I have just finished following the 2018 European Championships in athletics and, while I am preparing a long report (just as I do for every major event), I cannot resist the temptation of writing a small article about the two competitors who did immensely impress me. I am talking about the two teenagers who dominated their discipline, beating seasoned champions.
Jakob Ingebrigtsen is 17 years and 11 months old. He ran a sub-4 1500 m just shy of his 15th birthday. Two years later he became the youngest runner to break the 4 min barrier in the mile. His 1500 m personal best stands now at 3:31.18. So, it was not at all astonishing that he managed to win the european championships over that distance. What is astonishing is that he made it look so easy. And what was really astounding was the fact that the next day he presented himself at the start of the 5 km. And he ran as if he had spent the whole week relaxing. Just look at the photo. Amdouni, who won gold in the 10 km, is suffering trying to catch the two norwegians (Henrik Ingebrigtsen is partly hidden by his brother) while Jakob Ingebrigtsen is celebrating and saluting the crowd. And he won the race in 13:17.06, a European U20 record. So, inevitably, his double 1500-5000 m victory brought to the mind that of one of the greatest runners of all times, the double of H. El Guerrouj in the 2004, Athens, Olympics. That victory was the apogee of the career of El Guerrouj, who decided to hang up his spikes at the age of 30. But Jakob Ingebrigtsen is not yet 18 and we already compare him to El Guerrouj. Next stop, beating those darned kenyans.
Armand (Mondo) Duplantis is 18 years and 9 months old. But you should not think of him as a "young" vaulter: he has more than 10 years' experience in pole vault. He is jumping indeed since he was four years old. He jumped 2.33 m at the age of 7 and he flirted with 4 m when establishing a world record for 10 years old with 3.86 m. His first "over-5" came at the age of 15 (with no less than 5.30 m). Coming to the 2018 Europeans he had a 5.93 m personal best (already a world U20 record). And in Berlin he surprised everyone by improving thrice his PB wining the competition with 6.05. A glimpse at the all-time outdoor pole vault lists shows that Duplantis with 6.05 m is now N°2 (together with Tarasov, Markov and Lavillenie) just behind S. Bubka. One down, one to go: Bubka has already lost his indoor record to Lavillenie; will he lose his outdoors one to Duplantis? I wouldn't hesitate to bet in favour of the latter.
If you wish to see the evolution of Duplantis I recommend that you watch the video of his 10-year progression in youtube. It is really great. You can see "Mondo" jump with a straight, non-bending pole, jump from a hoverboard, imitate S. Huffman's roll over the bar or do a somersault after passing the bar. No wonder he has such a mastery of his discipline.
Jakob Ingebrigtsen is 17 years and 11 months old. He ran a sub-4 1500 m just shy of his 15th birthday. Two years later he became the youngest runner to break the 4 min barrier in the mile. His 1500 m personal best stands now at 3:31.18. So, it was not at all astonishing that he managed to win the european championships over that distance. What is astonishing is that he made it look so easy. And what was really astounding was the fact that the next day he presented himself at the start of the 5 km. And he ran as if he had spent the whole week relaxing. Just look at the photo. Amdouni, who won gold in the 10 km, is suffering trying to catch the two norwegians (Henrik Ingebrigtsen is partly hidden by his brother) while Jakob Ingebrigtsen is celebrating and saluting the crowd. And he won the race in 13:17.06, a European U20 record. So, inevitably, his double 1500-5000 m victory brought to the mind that of one of the greatest runners of all times, the double of H. El Guerrouj in the 2004, Athens, Olympics. That victory was the apogee of the career of El Guerrouj, who decided to hang up his spikes at the age of 30. But Jakob Ingebrigtsen is not yet 18 and we already compare him to El Guerrouj. Next stop, beating those darned kenyans.
Armand (Mondo) Duplantis is 18 years and 9 months old. But you should not think of him as a "young" vaulter: he has more than 10 years' experience in pole vault. He is jumping indeed since he was four years old. He jumped 2.33 m at the age of 7 and he flirted with 4 m when establishing a world record for 10 years old with 3.86 m. His first "over-5" came at the age of 15 (with no less than 5.30 m). Coming to the 2018 Europeans he had a 5.93 m personal best (already a world U20 record). And in Berlin he surprised everyone by improving thrice his PB wining the competition with 6.05. A glimpse at the all-time outdoor pole vault lists shows that Duplantis with 6.05 m is now N°2 (together with Tarasov, Markov and Lavillenie) just behind S. Bubka. One down, one to go: Bubka has already lost his indoor record to Lavillenie; will he lose his outdoors one to Duplantis? I wouldn't hesitate to bet in favour of the latter.
If you wish to see the evolution of Duplantis I recommend that you watch the video of his 10-year progression in youtube. It is really great. You can see "Mondo" jump with a straight, non-bending pole, jump from a hoverboard, imitate S. Huffman's roll over the bar or do a somersault after passing the bar. No wonder he has such a mastery of his discipline.
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