I very much respect and admire Jakob Ingebrigtsen. I first learned of Jakob when he and his two older brothers, Filip and Henrik, paced Eliud Kipchoge in the historic, first-ever sub-2 hour marathon in Vienna in 2019. This video still makes my eyes water.

I respect and admire Jakob because he’s an extremely talented athlete, he works his ass off, and he’s rightfully confident cocky. Nothing’s better in my book than an athlete putting their money where their mouth is.

Last Saturday Ingebrigtsen came in a close second to Josh Kerr in the Bowerman Mile at the Prefontaine Classic. It was either man’s race…

…and you can just see it in Jakob’s eyes. He lost. He was disappointed with himself.

Five days later, with a chip on his shoulder, he wasn’t going to come in second place again. Even if that meant taking a dive to break the tape in the 1500 against Timothy Cheruiyot in Oslo at the Diamond League meet.

Whatever it takes.