Double Olympic champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen has offered a part-apology for labelling his rivals “losers” and a “bunch of cowards” following a heated men’s 1500m Diamond League final on Friday. However, Ingebrigtsen continues to assert that his accusation of cowardice against Olympic 1500m champion Cole Hocker was justified.
Ingebrigtsen, who finished fourth in the race with a time of 3min 30.52sec, stated on Saturday: “I shouldn’t have called anyone losers. I apologise for that. It was beneath me, regardless of the adrenaline and emotions.” He added, “But I stand by what I said about Cole and his team acting cowardly.” Ingebrigtsen explained that Hocker’s team had promised a specific pace and brought their own pacemaker, only to then alter their strategy during the race.
Despite Ingebrigtsen claiming he and Hocker had settled the matter after the race, the dispute reignited when Hocker’s agent, Ray Flynn, criticised Ingebrigtsen. Flynn wrote in an email to Dagbladet, a Norwegian newspaper, that Ingebrigtsen “now appears as a whiny runner who blames others.” Ingebrigtsen, in turn, defended his broader comments, suggesting that showing passion after a race is beneficial for the sport.