Men's 1,500m Olympic champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen faced a setback at the World Championships for the second year in a row, narrowly defeated by British runner Josh Kerr in the final stretch on Wednesday.

Ingebrigtsen, 22, arrived in Budapest as the favorite for the title. The Norwegian had remained unbeaten in the distance this season and also held the year's world-leading time of 3:27.14. Yet, mirroring the feat of his British counterpart Jake Wightman in Oregon, U.S., the previous year, Kerr made a shocking move in the last 200m, surpassing Ingebrigtsen to clinch the win with a time of 3:29.38.

Visibly disappointed even before the finish, Ingebrigtsen secured the second position with a time of 3:29.65, closely trailed by fellow Norwegian Narve Gilje Nordas in 3:29.68.

"All credit to Kerr, he had a good race but I feel a little bit unlucky not being able to do what I have been doing the whole season, especially as it is the world championships final," Ingebrigtsen remarked.

"I am disappointed. I tried to give 100 percent but it is not easy when you are not feeling 100 percent," he continued. "I had been on training camp for three, almost four months, with minimal social life and contact with the rest of the world, but in the warm-up today and in the semifinal, I was a little bit dry in my throat."

"I will definitely run 5,000m but I do not know how will it go," he added.

Kerr, the third-place finisher at the Tokyo Olympic Games, received his gold medal from the World Athletics president and two-time 1,500m Olympic champion, Sebastian Coe.

"I've been in finals but I hadn't yet got a gold. And now it tastes so sweet," said the 25-year-old Kerr. "I didn't worry about what was going on earlier in the race; just made sure I was there with 200m to go. Then in the last 30m I thought I want this so badly, I don't care how much pain I'm in, I'm going to do everything to get to the finish line first."

Soon after, Norway found solace when Olympic champion Karsten Warholm cruised to victory in the men's 400m hurdle final, capturing his third world title in the event with a time of 46.89 seconds.

"Every gold medal means a lot to me but this one is a bit extra special because I lost it last year," Warholm shared. "I had an injury and a tough season. So it's a good little comeback story."

Kyron McMaster of the British Virgin Islands and American Rai Benjamin clinched second and third places with times of 47.34 and 47.56 seconds, respectively.

In the women's pole vault, Australian Nina Kennedy and American Olympic champion Katie Moon shared the top spot with a height of 4.90m. European champion Wilma Murto of Finland earned the bronze with 4.80m.

Olympic and world silver medalist Marileidy Paulino bagged gold in the women's 400m, finishing the race in 48.76 seconds. She was followed by Natalia Kaczmarek of Poland with 49.57 seconds and Sada Williams of Barbados with 49.60 seconds. 

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