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Olympic 1500 meters champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen stated on Saturday that he will skip the World Indoor Championships 2024 due to an Achilles ligament issue that disturbed his training plan.
Ingebrigsten told Norwegian media (via Barrons.com):
“I suffered a bit with my Achilles tendon, so I am training differently. I am now on my way back but I don’t want to take any risks.”
The 23-year-old gold medalist will thus not be in Glasgow in early March for the tournament. He had previously skipped the European Cross Country Titles, a competition that he has dominated in recent editions, that took place in December 2023.
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“I love competition but sometimes you have to make tactical and boring choices,” he added. “For me, it's the European and Olympic medals that count.”
The European titles happen in Rome in June before the Olympic Games in Paris in August.
Josh Kerr, who won the 1500 meters world championship in 2023, has developed a rivalry with Jakob Ingebrigtsen by beating him for the gold medal last year.
Ingebrigtsen later boasted that he could have beaten Kerr in the two-mile "blindfolded" (via Running Magazine). Kerr responded to this by saying (as quoted by European Athletics):
“I have a lot of respect for him (Jakob Ingebrigtsen) as an Olympic champion and the work he puts in, but I just don’t have respect for how he treats other athletes after races.”
In response, Ingebrigtsen said to NRK:
“I haven’t spent that many calories on that. It is clear, I am a person who drives a, call it, occasionally a relentless and uncompromising commitment to trying to be as good as I can and the best in the world in my sport.”
Jakob Ingebrigtsen outlines competitive plans for 2024
Jakob Ingebrigtsen, a four-time European Games Titles gold medalist, has expressed his desire to add to his all-time impressive haul of medals this mid-year in Rome. He also outlined his plans of competing at multiple events ahead of the Paris Olympics.
Speaking to NRK, Ingebrigtsen stated:
“Plan A is to begin the season in Eugene (Diamond League 25 May), run Bislett Games (Diamond League 30 May), the European Titles in Rome (7 to 12 June), Norwegian titles in Sandnes (28 June) - then probably Monaco (Diamond League, 12 July).
“I think that will work well this year. And then full focus on the Olympics after that, so most likely a good season in the late summer.”
The two-time 5000m gold medalist and Olympic 1500m champion has won on all surfaces. However, he decided to skip the SPAR European Cross Country Championship and the World Athletics Indoor Titles to focus on recovering from his foot and Achilles injuries ahead of the Paris Olympics.
