The world indoor championships in Nanjing this year will be remembered as a story of redemption for so many of Britain’s finest athletes, but as is so often the case these days on the track it was Jakob Ingebrigtsen who wrote the script.
The Norwegian went into these championships in China with the chance to emulate the great Haile Gebrselassie by becoming only the second man to win 1500m and 3,000m gold in the same world indoor championships.
On Saturday Ingebrigtsen stormed to a 3,000m triumph and on Sunday he delivered another imperious run when it mattered most. It was Ingebrigtsen’s first world title above 1500m and underlined his position as one of the biggest stars of world athletics. There are not many who can match the 24-year-old when the stakes are highest.
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This was also a successful event for Great Britain, not least for Amber Anning who became Britain’s first women’s 400m world champion, in dramatic circumstances, to quickly put aside the painful experience she endured in Apeldoorn this month and in the process securing GB’s second gold of this event.
Anning was disqualified for a lane infringement in the European indoor championships that left her devastated, but in China she announced herself on the world stage by coming through a thrilling 400m final to edge out the US runner Alexis Holmes, after the pair had come together in a mid-race shove as the bell rang.
Anning held her nerve and hit the final bend magnificently. “After what happened at the Europeans, to come here and win is just an amazing feeling,” she said. “It wasn’t the cleanest race but the goal was to win and get my first individual title.”
It was Britain’s second gold of the championships and there were successes elsewhere later on Sunday, too. Neil Gourley was forced to sit and watch the world indoor championships in Glasgow last year from home because of an injury that left him struggling to walk, but this time around he performed brilliantly on the world stage, running 3:39.07 in the men’s 1500m final to claim silver.
Gourley was unable to match Ingebrigtsen in the final stretch – the winner came home in a time of 3:38.79 – but that is nothing to be disgraced by; silver represents a magnificent outcome for the Scot given the events of the past 12 months.
“I came away disappointed at the Europeans and I had a point to prove to myself,” he said. “I’m ready for something bigger so I’m glad I came out here to prove that.”
Having watched Anning and Gourley win medals, Georgia Hunter Bell would have very likely felt the pressure to write her own tale of redemption. She was the overwhelming favourite for 1500m gold in Apeldoorn but could only finish fourth after battling an ear infection that ultimately left her out of the medals. Like her teammates, she produced on the world stage, executing to perfection to take bronze in a time of 3:59.84.
The race was won by Ethiopia’s Gudaf Tsegay, who led from gun to tape and finished more than four seconds ahead of the chasing field. Another Ethiopian, Diribe Welteji, won silver.
“[The] 1500m is like a riddle, it can go any way, and no one knows until we start,” Hunter Bell said. “The Europeans was the biggest loss in my career so far. I was so inspired by some of the performances in the team. I just wanted to contribute.”
Elsewhere on the final day, Britain’s Scott Lincoln finished 10th in the shot-put final, and Amy Hunt ran 7.11sec to finish fifth in the 60m final. Italy’s Olympic bronze medallist, Mattia Furlani, took gold in the long jump, and the US closed out the championships with double gold in the men’s and women’s 4x400m.
