

The 17-year-old Jakob Ingebrigtsen made history for the second night in a row to claim a European 5000m gold – less than 24 hours after he had become the youngest athlete to ever win the 1500m title.

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Once again the extraordinary Norwegian led from the front before powering away from his older brother Henrik to win in a European under-20 record of 13:17.06.



“It’s a little crazy to get this medal,” he admitted, having become the first man to ever win both titles in the same event. “I’m 17 years old, and already have two European titles at senior level. It is huge.” Such was Jakob’s confidence, he even tried to high-five his brother during the race. As the 27-year-old Henrik joked afterwards: “I was there when he was born, but I’m not sure he is 17 though because he is crazy good.”



The Frenchman Morhad Amdouni, who took bronze, was even more effusive: “Jakob is unbeatable at the moment. He was so much stronger than me.”

With such talent in the family – a third brother, Filip, pulled out of the final through injury – it’s perhaps surprising that the Ingebrigtsen parents have no background in athletics. Instead they were fisherman and famers, who got their sons involved in athletics by chance.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Jakob Ingebrigtsen laps up the crowd’s applause as he comes down the home straight. Photograph: Andy Astfalck/Getty Images

Something is clearly working, for Filip and Henrik were already European champions before Jakob turned up. The youngest Ingebrigsten already runs 85 miles a week and last year he became the youngest person to run the mile in under four minutes, aged 16. But with every performance he gives the impression that his talent is endless.



“Winning a second title in two days is the result of having done this my whole life,” explained Jakob. “Unfortunately, my other brother couldn’t be here today because he broke a rib, and this is completely out of his control. Believe me, we started preparing for the 5k final, as soon as we crossed the line on the 1500m last night.”

And the warning for the rest of the world is that there is another member of the clan too. Explained Henrik: “Right now, Jakob has two medals, and Filip and I have one each. We’re definitely coming back to improve the stats in our family. There are no limits for us, and we have another brother who is turning five years old, and soon can join the Ingebrigtsen team.”

