The protest continued: Ingebrigtsen won gold at the European Championship – VG

More than two hours after reaching the finish line for the first time, the final message arrived: Jakob Ingebrigtsen won 1,500 meters in the European Indoor Championships.

This is confirmed by the Athletics Association to VG.

Ingebrigtsen took command early in the race and led from 300 meters to the finish. Ingebrigtsen crossed the finish line half a second ahead of hopeful Polish hometown Marcin Lewandowski, but it was only a few minutes before the message arrived that he had been ruled out. The Norwegian apparatus filed a protest almost immediately.

– The rules are on my side. There is a paragraph that says if you are pushed off the field and it is not your fault, then it is okay. I don’t think I did anything wrong, there were just too many riders in the race. We spoke to Michal Rozmys (Polish runner who finished sixth) after the race, no one tried to push the other, it only happened when there were too many coming from outside. I just wanted to win this race. In the end, I kept a good distance from Marcin (Lewandowski) so I could react if he tried to come back, but I knew disqualification would come, Ingebrigtsen told the organizer an hour after the race.

– The decision is still under consideration. If it holds up and I lose the gold, I think I’ll go home. I don’t know if I will race tomorrow given this situation, because the 1500 meters was my main goal, Ingebrigtsen said.

Already in the interview with NRK after the goal, Ingebrigtsen was clear that he had been on the list, but then he thought that it would have no consequences. A few minutes later, however, the message came that he was the record.

See the event here:

The reason Ingebrigtsen was initially disqualified was that he made the list, which happened during the first 200 meters of the race.

Gold seemed for a long time to go to the Polish home, hope Marcin Lewandowski, who also won the exercise (ahead of Ingebrigtsen) during the European Indoor Championships in 2019.

– It’s a sport and it can happen to anyone. I experienced it during the World Cup so I know how it feels now. During the race he was definitely better than me. I tried to put it in and I didn’t want to fight just for the silver. For a moment I was close, but its ending was wonderful. It would not be a shame to lose to someone who almost broke the world record, but in the end I am with the gold, Lewandowski told the organizer after receiving the gold for the first time.

The gold is Ingebrigtsen’s second in the European Indoor Championships in his career. In Glasgow two years ago he won the 3000 meters, while he was second – behind Lewandowski – in the 1500 meters.

Ingebrigtsen will run the initial 3000m event on Saturday morning and a possible final on Sunday afternoon. Narve Gilje Nordås and Bjørnar Sandnes Lillefosse will also be in action there. The latter was introduced after Filip Ingebrigtsen went home after being knocked out in the 1,500-meter attempt on Thursday night.