Olympic champion loses Diamond League final, calls opponents ‘bunch of cowards’

Paris Olympic champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen lashed out at his rivals after finishing fourth in the Diamond League final in Brussels on Friday, calling his rivals “a bunch of cowards” in a sensational post-race interview.

Ingebrigtsen looked for victory for most of the men’s 1500m final but faded in the closing stages as Australia’s Cameron Myers produced a perfectly timed late start to claim the Diamond League title.

Myers held his nerve in a tense finish to win in 3:30.14, edging out Kenya’s Phanuel Kipkosgei Koech by just four-hundredths of a second. American Ethan Strand finished third in 3:30.50, with Ingebrigtsen two hundredths back in fourth in 3:30.52.

The result marked another difficult outing for Ingebrigtsen as he continues his return to competition after undergoing Achilles tendon surgery in February. The Norwegian dictated much of the pace and appeared to be aiming for a morale-boosting victory, but was unable to hold off the chasing pack in the final 30 metres.

Myers, meanwhile, waited for his opportunity before making his way down the home stretch.

“I’m pretty relieved to be honest! It’s nice to win, I’m super pumped,” Myers said after the race.

“I felt good. I thought about making a move on the back straight, but I didn’t really need to, so I just waited as long as I could and a gap opened up and I was able to take it.”

INGEBRIGSTEN LEAVES AFTER THE RACE

But while Myers was celebrating one of the biggest wins of his career, Ingebrigtsen was upset with how the race was going.

“They want to line up and hide tonight, so that’s it. I’m not a hider myself,” Ingebrigtsen said.

“Unfortunately, the stim did a pretty bad job of pulling me off the Wavelight and off the pace. I didn’t necessarily want to be in that position.”

Ingebrigtsen then turned his attention to a cruise control strategy involving American Cole Hocker, who finished eighth in 3:30.80.

“Cole, he had the pacemaker replaced and replaced it with his own teammate on behalf of the French pacemaker. Everyone thought he was forcing himself to watch the pacemaker, but it was just a trick. He fooled us all. He decided to hide behind everyone else,” Ingebrigtsen said.

The Norwegian was particularly critical of his rivals’ tactics, saying he wanted to race at a different pace and didn’t feel physically strong enough to run the way the race eventually unfolded.

‘BUNCH OF COWARDS’

As Ingebrigtsen spoke to reporters in the mixed zone, frustrations ran high.

“I’m very disappointed with the race and the result, I’m racing against a bunch of cowards. That’s how it is,” he said.

“Only Cameron (Myers) is a good competitor, everyone else looked like losers, including me.

Ingebrigtsen reiterated the pace decision, which involved Hocker and Christian Jackson, who trains alongside the American.

“We’re trying to win, but with Cole, the pacemaker has been switched to his own team-mate. So from now on, he’s not in a position to make any changes or decisions in the 1500m because he fooled us in terms of tracking the pace,” said Ingebrigtsen.

“Maybe he was sick or injured or not having a good day at all.

For Myers, the victory continued his rapid rise over 1500m. The 20-year-old had already broken the Australian national record when he won the Paris Diamond League in June and now has a Diamond League final title to add to his growing list of achievements.

“It’s pretty cool memorabilia to have a trophy like that,” Myers said of the title.

In the meantime, Ingebrigtsen will be leaving Brussels and has plenty to work on while he continues his comeback. The Olympic champion may have eluded the title, but his post-race comments ensured the 1500m final became one of the biggest topics on the opening night of the Diamond League finals.

– The end

Issued by:

Kingshuk Kusari

Published on:

05 Sep 2026 08:58 IST