Ingebrigtsen pulls out of 1,500, leaving Kerr, Hocker and the field to race for $150K

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Jakob Ingebrigtsen said Saturday he’s withdrawing from the 1,500-meter race at track’s Ultimate Championship, depriving the sport of one of its marquee showdowns after the Norwegian’s most recent round of disagreements with top rivals Cole Hocker and Josh Kerr.

Ingebrigtsen made the announcement less than 24 hours after beating Hocker in the 5,000 meters to take the $150,000 top prize at the championship. Ingebrigtsen is coming back from Achilles surgery in February and said running two races in the span of three days was simply too much.

“I would love for it to be a little bit different and be a little bit sharper in terms of recovery,” he said. “But coming from a very difficult last two years with injury problems and Achilles surgery, I’m forced to be more sensible than I would like to be.”

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