OSLO (Reuters) – Norway’s Jakob Ingebrigtsen stormed to victory in the mile race at the Wanda Diamond League meeting on Thursday, clocking a time of 3:46.46 to narrowly miss out on the European record of 3:46.32 in front of a raucous home crowd.
Ingebrigtsen sat in behind the pacemaker for two laps before blazing away in pursuit of Steve Cram’s 1985 mark, but despite running a personal best he came up short on a chilly, wet night in Oslo that was far from ideal for track and field.
However, the weather made little difference to the crowd at the Bislett Stadium, who cheered him on throughout the race and stayed to applaud the Olympic 1,500m champion as he completed a lap of honour with the Norwegian flag.
“It was a lot of fun – you hear a big bang on the starting line, and then the cheers. I really appreciate that people are so committed, it means a lot,” Ingebrigtsen told broadcaster NRK.
Sweden’s pole vault world record holder Armand Duplantis won win with a jump of 6.02 meters, setting a world-leading mark for the season and beating Norwegians Sondre Guttormsen and Paal Haugen Lillefosse by 22 centimetres.
“It was cold, but it wasn’t so bad under the circumstances. I only have the Stockholm Diamond League now ahead of the World Championships, and I feel good ahead of the big dance,” Duplantis said.
Britain’s Keely Hodgkinson secured her third victory in three Diamond League appearances this season, winning the women’s 800m in a season-best time of 1:57.71.
In the women’s 400m hurdles, Dutchwoman Femke Bol broke the 25-year-old meeting record held by Deon Hemmings of Jamaica, cruising to victory in 52.61 seconds.
(Reporting by Philip O’Connor, editing by Ed Osmond)
