It has been a month of highs and lows for Jakob Ingebrigtsen. He won two gold medals at the European Athletics U20 Championships in Grosseto last month but his chances of securing a triple were scuppered by a fall on the last lap of the 1500m final.
And on his World Championships debut in London earlier this month, Ingebrigtsen found himself slumped on the track again after his legs buckled underneath him after clearing the final barrier in the heats of the 3000m steeplechase.
Back on the flat at the Grand Prix of Sopot- Memorial of Janusz Sidlo on Wednesday evening, Ingebrigtsen sped to victory in the 1500m in 3:40.66, less than a second shy of his European U18 record of 3:39.92 set in June. Hungary’s Tamas Kazi was a close second in 3:40.98 with Brit Adam Clarke third in 3:42.97.
The evening closed with the 1000m featuring European 1500m champion Angelika Cichocka, who arrived fresh from making the 800m and 1500m finals at the World Championships in London. Despite six hard races across the ten day programme, Cichocka sped to a comfortable victory in 2:39.77 ahead of Estonia’s Liina Tsernova (2:41.31) with fellow Pole Sofia Ennaoui third in 2:41.50.
In the 800m, Spain’s Kevin Lopez claimed the victory in 1:47.45 ahead of Poland’s Michal Rozmys in 1:47.68 while namesake Michal Haratyk won the shot put with 20.63m by one centimetres ahead of Australia’s Damien Birkinhead.