The world indoor 1500m record set by Jakob Ingebrigtsen at the World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold meeting in Lievin last month has been ratified.
Running 3:30.60 at the Meeting Hauts-de-France Pas-de-Calais on 17 February, Norway’s Olympic champion took almost half a second off the previous record of 3:31.04 that had been run by Ethiopia’s Samuel Tefera in Birmingham on 16 February 2019.
Paced by Julien Ranc, and then Erik Sowinski, Ingebrigtsen passed through 600m in 1:24.66 and 800m in 1:52.86. He reached 1000m in 2:20.98, bang on target, and then started to pick up the pace for the final two laps. By the time he reached the bell in 3:03.04, he had opened up a significant gap on his one remaining opponent: Tefera.
Ingebrigtsen covered the final lap in 27.57 seconds, reaching the finish line in 3:30.60 to take 0.44 off Tefera’s record. Tefera finished second in 3:33.70 and Spain’s Ignacio Fontes was a distant third in 3:37.39.
“I wanted to break the world indoor record last year, even though it wasn’t the main goal then,” said Ingebrigtsen, who set a European indoor record of 3:31.80 when winning in Lievin in 2021.
“I want to improve and run faster than I have done before. It’s everyone’s dream to win championships and beat records. This is my first world record; hopefully more will come, but this is a big dream come true.”
He will next race at the World Athletics Indoor Championships Belgrade 22 where he will again go head-to-head with Tefera, the defending champion, in the 1500m.
