Weekend recap: huge results at European Indoor Champs, Sound Running Invite

From Jakob Ingebrigtsen's double-gold performance in Poland to 5,000m madness in California, it was a busy weekend

Ben Snider-McGrath March 8, 2021

Another weekend gone, another long list of world-class running results from around the globe. Top athletes competed at the European Indoor Championships in Torun, Poland, and some of North America’s best runners raced the Sound Running Invite in California. Both events saw long lists of noteworthy results. There’s a lot to unpack from such a busy few days, so let’s hop into the weekend recap.

Ingebrigtsen wins twice

We didn’t need any more proof that Norway’s Jakob Ingebrigtsen is one of the best runners alive, but he gave it to us anyway with an incredible showing at the European Indoor Championships. On Friday, he won gold in the 1,500m, finishing ahead of Poland’s Marcin Lewandowski, who beat Ingebrigtsen in the same event at the 2019 indoor championships. Ingebrigtsen stopped the clock in 3:37.56 to finish half a second ahead of Lewandowski.

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Not long after the race, however, Ingebrigtsen was disqualified for stepping off of the track, and his gold medal went to the defending champion after all. The Norwegian team challenged the ruling, though, stating that Ingebrigtsen had only stepped off the track because he had been pushed. Officials watched the tape and sided with Norway, and within an hour, Ingebrigtsen was reinstated as the 1,500m champion.

Just a couple of days later, Ingebrigtsen was back in action in another final, this time racing the 3,000m. This race was much less dramatic than the 1,500m, and Ingebrigtsen (the defending European champion in the event), cruised to another gold medal to complete the 1,500m-3,000m double. He won in 7:48.20, beating second place by more than a second.

Bol’s continued success

The Netherlands’ Femke Bol has had a remarkable past 12 months. In 2020, the then-teenager went undefeated in 400m hurdles races, and she set the Dutch national record in the event with a 53.79 showing in July. It’s only March, but Bol has spent the early parts of 2021 proving that her breakout season was far from a fluke, and she is undefeated in all races (she has raced 200m, 400m and 400mH so far this year).

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In Torun on Saturday, Bol won gold in the 400m, winning the race in an indoor national record of 50.63 and finishing almost a full second ahead of the silver medallist. The next day, Bol hit the track once again, this time in the 4 x 400m relay, and she helped the Dutch team to gold, securing her second medal of the championships.

Hodgkinson’s 800m crown

Great Britain’s Keely Hodgkinson is another young talent (like Ingebrigtsen and Bol, she was born in the 2000s) who ran to a gold medal in Torun. With Ingebrigtsen running long and Bol running a sprinting race, Hodgkinson fits perfectly between the two as an 800m runner.

Hodgkinson ran to the gold in the women’s 800m after running 2:03.88. She finished just in front of two Polish athletes. This is not the first huge result from Hodgkinson this season, as she ran a U20 indoor 800m world record of 1:59.03 in January (although this mark has since been lowered by Athing Mu, who ran 1:58.40 in February).

For full results from the European Indoor Champs, click here.

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Sound Running

The Sound Running Invite only had six races (men’s and women’s 800m, 1,500m and 5,000m runs), but it produced some terrific results. The biggest story of the meet came in the 5,000m races, which saw a combined 10 athletes run under the Olympic standards of 15:10.00 and 13:13.50. Emily Sisson of the U.S. led the way in the women’s race and took the win in 14:55.82. This is a huge PB for Sisson, whose previous best was 15:10.62.

Not far behind Sisson was fellow American Allie Buchalski, who beat her PB by 25 seconds and crossed the line in 14:57.54. Third place went to Weini Kilati, who set an Eritrean national record of 14:58.24. Americans Alicia Monson and Gwen Jorgensen both finished off the podium, but they, too, ran PBs and beat Olympic standard, running 15:07.65 and 15:08.28, respectively.

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Grant Fisher of the U.S. won the men’s 5,000m race, breaking the tape in a PB of 13:02.53. Great Britain’s Marc Scott ran a PB of 13:05.13 for second place, and third went to Sean McGorty, another American who ran another PB with his 13:06.45 result. Joe Klecker posted a PB just behind McGorty, running 13:06.67, and the fifth and final run under Olympic standard belonged to American Kirubel Erassa, who ran (you guessed it) another PB result in 13:12.71.

Canada’s Olivier Desmeules competed in the 800m at the Sound Running Invite. He finished in third place in a time of 1:48.78.

For full results from the meet, click here.

Ingebrigtsen wins twice

Bol’s continued success

Hodgkinson’s 800m crown

Sound Running

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