-I have done what I had to do -says Adel Mechaal (32) in the mixed zone of the Ataköy Arena.
And what he had to do was chase the "monstrous" Jakob Ingebrigtsen to catch a silver in the 3,000.
"Because with him you can't, really not," insists Mechaal, who had studied Norwegian talent, and has studied it so much that he even looks for a way to imitate him.
And adds:
-We have been changing training systems for a while. With Antonio Serrano, my coach, we have discovered some of his secrets. Arturo Casado (European 1,500 champion in 2010, a deep analyst) also helps me. Together, we investigate what these Norwegians do in the last three weeks before the big competition. They work very well. They create a solid aerobic foundation to start building on. And I think I'm assimilating all these changes, because last year I improved all my times and now, this: at least Ingebrigtsen hasn't been able to celebrate the victory too soon.
And his speech, accelerated, reviews the race.
He's a meticulous fellow, this Mechaal.
He sees himself chasing Ingebrigtsen, the king of the current midfielder, before a child and now a giant who has already won eleven European titles, between indoor, outdoor and cross country, but he wants more because, he himself insists, "I want to be the best runner in history".
Mechaal contempla a Ingebrigtsen and Ingebrigtsen no contempla a nadie.
The race is yours, you will do it at your leisure, and the rest, by train.
Ingebrigtsen is a metronome. He starts the lap at 33 seconds and gradually accelerates. They pass the km in 2m41s and from 1,500 he begins to sign laps at 32s, and then at 31s, and at 30, and at 29s5...
There is no vertigo behind because everyone understands their fate.
Nor is Mechaal scared, determined as he is to follow in the Norwegian's footsteps. Where the other takes his foot, Mechaal puts it. He single file and suffer.
-His is a constant frequency. I don't know how it does it, because it doesn't change anything. It's just that he takes you faster every time, he puts strength without moving -says Mechaal, who absorbs his fate entering the last lap, when Ingebrigtsen adds another acceleration and opens up a meter, and then two. And three.
And so the test ends, with Ingebrigtsen reissuing his double from 2021 (mark 7m40s33 and join this title to that of the 1,500) and Mechaal a second and a half behind, in 7m41s75, his third European podium, a silver that tastes like gold because the The man who precedes him plays in another category.
