– He did something unique – NRK Sport – Sports news, results and broadcast schedule

– I wouldn’t have been able to do that, so to speak. It is quite impressive, says athletics profiler Sindre Buraas to NRK.

He is talking about Narve Gilje Nordås, who opened the season on Tuesday with a victory in the 1500 meters in Huelva in Spain. Just eight and a half minutes later he was back at the starting line again to run 5,000 meters with his training mate Per Svela.

The 25-year-old from Jæren gave up just enough after 4000 metres, but passed there in a strong time – around 10.47.

He thus ran two competitions in the space of just 25 minutes, which has caused many in the athletics world to turn a blind eye.

– Narve just did something unique, wrote the athletics account Trackstaa to its over 100,000 followers on Instagram.

– The bronze medal winner from the WC seems to be ready for another impressive season after the breakthrough last season, write the account further.

– Not normal

The entry for Trackstaa is liked by several Norwegian athletics profiles, including Svela and Karoline Bjerkeli Grøvdal. Nordås himself has also commented on the post and pointed out that he did it to help Svela.

– Madness, writes Italian Francesco Puppi, former world champion in mountain running, under the post.

Sindre Buraas believes that Nordås chose to run the 5,000 meters primarily to support Svela, who with the help of Nordås managed to take the EC requirement for the distance.

– It shows that he is a team player who “backs” Per. Otherwise, he would never have done it. It is not a normal training principle to run 4,000 meters as hard as you can after 1,500 meters, says Buraas, who has previously participated in the EC and WC at 5,000 meters for Norway.

He rightly points out that it happens that athletes who are still in a training phase, early in the season, extend a 1500 meters with a so-called threshold race.

– They do this to maintain high volume and capacity. Instead of extending the 1,500 meters with a hurdle run immediately after, he lines up for Per and does a hare job, quite simply. That’s how I read it, he says.

Buraas says that he has seen athletics legend Mo Farrah do something similar in the past, as part of his training.

Svela himself expressed great admiration after the race on Tuesday.

– He (Nordås) is one of the best athletes in the world, and he shows it. He is so extremely well trained. There are not many people in the circus who are so well trained. You win a 1500 in 3.34, jog 200 meters and then you start again, said Svela, and continue:

– It is clear that it is much later and things like that, but it is still incredibly strong. You are full of acid when you reach the finish line. 3.34, then he has more to go on as well.

– Felt the nausea rise up in my throat

Nordås was well pleased with how his body responded to the unusual double when he faced the pressure after the two races in Huelva.

In the interview zone, much of the focus was on the situation surrounding Nordås coach Gjert Ingebrigtsen, who was indicted on Monday for abuse in close relationships.

Ingebrigtsen, through his lawyers John Christian Elden and Heidi Reisvang, has stated that the coach does not admit criminal guilt and that he disagrees with the presentation of the events on which the indictment is based.

Filip Ingebrigtsen also took part in the 1500 metres, which Nordås had not initially planned to run. He is among the sons that Gjert Ingebrigtsen trained until winter 2022.

In what gradually became a joint session with the Norwegian press, Nordås was also asked about the two races. He stated to VG that “it didn’t cost much”.

When asked by Dagbladet a few minutes later, he nevertheless told about a body that did not feel at its best after 1,500 meters and then jogged 200 meters to the start of the 5,000 meters.

– When I stood on the starting line at 5,000 metres, it was an awful feeling. You get a lot of lactic acid from running 1,500 metres. I felt the nausea rise up in my throat, but then it was almost like when I got to run a few laps at 2.40 speed, I got to wash it out and then it was… not a downhill jog or a threshold pull either, but a chop over, said Nordås.

The next competition for Nordås will be the Diamond League vote in Doha on 10 May. Then there is “only” 1,500 meters on the program for the Norwegian.