, respectively.
Ingebrigtsen's first race of 2024 was on 25 May, at the Prefontaine Classic's Bowerman Mile, against rivals Josh Kerr and Yared Nuguse. With the historically deep field, and the highly anticipated pre-Olympic match-up between Ingebrigtsen and Kerr, who last raced each other at the 2023 World Championships, the 2024 Bowerman Mile was billed as the "Mile Race of the Century". Kerr took the win in 3:45.34, a new British record, while Ingebrigtsen came second in 3:45.60, and Nuguse in third at 3:46.22.
On 30 May, Ingebrigtsen won the 1500 metres at the Bislett Games, in a world leading time of 3:29.74, edging out Timothy Cheruiyot by three hundredths of a second. In June, he won the 1500 metres at the European Athletics Championships, with a new championship record of 3:31.95, and the 5000 metres in a time of 13:20.11. On 12 July, in the final weeks before the 2024 Summer Olympics, Ingebrigtsen improved his European record in the 1500 metres to 3:26.73 at Monaco's Herculis meeting, becoming the fourth man in history to break the 3:27 barrier.
On 6 August, in the Olympic men's 1500 metres final, Ingebrigtsen led at a fast pace for most of the race, but unexpectedly faded to fourth in a time of 3:28.24, with Yared Nuguse, Josh Kerr, and Cole Hocker passing him in the final straightaway. The race was highly anticipated given Ingebrigtsen's rivalry with Kerr, with World Athletics President and former middle-distance runner Sebastian Coe labeling it a "Race for the Ages". The top four finishers all finished under Ingebrigtsen's previous Olympic record of 3:28.32, with Hocker winning the gold medal in a new Olympic record of 3:27.65. Despite the loss, Ingebrigtsen would go on to win the Olympic men's 5000 metres final on 10 August, in a time of 13:13.66. This race saw a relatively slow start, but turned into a sprint finish, with the final lap being 53.2 seconds. With his Tokyo 2020 gold medal in the 1500 metres, and his Paris 2024 gold medal in the 5000 metres, Ingebrigtsen became the third man in history to have achieved a gold medal in both the 1500 metres and 5000 metres. The other two men, Hicham El Guerrouj and Paavo Nurmi, achieved this feat at the same Olympic Games, in Athens 2004 and Paris 1924 respectively.
On 22 August, at the Athletissima meeting, Ingebrigtsen defeated Olympic champion Cole Hocker in the 1500 metres, setting a new meeting record of 3:27.83 to Hocker's 3:29.85. On 25 August, Ingebrigtsen set a new 3000 metres world record at the Kamila Skolimowska Memorial, finishing in 7:17.55 to break the previous mark of 7:20.67 set by Kenya's Daniel Komen in 1996. Komen's nearly 28-year-old record had been the longest-standing men's athletics world record in an individual track event. In breaking the record, the Norwegian became the first man to break the 7:20 barrier at this distance, averaging 58.34 seconds per 400 m with a final lap of 55.45 seconds. Ingebrigtsen's 3000 metres performance, with a world athletics score of 1320 points, ranks as the second-highest men's outdoor distance world record in athletics, only behind Kelvin Kiptum's marathon world record of 2:00:35 which scores 1322 points.
On 5 September, Ingebrigtsen was out-kicked by Yared Nuguse in the 1500 metres at the Weltklasse Zürich meeting, with Nuguse winning in 3:29.21 and Ingebrigtsen finishing second in 3:29.52. Ingebrigtsen had reported being sick after setting his world record in the 3000 metres. In addition to Nuguse & Ingebrigtsen, the race featured the other two Olympic medalists, Cole Hocker and Josh Kerr, who finished third and fifth respectively. As such, this race was billed as an "Olympic rematch" and the "metric mile of the century". On 13 September, at the Memorial Van Damme in Brussels, which served as the 2024 Diamond League final, Ingebrigtsen ended his track season with a Diamond League title in the 1500 metres, winning in a time of 3:30.37. At the finish line of the race was world record holder Hicham El Guerrouj, who congratulated Ingebrigtsen.
On 15 September, Ingebrigtsen competed at the Copenhagen Half Marathon, his debut at the distance. At 10 kilometres, he split 27:27, which was a personal best for Ingebrigtsen and a new Norwegian national record. Ingebrigtsen briefly stopped at the 10 kilometres mark, but still continued to finish the half marathon in a time of 1:03:13, which was 34th overall in the elite race. Ingebrigtsen ended his 2024 season by winning the senior race at the European Cross Country Championships in Antalya, his third win in the event.
