He Led, Lost, and Called the Field Cowards
Jakob Ingebrigtsen finished fourth in the Diamond League 1,500m final, then said the winners had fooled him. The apology that followed was only half an apology.
Ingebrigtsen led most of the Brussels final and got outkicked by three men in the last lap, finishing fourth in a season best 3:30.52 as Cam Myers won in 3:30.14. In the mixed zone he claimed the pacemaker had been "swapped out for his own teammate" and that Cole Hocker "fooled us in terms of following the pace." The pacer, Virginia Tech 800m runner Christian Jackson, trains with Hocker and had his splits announced at the technical meeting beforehand.
On Saturday came the walk-back: "I shouldn't have called anyone losers. I apologise for that." And in the same breath: "I stand by what I said about Cole and his team acting cowardly." Hocker's agent Ray Flynn told Norwegian outlet VG that Jakob "now appears as a whiny runner who blames others." The best rivalry in the sport just got a script. Via Marathon Handbook.