Double Olympic champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen has issued a part-apology for calling his rivals “losers” and a “bunch of cowards” after Friday’s men’s 1500m Diamond League final, but has continued to stand by his accusation that Olympic 1500m champion Cole Hocker acted cowardly.
Ingebrigtsen apologises but holds firm on Hocker criticism
In a statement released on Saturday, Ingebrigtsen, who finished fourth in 3min 30.52sec behind Australia’s Cameron Myers in a tight finish, said: “I shouldn’t have called anyone losers. I apologise for that. It was beneath me, regardless of the adrenaline and emotions. But I stand by what I said about Cole and his team acting cowardly.”
The Norwegian explained that Hocker’s team had told other athletes and organisers they were targeting a specific pace and bringing in their own pacemaker to set that pace, but then did something completely different.
“When you promise the crowd a fast race, you have a responsibility to follow through – at least in my view,” Ingebrigtsen added. “This isn’t about me losing. I wasn’t good enough. It’s about taking responsibility for the commitments you’ve made to the meeting organisers, the crowd and your competitors.”
Race tactics and aftermath
Ingebrigtsen, who returned to racing in August after 11 months out with an achilles sheath injury, ended up following the pacemakers himself after no one else went with them. Despite running a season’s best time, he was bluntly honest about his “shitty, terrible and extremely disappointing” run afterwards, before criticising his fellow racers.
On Saturday, Ingebrigtsen insisted that he had talked to Hocker afterwards and the matter was settled. However, the row flared up again when Hocker’s agent Ray Flynn accused Ingebrigtsen of whining.
“Jakob now appears as a whiny runner who blames others,” Flynn wrote in an email to the Norwegian newspaper Dagbladet. “It is embarrassing to see a great champion complain and blame other runners when he doesn’t win. It is completely disrespectful to his competitors, who now regularly beat him in the 1500 metres.”
Ingebrigtsen defends passion and looks ahead
Ingebrigtsen said his broader comments were good for the sport as he returned fire on Flynn. “Cole and I talked it through after the race,” the Norwegian added. “As far as we’re concerned, the matter is settled, so I don’t really understand why his agent is getting involved in all of this now. If you’re not allowed to show a bit of passion after a race, you should find a sport that doesn’t want an audience.”
The pair could renew acquaintances next week at the Ultimate Championships in Budapest, where Ingebrigtsen is down to run the 1500m and 5,000m. However, according to Dagbladet, the Norwegian is now likely to focus solely on the 5,000m.
