Following in His Brothers' Footsteps, Jakob Ingebrigtsen Becomes Youngest Sub-Four Miler

By Adam Kopet, DyeStat Editor

Running in the International mile at the Prefontaine Classic, Jakob Ingebrigtsen broke four minutes for the first time, finishing in 3:58.07. At 16 years old, he is the youngest person to run sub-four.

For the youngest of the Ingebrigtsen brothers, the moment a long time coming. When Ingebrigtsen was 8, he first decided he wanted to be as fast as his brothers. For the past eight years, he has been following in their footsteps, as reported in an IAAF feature by Cathal Dennehy.

In the early days, while older brothers Henrik, now 26, and Filip, now 24, Jakob took up running, but he also tried cross country skiing and soccer. However, it did not take long before he focused solely on running.

"He was useless!" Henrik said. "Jakob is born to run, simple as that — nothing else."

The Ingebrigtsen brothers started off coached by their father. He had no background in middle distance running, but he read everything he could and talked to other coaches and athletes.

"Together we tried some things, failed a couple of times, then went back to what worked and started to build on that," Henrik said.

For the past three seasons, Jakob has trained with his older brothers.

"The biggest thing I've learned from them is the mindset," Jakob said. "You always have to go hard and believe in your self — push until the last meters."

Prior to Saturday's race, Jakob won the junior race at the European Cross Country Championships. However, his indoor season was derailed by a bout of mononucleosis and then flu.

Since then, he has lifted his training to a new level, running 80-85 miles per week and running twice a day on most days. Clearly those efforts have begun to pay off.

Henrik and Filip will be targeting the IAAF World Championships in London later this summer. Jakob will be focused on the European Junior Championships in Grosseto, Italy.

Both Henrik and Filip were in action at the Prefontaine Classic as well. Henrik, running in the same race as Jakob, finished third in 3:53.79. Jakob finished 11th. Then at the end of the meet, Filip placed eighth in the Bowerman mile, running 3:53.23.

Saturday marked the first time three brothers have all broken four minutes on the same day. They will have the chance to do it again June 15 in Oslo in the Dream Mile.

"I'm going to run faster there," Jakob said.

Post-race interview with Jakob Ingebrigtsen