After delaying the opening race of his 2025 outdoor season for an entire month due to an Achilles injury, Norwegian distance star Jakob Ingebrigtsen will once again push back his return to the track.
On Wednesday, a spokesperson for Ingebrigtsen confirmed his withdrawal from the London Diamond League, scheduled for July 19, via Norwegian media outlet NRK. “Jakob still needs a little more time to heal the injury he has been struggling with lately,” the spokesperson said. “He would have liked to have participated in London, but does not want to risk anything. He must therefore sit out the event.”
The highly anticipated showdown between Ingebrigtsen and U.K. rival Josh Kerr will have to wait–but the question remains: will Ingebrigtsen be back in time for the World Athletics Championships in September?
As the defending 5,000m world champion from 2023, Ingebrigtsen has a bye to this year’s championships in that event. The 24-year-old also already qualified for the 1,500m with a 3:27.83 at last year’s Lausanne Diamond League; he currently ranks #6 on the Road to Tokyo leaderboard.
Ingebrigtsen’s withdrawal from London comes just weeks after he shared multiple Instagram posts, hinting at an imminent return to the track. “Nearly back to training 100 per cent,” he wrote. “Will (almost) miss splashing about in the pool everyday.”
In a post from last week, he wrote, “Faster times coming soon.”
Although his 2025 campaign looked promising in March–following double gold in the 1,500m and 3,000m at the World Indoor Championships in Nanjing, China–London now marks the fourth meet he has pulled out of this season. He’s also missed the Oslo Diamond League, Ostrava Golden Spike and the Pre Classic.
Jakob Ingebrigtsen’s outdoor season compromised by injury
Olympic champions in crisis
Ingebrigtsen isn’t the only Olympic champion who is off track or out of form. Keely Hodgkinson of the U.K., still hasn’t competed since winning 800m gold in Paris; in early June, she pulled out of the Stockholm Diamond League, citing the same hamstring injury that sidelined her from her own meet, the Keely Klassic, back in February.
Athing Mu-Nikolayev of the U.S., the Tokyo 2020 800m champion and American record holder, has also had a rough go lately, most recently at the Pre Classic–her first 800m in nearly a year. The 23-year-old clocked 2:03.44, more than eight seconds off her personal best of 1:54.97. She’ll race again, still seeking redemption, at Saturday’s Ed Murphy Classic in Memphis, Tenn.
