A possible Jakob Ingebrigtsen world record chase headlines a weekend of track and field, live on NBC Sports and Peacock.
Ingebrigtsen, the Olympic 1500m gold medalist and two-time world 5000m champion, is entered in the rarely run 2000m at a Diamond League meet in Brussels, Belgium.
Peacock airs live coverage Friday at 2 p.m. ET. CNBC airs highlights Saturday at 1 p.m. ET.
The 2000m is not contested at the Olympics or worlds, but Ingebrigtsen has raced the distance. In 2020, during the pandemic, he clocked 4 minutes, 50.01 seconds, to become the sixth-fastest man in history in the five-lap event.
Ingebrigtsen, who already broke the two-mile world record in June, will have to beat his personal best in the 2000m by five seconds to challenge this world record.
Moroccan Hicham El Guerrouj, the world record holder at 1500m and the mile, also owns the 2000m record of 4:44.79 from 1999. (World Athletics officially calls records in non-traditional events like the 2000m “world bests.”)
Also in Brussels, the second-fastest women in history race in the 200m (Jamaican Shericka Jackson) and 400m hurdles (Dutchwoman Femke Bol).
Brussels is followed by the 5th Avenue Mile, the world’s most famous road mile, on Sunday at 12 p.m. ET, live on NBC, NBCSports.com, the NBC Sports app and Peacock.
Here is the Brussels start list.
Here are five events to watch this weekend:
Men’s Pole Vault -- Friday, 1:15 p.m. ET
Last Thursday in Zurich, Mondo Duplantis took three more attempts at breaking his world record by one centimeter. He missed all three at 6.23 meters, making it 12 unsuccessful tries at the height since he upped the record for a sixth time to 6.22 in February. In Brussels, he again faces the three other world championships medalists — E.J. Obiena of the Philippines, Kurtis Marschall of Australia and American Chris Nilsen.
Women’s 400m Hurdles -- 2:46 p.m. ET
Bol is undefeated at 400m hurdles this year. She broke the meet record at all four of her Diamond League races and appears likely to do the same on Friday given the target is 53.43, or slower than all of her times this year. Bol has already this year become the second-fastest in history (51.45), but the absent Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone’s world record is another 77 hundredths faster.
Men’s 2000m -- 2:56 p.m. ET
Ingebrigtsen, at 22, is having the fastest season of his young life. In the 1500m, he broke the European record and became the fourth-fastest man in history (3:27.14). In the two-mile, he ran 7:54.10 to crush a 25-year-old world record by 4.51 seconds. En route to that, he also became the third-fastest man in history at 3000m (7:24.00). He also repeated as world champion in the 5000m despite being slowed by a mild illness. In Brussels, the field also includes world 1500m bronze medalist and fellow Norwegian Narve Nordås, who is coached by Ingebrigtsen’s dad.
Women’s 200m -- 3:09 p.m. ET
Jackson missed Florence Griffith-Joyner’s world record by seven hundredths at worlds in running 21.41. Then last Thursday in Zurich, she won in 21.82 (into a headwind). If the world record isn’t in play in Brussels, perhaps the meet record is: 21.64 by countrywoman Merlene Ottey in 1991. The field also includes a wild card — Olympic 100m hurdles gold medalist Jasmine Camacho-Quinn of Puerto Rico.
5th Avenue Mile — Sunday, 12 p.m. ET
Takes place along the east side of Central Park. British runners swept the men’s and women’s titles the last two years and could do so again with world 1500m champ Josh Kerr and Jemma Reekie, the 2021 5th Avenue champion who placed fifth in the 800m at the world championships. The U.S. contingent is led by national 1500m champion Nikki Hiltz, Olympic Trials 1500m champ Elle Purrier St. Pierre (in her first race since March childbirth) and 2022 U.S. men’s 1500m champion Cooper Teare.
