Aug 10 (Reuters) - Jakob Ingebrigtsen pulled off a comeback for the ages to retain the 5,000 metres title at the European Athletics Championships on Monday, winning his first race in nearly a year in 13 minutes and 15.29 seconds.
He got past German Florian Bremm (13:15.60) in a thrilling sprint finish down the final straight to collect his seventh gold in the continental championship. Frenchman Etienne Daguinos was third in 13:16.09.
The Norwegian has never lost a race at the continental championships but seemingly faced long odds after he had surgery on his left Achilles in February and only had six weeks of decent training before lining up at Birmingham.
"I doubted myself every day coming in to this and every minute leading up to the last lap today, but I'm always hoping to do my best," said Ingebrigtsen, who finished a humbling 10th in his last race at the world championships in Tokyo last year.
"Coming from the lowest of lows to be European champion again means the world to me. Not even I believed it could happen coming here. Only with 600 metres to go, I knew I would win."
While he may have had doubts, the Olympic champion did not show it.
He casually glanced at his watch as the gun went off before settling into the middle of the pack, biding his time through a sleepy start as the field kept it to a slow 2:45 over the opening kilometre.
With about four laps to go, he began creeping up around the outside of the pack but appeared to be jammed up at the start of the penultimate lap as he was stuck behind Frenchman Jimmy Gressier.
However, the 25-year-old Ingebrigtsen was in no mood to allow a blemish on his pristine European Championships record and slammed his foot on the gas around the last turn.
He wove around Bremm on the outside before sprinting through the final metres, adding lustre to the opening night of the meet as the crowd urged him on and broadcasters struggled to find words.
"When Jakob went in front I knew I couldn't stay with him. He's a legend of our sport. We knew if he's here tonight it was because he is in good shape. He's so strong. He showed that tonight," said bronze medallist Daguinos. "I am so proud to share a podium with him."
Ingebrigtsen's seventh individual European gold extended his record as the most successful male athlete ever at the continental championship.
(Reporting by Amy Tennery in New YorkEditing by Christian Radnedge)
