Years pass and scenes repeat themselves.
On the mud, or on the mud, the silhouettes decompose and merge. As best they can, the crossers avoid the sandbanks and artificial obstacles that the organizers have scattered along the course. They stumble in the curves, they shorten their stride on the tacks, they let go on the descents.
And finally, twenty minutes into the race, they give in.
Well, not all.
Amidst the pain and disorder, one figure maintains composure. Jakob Ingebrigtsen (24) is taller, apparently heavier, theoretically less genetically designed for the easements of cross country. And yet, it is the strongest, at least in Europe.
Someday, some expert will have to clarify all this for us.
How is it possible that the Norwegian giant can reign in almost all disciplines, in a range of distances on the track and also in cross country: on a sunny day in Antalya (Turkey), Jakob Ingebrigtsen has taken his third title absolute European (after those of 201 and 2022).
(We will talk about the route later, when Ingebrigtsen considers it in depth).
As the minutes pass, each of these 7.5 km of the route, the opponents seem to resign. Almgren, the Swede who has broken the 27m barrier in the 10,000m, gives way; Belgian Kimeli, eternal Belgian, also gives way; The Spanish insist on staying in the lead (Ndikumwenayo, Hassaous, Oukhelfen, Mechaal, Aarón las Heras). Only the Italian Crippa (silver), with his braids, dares to try his luck: try Ingebrigtsen.
Crippa tightens the rope and bursts the group and the lead is reduced to three men, the Italian, the Norwegian and Ndikumwenayo, who captures the bronze and propels the Spanish to gold by country (Nassim Hassaous is seventh; Abdelsaman Oukhelfen, eighth; Adel Mechaal, tenth; Aarón las Heras, 14th, and Fernando Carro, 38th; it is the ninth Spanish gold by country; 2015).
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The outcome is a carbon copy of the past and also a certainty. While Ingebrigtsen finally accelerates to leave alone, we see that he is hardly affected by life’s circumstances. I am referring to the judicial process that faces his father, Gjert Ingebrigtsen, formerly his mentor, today a plagued family member who, in a few weeks, will be prosecuted for mistreating and physically attacking his seven children, Jakob included.
History provides for another season of the Ingebrigtsens, the serial that keeps thousands of Norwegians trapped in front of the television, contemplating the adventures of this hypercompetitive family of athletes, a Scandinavian-style Kardashian luck. This is a unique case in the history of this sport, as they include three European champions (Henrik and Filip, who is 20th in Antalya, had won gold in the 1,500 before Jakob) and another daughter, Ingrid , who promised as much as her older brothers but has stopped competing after feeling harassed by her father.
María Forero, silver in the sub20v category
Spain collects three podiums
Along with team gold and Thierry Ndikumwenayo’s bronze, the Spanish delegation has collected three podiums in Antalya. María Forero (21) is already a classic of the discipline. Her continental sub20 gold in 2022 and silver sub23 in 2023 have been joined by another silver, again in sub23, a milestone that confirms her as a beacon for the upcoming commitments of our country’s fund. The mixed relay (Jesús Gómez, Marta Pérez, Esther Guerrero and Adrián Ben), at other times also on the podium, has had to settle for fifth place, conditioned by the fall of Marta Pérez, who lost ten seconds when she tripped over an artificial obstacle. The day has crowned magnificent specialists, such as the Italian Nadia Battocletti, women’s champion, and the Dutch Niels Laros, the new Ingebrigtsenwho has won the sub20 race.
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