On the evidence of the qualifying heats on Saturday morning (March 8), Jakob Ingebrigtsen looks unstoppable in his pursuit of a third consecutive 1500m/3000m double at the European Indoor Championships.
However, British athlete James West insists the rest of the field can’t fall into the trap of giving the Norwegian too much respect in Sunday’s 3000m final in Apeldoorn.
Ingebrigtsen was a commanding winner of the 1500m on Friday night and waited until the latter stages of the second 3000m heat to surge from the back of the field to the front, winning it in 7:55.32 as he saluted the crowd in the closing metres before making a mock dip for the line.
All of the above was designed to send out a message to the competition but West, who qualified for the final in third place from the first heat – a race won by his compatriot George Mills in 7:50.87 – believes Ingebrigtsen’s opponents can’t be too deferential.
George Mills (Getty)
“If you want to compete for the medals, you really need to not give him too much respect,” said the Tonbridge athlete. “I think that’s what happened in the 1500m final – there was complete respect for Jakob and everyone just followed.
“The 3000m is probably going to be very similar and he’s going to be very hard to stop but we’ve got to try and rough him up a bit – it’s his fourth race in four days so we’ll see what we can do.”
“Anything is possible. That’s what I’m looking forward to,” added Mills after progressing with the minimum of fuss. Adam Fogg, Britain’s other representative, Adam Fogg, didn’t progress after coming eighth in heat two with 7:57.68.
Women’s 3000m heat (Getty)
The women’s 3000m is also shaping up well. Two-time European Indoor bronze medallist Melissa Courtney-Bryant is the world leader over the distance and qualified first from a slow second heat in 9:08.19 ahead of Spaniard Marta Garcia (9:08.23).
Innes FitzGerald (Getty)
Courtney-Bryant’s British team-mate Hannah Nuttall also grabbed her place in the final, coming sixth in 9:08.97. Ireland’s Sarah Healy impressed in the opening heat by winning it in 8:55.35, while British teenager Innes FitzGerald put in an assured performance to qualify in fifth place with 8:58.44.
“Now I am in the final no one is expecting anything of me, I am already in top 12 in Europe as I have made that final so I am happy with that,” said FitzGerald. “I have nothing to lose. I am going to go out there and fight for it.”
Jeremiah Azu (Getty)
In the men’s 60m heats, British indoor champion Jeremiah Azu was fastest overall with 6.58, a time matched by the personal best of Hungary’s Dominik Illovszky. The fastest man in the field going into these championships, Sweden’s 2023 European bronze medallist Henrik Larsson, progressed with a run of 6.59, while a season’s best of 6.60 took Britain’s Andrew Robertson through. He was joined by John Otugade, making his British senior debut, with 6.63.
Meanwhile, a superb men’s heptathlon competition will come to its’ conclusion in the evening session.
With just the 1000m remaining, Simon Ehammer leads with 5652 points, 50 points ahead of European record-holder Sander Skotheim (5602) after the Swiss went back in front thanks to being quicker over the 60m hurdles (7.68 to 8.04), while both cleared 5.10m in the pole vault. Germany’s Till Steinforth (5477) is third.
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