Jakob Ingebrigtsen could return to racing in the second week of July. His agent, Daniel Wessfeldt, told the Norwegian newspaper VG this week that the 25-year-old’s training has gone well enough since winter Achilles surgery to make a mid-summer comeback realistic.
Speaking to VG reporter Herman Folvik, Wessfeldt named three candidates: the Diamond League in Monaco on July 10, the Hungarian Athletics Grand Prix in Budapest on July 14, and the Diamond League in London on July 18. Any of those would give Ingebrigtsen weeks of racing before the European Championships in Birmingham from August 10 to 16.
“The status is that Jakob is still preparing as best he can, so races will be possible from mid-July, but he does not want to commit yet. We are keeping the comeback open,” Wessfeldt told the paper.
A long road back
Ingebrigtsen had surgery this winter on an Achilles tendon that had bothered him for years. The injury cost him his entire 2025 outdoor season and left him well short of full fitness at the Tokyo World Championships last September. Wessfeldt confirmed in April that no race would happen before July, and training since then has gone as hoped, without major setbacks.
“There are no health problems. He just wants to train the amount required to be the best in the world. It’s not easy, but it’s not impossible,” Wessfeldt said.
The bigger target is 2027. In mid-May, Ingebrigtsen told VG his goal is to be back at 100 percent that year. So 2026 looks like a season for getting race-sharp again rather than chasing peak times.
The London question
The London meet on July 18 is the most loaded of the three. Josh Kerr, the British runner who has gone back and forth with Ingebrigtsen in the 1500 meters, has said he will try to break Hicham El Guerrouj’s mile world record of 3:43.13, set in 1999.
That record is one of seven Ingebrigtsen is chasing. He already holds three of his own: 2000 meters (4:43.13, Brussels 2023), 3000 meters (7:17.55, Silesia 2024), and two miles (7:54.10, Paris 2023). His European mile mark, 3:43.73, sits six tenths off El Guerrouj’s record. The other six he is hunting span 1500 meters to the marathon, including Joshua Cheptegei’s 5000 (12:35.36) and 10,000 (26:11.00) and Lamecha Girma’s steeplechase (7:52.11).
Wessfeldt was not impressed by Kerr’s prediction. “He can talk, but it’s another thing to do it. Jakob isn’t intimidated by anyone, he just wants to do the best he can himself, and we’ll see. I think the others are more intimidated by him,” he told VG.
Even so, the agent suggested a quieter return might serve his client better. “I don’t dare say, it depends on how things go. If you ask me, it might be smart to run a slightly smaller event first, just as a ‘time trial’,” he said. That logic points to Budapest on July 14, between the two Diamond League stops.
Pressure from organizers
Ingebrigtsen is one of the most marketable runners in the sport, and meet directors have been pressing for clarity. Wessfeldt said his answer has been consistent.
“I have given the same message to the conventions: Jakob will take it as it comes. They have accepted that, and they will open the door when he is ready. Jakob is perhaps the biggest running name there is,” he said.
The June 10 Bislett Games in Oslo, normally a fixture in his early-season program, will go ahead without him. After Birmingham, the calendar still offers the Diamond League in Silesia on August 23, the Diamond League Final in Brussels on September 4 and 5, and the new Ultimate Championship in Budapest from September 11 to 13.
