The surgery means he misses the Tokyo Olympics, which run from July 23 to August 8.

– In the meantime, I’m happy to encourage the Norwegian athletes from the couch, he said in a press release.

Ingebrigtsen was operated on Wednesday in a hospital in Switzerland, informs the Athletics Association.

Could wait until after the Olympics

They further say that he himself could have chosen to postpone the operation until the fall and thus participate in the Olympics this year,

– But Henrik is not the type to just want to participate. He will fight for medals, writes the association in the press release.

NRK athletics expert Vebjørn Rodal points out that Henrik Ingebrigtsen himself said it hurts to try too hard under Bislett.

Therefore, he is also not surprised by the election.

– In short, if you run 1:16 p.m. or 1:10 p.m., you have nothing to do in a 5000 meters at the Olympic Games. There are so many good ones out there. Then it’s either a failure in the attempt or a docile final, and that doesn’t interest Henrik, he was too good. There is nothing to be gained from being mediocre. I have great understanding for that, Rodal told NRK.

– Won’t write it off

The expert believes that it will be a very demanding task for Ingebrigtsen to return to his best level.

– With age a little against him, he has a long canvas to whitewash. There is a dizzying level at the top of the world, and coming back stronger after a long recovery at this age will be impressive. But Henrik has already impressed me on several occasions, so I’m not going to dismiss him. It’s a grown-up task for a grown man, Rodal says.

The operation was performed after the MRI revealed that the attachment to the left palisade was torn off by 80%.

As is known, the eldest of the runner brothers Ingebrigtsen beat the 5000 meters in Florence on June 10 with great pain. Now it’s clear he faces another long spell on the sidelines.

According to the press release, he now faces six weeks on crutches and then a long period of training.