– He’s going to beat me, that’s how it is.
Andreas Almgren smiles slyly as he puts all the pressure on Narve Gilje Nordås before the Scandinavian duel in the 1500 meters during Friday’s Diamond League meet in Doha.
The statement is perhaps not particularly sensational based on what the two have previously performed at the distance. Nordås has a personal record of 3.29.47, Almgren with 3.32.0 – by the way, both were set during the Bislett Games last year.
Nordås took bronze in the 1,500 meters during the WC in Budapest last year – a championship where Almgren prioritized the 5,000 meters, and was knocked out in the semi-finals.
RECORD RACE: Andreas Almgren used heir Gilje Nordås as a hare when both set the pace in the 1500 meters at Bislett last year.
Photo: Jon Olav Nesvold / BILDBYRÅN
Record landslide
But something has happened to Andreas Almgren. 2024 has started with a record landslide:
January 14: 27.20 minutes in a 10 kilometer street race in Valencia. Swedish record and number four in Europe of all time.
February 11: 59.23 in the half marathon. Nordic record and number two in Europe of all time.
17th of March: 26.52 in 10,000 metres. The 35-year-old Swedish record was broken by over a minute and Almgren became third in Europe all-time.
However, the 28-year-old has little faith that it will continue in Doha.
– I’m not in a position where I’m going to be able to run those times now. I take this as preparation, to wake up the body to competition mode again. I’ve surprised myself before, but I have to really, really, very a lot more for me to be in personal record form, says Almgren to NRK.
– Rake the road to health
Narve Gilje Nordås has been very impressed with Almgren’s efforts so far in the season, and admits that he is excited about the Swede before the meeting in Doha.
– From half-marathon to 1500, I’ve tried it myself before, and it’s the straight road to health for me, so I don’t know. There is a big difference between running a half-marathon and 1500. But suddenly he perseveres in 1500 too. Never say never, says Nordås to NRK.
AIM HIGH: Narve Gilje Nordås believes he is on paper the best before the Diamond League event in Doha. On Thursday evening he arrived together with coach Gjert Ingebrigtsen.
Photo: Anders Skjerdingstad / NRK
However, Jærbuen fears neither Almgren nor others. After seeing the final start list, his conclusion is as follows:
– On paper, I should be the best.
He points out that there are certainly strong competitors – not least Kenyan Timothy Cheruiyot, who became world champion just in Doha in 2019 and has a better personal record than Nordås.
– Zero illness, zero injuries
– Then there is no hiding the fact that the very, very best – the ones who beat me in the World Cup last year – are not there, Nordås points out, referring to Josh Kerr and Jakob Ingebrigtsen.
Like Almgren, Nordås does not believe in personal bests. The peak times will come when the EC in Rome and, not least, the Olympics in Paris are approaching.
Everything is in place for that, according to Nordås himself. The launch has been successful.
– I guess it has really been as good as it can go. We started on 2 October last year, we’ve had zero illness, zero injuries, zero race-free days, we’ve trained twice every day ever since, and managed to do exactly what we were supposed to. And then obviously there are some heavy sessions in there, where you start to doubt a little bit, but the review tune has been good. We are where we need to be. We are on track.
The season opener in Huelva a week and a half ago confirmed just that:
