Jakob Ingebrigtsen has issued a partial apology for calling his rivals “losers” and a “bunch of cowards” after Friday’s men’s 1500m Diamond League final, but continues to stand by his accusation that Olympic champion Cole Hocker acted cowardly.
The double Olympic champion finished fourth behind Australia’s Cameron Myers in a tight finish, clocking 3min 30.52sec. In a statement issued on Saturday, Ingebrigtsen said he regretted the “losers” remark but insisted his criticism of Hocker was justified.
Ingebrigtsen’s apology and defence
“I shouldn’t have called anyone losers. I apologise for that. It was beneath me, regardless of the adrenaline and emotions. But I stand by what I said about Cole and his team acting cowardly,” Ingebrigtsen said.
He claimed Hocker’s team had told other athletes and organisers they were targeting a specific pace and bringing in their own pacemaker, but then did something completely different. “When you promise the crowd a fast race, you have a responsibility to follow through – at least in my view. This isn’t about me losing. I wasn’t good enough. It’s about taking responsibility for the commitments you’ve made to the meeting organisers, the crowd and your competitors,” he added.
Race details and aftermath
Ingebrigtsen, who returned to racing in August after 11 months out with an achilles sheath injury, ended up following the pacemakers himself after no one else went with them. Despite running a season’s best time, he described his run as “shitty, terrible and extremely disappointing” before criticising his fellow racers.
On Saturday, Ingebrigtsen said he had talked to Hocker afterwards and the matter was settled. However, the row reignited when Hocker’s agent, Ray Flynn, accused Ingebrigtsen of whining in an email to the Norwegian newspaper Dagbladet.
Agent’s criticism and response
“Jakob now appears as a whiny runner who blames others,” Flynn wrote. “It is embarrassing to see a great champion complain and blame other runners when he doesn’t win. It is completely disrespectful to his competitors, who now regularly beat him in the 1500 metres.”
Ingebrigtsen responded by saying his comments were good for the sport. “Cole and I talked it through after the race. As far as we’re concerned, the matter is settled, so I don’t really understand why his agent is getting involved in all of this now. If you’re not allowed to show a bit of passion after a race, you should find a sport that doesn’t want an audience,” he said.
The pair could meet again next week at the Ultimate Championships in Budapest, where Ingebrigtsen is down to run the 1500m and 5,000m. However, according to Dagbladet, the Norwegian is now likely to focus only on the 5,000m.
