Olympic champion Ingebrigtsen skips indoor season after injury

Ingebrigtsen had already skipped the European cross-country championships in mid-December, a competition, that he has long dominated.

Norway’s gold medallist Jakob Ingebrigtsen celebrates with his medal and national flag after winning the men’s 5000m final during the World Athletics Championships at the National Athletics Centre in Budapest on August 27, 2023. | Photo Credit: AFP

Olympic 1500m champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen announced Saturday he would skip the indoor season after an Achilles tendon problem upset his training schedule.

“I suffered a bit with my Achilles tendon, so I’m training differently. I’m now on my way back, but I don’t want to take any risks,” he told Norwegian media.

The 23-year-old will, therefore, not take part in the world indoor athletics championships in Glasgow in early March.

Ingebrigtsen had already skipped the European cross-country championships in mid-December, a competition, that he has long dominated.

“I love competition, but sometimes you have to make tactical and boring choices,” he explained.

“For me, it’s the European and Olympic medals that count.”

The European championships take place in Rome in June before the Olympic Games in Paris in August.

A double world champion in the 5000m in 2022 and 2023, Ingebrigtsen has never won a world indoor title.