Norwegian successfully defends European 1500m title to add to his 5000m honour, while Jake Heyward surges to silver

Jakob Ingebrigtsen reigns supreme. Again. The Norwegian completed his 1500m and 5000m European “double double” by treating the sizeable Munich crowd to a show of real 1500m dominance as he landed another title, breaking the championships record into the bargain with a run of 3:32.76.

There was little doubt as to the Olympic champion’s intentions as he hit the front early and decided to dictate the pace. “I wanted to go fast from the beginning,” he said, having led the pack through 400m in 56.34 and then 800m in 1:54.11. He was pursued closely by Britain’s Jake Heyward, Spaniard Mario Garcia and Italy’s Pietro Arese.

A final 400m 55.25 saw him replace Fermin Cacho’s previous championship best of 3:35.27, set in Helsinki 28 years ago, while a strong closing 300m from Heyward, who had slipped back, took him from fifth to second and saw him capture the first major honour of his senior career. World Championships fourth-placer Garcia was third in 3:34.88.

The heavy rain and thunderstorms which had forced the start of the evening’s action to be delayed only added to the atmosphere, while a strong Norwegian presence in the soggy stands fuelled their hero’s fire.

“When I heard the great home crowd cheering for us and I also saw so many Norwegian flags in the stands, it was a great motivation,” said Ingebrigtsen, who was also 1500m and 5000m champion in Berlin four years ago.

“The fans here are just awesome. The rain – it feels almost like at home.”

Heyward admitted to being relieved at making the podium after missing out on the Commonwealth Games medal he had coveted, as well as failing to qualify for Eugene earlier this summer.

And though he had also been unwell in the run-up to the final, having only just squeaked through qualifying by two hundredths of a second, his sights had been set firmly on becoming champion.

“I knew Jakob was probably going to string it out at some point so that is why I tracked him,” said the Welshman. “I stayed patient and obviously winning a silver medal is an incredible achievement but I am disappointed that I couldn’t go with him and push him for the gold. He almost ran a separate race.

“You don’t want to be too aggressive in these types of races. I tried to do that on Monday and almost didn’t qualify for the final. On Monday I was ill and I’ve got better in the last 72 hours but I still wasn’t right today. You just know as an athlete where your body is at. It’s disappointing because I genuinely think I’m at the level to push Jakob.”

Heyward’s British team-mate Matt Stonier finished strongly to come fifth in 3:35.97 while Neil Gourley completed his fourth major final of the year in eighth with 3:38.40.