Norwegian long-distance runner Jakob Ingebrigtsen is already a budding star in the track world after winning a gold medal in the 1500 meters race at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. He broke a world record while earning that gold medal and did so again on Friday at the Meeting de Paris athletics meet in Paris, France.
Ingebrigtsen took part in the Men’s two miles race at the event and completely dominated the competition en route to becoming the fastest man alive at that distance.
He finished the two-mile race in 7 minutes 54.10 seconds, which is amazingly four-and-a-half seconds better than the previous world-best performance held by Kenya’s Daniel Komen.
Many took notice of the unbelievable feat and took to social media to praise the 22-year-old runner.
I have been trying figure out what is the longest distance I have run at this pace at my athletic peak, and I think it is 200m, I don't think I ever got under a minute in the 400, and I was definitely not under 2:00 in the 800.
Just an insane feat this is. https://t.co/FSiLxFAx8b
— Matt Winkelman (@Matt_Winkelman) June 9, 2023
While the world record is imposing, it is perhaps even more jaw-dropping when you consider how much faster he was than anyone else in the race.
Kenya’s Ishmael Kipkurui finished second in 8:09.23, and Kuma Girma of Ethiopia third in 8:10.34. This means that Ingebrigtsen beat everyone in the competition by over 15 seconds.
With this feat, he becomes the second-ever recorded runner to finish a two-mile race in under eight minutes, sharing that distinction with the previous world-record holder.
Ingebrigtsen spoke about the performance after the race, saying he was aided by the crowd in attendance, who seemed to know something special was happening.
“The pace felt very smooth for me, coming out of the 1500m,” said Ingebrigtsen via Olympics.com. “I would say it was a good race. The public was amazing; without their help, it would have been more difficult. I was a bit surprised about the time in the end.”
[Olympics.com, NBC Olympics on Twitter] Photo Credit: Peacock
About Reice Shipley
Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.