Youngest Ingebrigtsen Hoping for Hat Trick at European Athletics U20 Championships

By Adam Kopet, DyeStat Editor

Jakob Ingebrigtsen, the blossoming 16-year-old distance star from Norway, has big goals for the European Athletics U20 Championships set to begin Thursday in Grosseto, Italy.

At the pre-meet press conference, Ingebrigtsen confirmed he would be racing three events in the four-day meet, the 1,500 meters, 5,000 and the 3,000 steeplechase.

Already this season, Ingebrigtsen has set age-group world, European and Norwegian records in all three, as well as the mile.

Earlier this month, two days after running 13:49 for 5,000 meters, he broke a 40-year-old European U20 record in the 3,000 steeplechase. His time of 8:26.81 would have qualified him for the IAAF World Outdoor Championships next month had he chose that route.

In Grosseto, the 1,500 qualifying heats are scheduled for Thursday, steeplechase qualifying heats Friday, the 1,500 final and the 5,000 final Saturday and the steeplechase final Sunday.

That will make for a full weekend of racing for Ingebrigtsen. If he is able to pull off the hat trick, it will make him one of the best junior athletes of all-time. If not, he should still learn valuable lessons for his still young career.