Jakob Ingebrigtsen wins 5,000m race at tournament in Budapest
Norwegian Olympic champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen won the men's 5,000-metre race at the inaugural World Athletics Ultimate Championship in Budapest, Hungary. He covered the distance in 12 minutes 59.24 seconds, recording the best result of the season, Channel NewsAsia reports, citing Reuters.
Return after surgery
For 25-year-old Ingebrigtsen, the victory marked a continuation of his return to competition seven months after Achilles tendon surgery. The operation had put his season in doubt. On the eve of the race, the athlete wrote on Instagram that just a few months ago he considered it unlikely that he would have a season at all.
For most of the race, the Norwegian stayed at the back of the group. In the final two laps, he began gradually moving forward, and with 100 metres remaining he overtook his rivals. Ingebrigtsen won by about 10 metres, stopped the stopwatch on his watch after the finish and celebrated the victory in front of the spectators.
More current news is available on the UA.News Telegram channel Telegram.
Medalists and tournament format
American Cole Hocker, the Olympic champion in the 1,500 metres, took second place with a time of 13 minutes 0.05 seconds. His compatriot Parker Wolfe finished third in 13 minutes 0.13 seconds. Ingebrigtsen received $150,000 in prize money.
World Athletics launched the Ultimate Championship to attract new fans. The organisers abandoned the traditional model of three athletes per country: 16 of the world's strongest runners compete in running events, while throwing and jumping events feature eight participants each. According to World Athletics, 20,557 spectators attended the first evening of competition at the Gyula Zsivotsky National Athletics Centre; 60% of them were from Budapest, while the rest were international visitors.