In his first race of the year on 13 February, Ingebrigtsen broke Yared Nuguse's world record of 3:46.63 in the short track mile, running 3:45.14 at the Meeting Hauts-de-France Pas-de-Calais in Liévin. Ingebrigtsen split 3:29.63 for 1500 metres en route to the mile, thus breaking his previous short track world record of 3:30.60 in this event by almost a second and becoming the first man to ever run sub-3:30 in the short track 1500 metres.
At the 2025 European Athletics Indoor Championships in Apeldoorn, Ingebrigtsen won the 1500 metres and the 3000 metres races, completing the distance double for the third time (alongside 2021 and 2023).
On 22 March, at the 2025 World Athletics Indoor Championships in Nanjing, China, Ingebrigtsen achieved his first world indoor title, winning the 3000 metres over Berihu Aregawi in a time of 7:46.09 to Aregawi's 7:46.25. The following day, Ingebrigtsen won the 1500 metres in a time of 3:38.79, becoming the second man after Haile Gebrselassie to win two gold medals at the same World Indoor Championships. Ingebrigtsen's performance also makes him the sixth male distance runner to win a gold medal at the Olympic Games, World Outdoor Championships, and World Indoor Championships.
On 23 September 2023, Ingebrigtsen married Elisabeth Asserson. They had been dating for seven years, since they were both 16. Their daughter, Filippa, was born on 25 June 2024.
In October 2023, Jakob, Filip, and Henrik Ingebrigtsen released a statement accusing their father and former coach Gjert of "aggression, control, and physical violence", also saying that he "took the joy out of the sport they once loved". Gjert coached the three brothers until 2022. Jakob accused his father specifically of slapping him twice in 2008, and theatening to beat him "to death". Gjert, via his lawyer, stated that the allegations were "baseless" and that he was never violent.
In 2024, Gjert would be charged with seven counts of domestic abuse under Norwegian law, with a trial set for 2025.
During an interview in 2019, years before the Ingebrigtsen brothers publicised their allegations, Gjert stated he felt it was necessary to control every aspect of his sons' lives to maximize their athletic performance, explaining "you have to be a dictator."
The trial began in March 2025, and is expected to last 6 weeks. Over 30 witnesses will be called, including all seven Ingebrigtsen siblings. Speaking in court, Jakob stated "My upbringing was very much characterised by fear ... Everything was controlled and decided for me."
Ingebrigtsen has stated he would like to break every record from the 1500 metres up to the marathon. Thus far, Ingebrigtsen has broken the short track 1500 metres, short track mile, 2000 metres and 3000 metres world records, along with the two mile world best.
Ingebrigtsen has stated he considers running "the ultimate sport", and that he enjoys that the sport is "so basic, brutal, in the way that it is man against man, woman against woman. If you are first to finish, you have won. You don't need to ask anyone who is the best."
Outside of professional competition, Ingebrigtsen has a personal best of 5:22 in the beer mile, which he ran at his bachelor party.
From 2016 to 2021, Ingebrigtsen starred in a Norwegian reality show called Team Ingebrigtsen, which revolved around him and his brothers, showing the trials and tribulations of middle-distance running. The concept for the show was inspired years earlier, when Ingebrigtsen appeared as a ten year old on a Norwegian show that profiled young athletes. The New York Times described the show as "relentlessly authentic", and it became so popular in Norway that Ingebrigtsen has stated he has trouble going outside in his home country without being recognized.
In September 2024, Amazon Prime released the first season of Ingebrigtsen: Born to Run, a six-episode documentary series. It stars Jakob, as well as his brothers Henrik and Filip, in the lead up to the 2024 Summer Olympics. Gjert is notably absent from the show, as the brothers released a statement accusing him of abuse the previous year.
In late July 2024, with the goal of getting Norwegians excited and confident in their athletes for the 2024 Summer Olympics, Jakob, Filip, and Henrik Ingebrigtsen released a pop song titled Ingen gjør det bedre (Nobody Does It Better) under the handle The IngebritZ.
All information from World Athletics profile.
Each event combines outdoor and short track variations. An ongoing year is not included. Only primary events and events run in multiple years included. All information from World Athletics profile.