– When it hurts with every step and every session, it’s not very fun, says Filip Ingebrigtsen to Dagbladet.

He was the best of the Ingebrigtsen family and won bronze at the 1500 meters World Championship in London in 2017, the year after he became European champion over the distance.

Also in 2018, he was the best in his family and in Europe before being injured at the European Athletics Championships in Berlin. Then Jakob seized the opportunity and won two gold medals at the European Championships. And since then, Jakob has been the best in the family – and now in the world.

While Henrik has again picked himself up sportingly this season, in addition to being the coach of world champion Jakob, Filip has found himself more in the shadows lately.

Last year was a sporting nightmare marked by a serious Achilles tendon injury. The World Cup and the European Championship were famous for the elegance of the Sandnes race.

Good news

But now the pain is finally gone.

Filip is on the road to recovery, with a fresh dose of optimism, even though the Bislett Games was a setback where the 30-year-old broke.

– Your superior level is very high, you have already shown it. Is it possible to go back there?

– I have Faith. But it is clear that it is still a little early to draw conclusions, believes Filip Ingebrigtsen The daily.

– What do you need to do to get there?

– First and foremost to avoid injury. I am now. And then I have to have competitions in my legs and not least quality training. So I think it will come, he said.

– How long have you been injury-free?

– I strained an Achilles tendon last year that was very difficult to get rid of. I trained, but not enough with great quality. The pain started to subside in the spring, so I guess I haven’t been hurt since the spring, the 30-something replies.

– How was this period of traumatic pain for you?

– It was very annoying, mainly because it hurts so much. It spoils the fun of playing sports.

Contrasts with Jakob

– How do you live the contrasts with the adventurous success of Jakob, while at the same time you are stuck and plagued by wounds, when you know at what level you yourself have been?

– It’s nice to have something fun to enjoy and not just focus on your own results. I would like to offer better to everyone who stands up and cheers us on, but luckily there are others who perform, so they get what they pay for,” Filip Ingebrigtsen told The daily.

He views the setback at the Bislett Games – where Filip broke while Jakob won and Narve Gilje Nordås trotted and took over Filip’s 2nd place on the noble calendar against the Norwegians at 1500 meters – as not representative of the level it has today.

– I realized early on that it was too expensive and the body was not quite in shape, for various reasons. He reacted well in training and I feel like I’ve had a boost since the Diamond League meeting in Rabat, so it’s a real shame that I can’t get him out in Bislett. I don’t think it’s representative of the level I’m currently at, underlines the 30-year-old.

– What will be the next competition?

– I have to watch and feel that the body is sinking a little again.

– Painless

Where younger brother Jakob Ingebrigtsen floats sportingly on a cloud, Henrik has also enjoyed a renaissance this season. Henrik recently ran 5,000 meters in Belgium.

– I’m pain free. If I use my head in the next few weeks, I can get a boost for the upcoming competitions, Henrik Ingebrigtsen told Dagbladet after the 5,000 meters in Bislett.

– If you think about how bad I was at the beginning of April – I hadn’t had an outside session for six months and no more than two or three weeks of continuity – that’s as good as possible now, under these conditions.