Jakob Ingebrigtsen won a tactical men’s 5,000m final on the opening night of the European Championships in Birmingham, England.It is the Norwegian’s fourth-straight title in the event and marks an exceptional comeback from an Achilles injury which had caused him to miss nearly a year.The 25-year-old had the strongest finishing kick in the field, closing the last 400m in 54.94s. He went from fourth place at 4,900m to first at the line with a big surge, overtaking Germany’s Florian Bremm (silver), world 10,000m champion Jimmy Gressier (fourth), and Frenchman Etienne Daguinos (bronze).Ingebrigtsen’s winning time of 13:15.29s reflects the championship nature of the race, in which the pace progressed throughout. The opening kilometre was covered in 2:45.20s, with the next three such splits clocked at 2:41.31s, 2:40.58s and 2:41.56s. Thirteen men were still in contention with a lap and a half to go, and that was whittled down to seven in the final 400m.Of all Ingebrigtsen’s victorious — he now holds 15 European golds and has never lost a continental final — this is the most surprising. Not since the World Championships in Tokyo, Japan, last September, had he last raced, plagued by an Achilles injury which had also disrupted much of his 2025. There, he was eliminated in the heats and posted his worst finish position in a race since 2017.