{"id":1040009823,"date":"2026-02-06T10:50:01","date_gmt":"2026-02-06T10:50:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/athleticsweekly.com\/?p=1040009823"},"modified":"2026-02-06T15:30:01","modified_gmt":"2026-02-06T15:30:01","slug":"andreas-almgren-on-his-relentless-rise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/athleticsweekly.com\/news\/andreas-almgren-on-his-relentless-rise-1040009823\/","title":{"rendered":"Andreas Almgren on his relentless rise"},"content":{"rendered":"

European 10km record-holder talks about moving up in the world, making history, training with Jakob Ingebrigtsen and targeting Birmingham gold.<\/span><\/p>\n

Andreas Almgren feels like he is only just getting started. \u201cIf I can get the perfect race with good pacers, there\u2019s a lot more in my body to go quicker,\u201d he says. Less than a month has passed since the Swede knocked eight seconds off his own European 10km record, running 26:45 to win in Valencia and moving himself up to sixth on the all-time list. It was just his fourth competitive race over the distance on the roads.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The 30-year-old has now swapped the flat and fast tarmac of Valencia with the mountainous terrain of Sierra Nevada, a high-altitude training base \u2013 situated 2320m\/7611 feet above sea level \u2013\u00a0in the Andalusian province of Granada.<\/span><\/p>\n

His plan is to stay there for a few more weeks before travelling to Castell\u00f3n to race over 10km on February 22. Yomif Kejelcha ran 26:31 to win last year\u2019s edition, a mark which put the Ethiopian second on the all-time list, and Almgren is viewing the race as an opportunity to go even faster once again \u2013 especially given his assertion that Valencia wasn\u2019t perfect.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

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\u201c<\/span>The pacer only managed three to four kilometres, so that was a little bit of a disappointment,\u201d he tells AW. \u201cI had to run six kilometres by myself. The conditions were really good, though.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Andreas Almgren (Getty)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

His final workout ahead of the race was an indoor 10x1km interval session, which totalled 25:37, four seconds quicker than what the 30-year-old managed in the same session before last year\u2019s edition.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cUsing bike pace on an indoor track is a bit of a cheat code,\u201d Almgren jokes. \u201cSo I was sure that I was capable of improving my record. It\u2019s only been two years since my first ever 10km race [27:38 in Valencia] so right now I feel like I\u2019m <\/span>harvesting the seeds that I planted a few years ago. For any endurance sport you just need time to develop. It\u2019s quite natural that I'm improving now.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s hard to say if I can target the world record [Rhonex Kipruto\u2019s 26:24 from 2020] as I still have to shave off over 20 seconds. I think I can run in the 26:30s soon, though. Hopefully I have a shot of running well in <\/span>Castell\u00f3n.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

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Last year, Almgren proved his versatility across multiple distances, setting European records in the 5000m (12:44.27) and half-marathon (58:41), as well as national marks over 3000m, 5km and 10,000m. Perhaps most memorably, though, he\u00a0 secured the first senior global medal of his career at the World Championships in Tokyo, with bronze behind Jimmy Gressier and Kejelcha. It was the first time that two European male athletes had made the world 10,000m podium since 1987.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>I'm finally at the level that I want to be,\u201d he says. \u201cIn 2024 I felt like a bit of an outsider. Now I feel like I'm one of the top guys and I have the confidence to just go to the front of a race and control it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Andreas Almgren (Getty)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cI had prepared for \u2018sit-and-kick\u2019 tactics at the Olympics but I missed the Games due to a stress fracture. I then got back into full training in October 2024 and, since then, I've barely had any breaks in my preparation. My form now is just proof of what can happen when you finally get some consistency.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI did some serious heat training ahead of the championships in Tokyo. I knew the humidity would be high. I also worked a lot on my kick and pace changes during the summer, which I hadn\u2019t done in previous years.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

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Almgren is coached by Urban Aruhn, who just last month was voted as <\/span>Coach of the Year at the Swedish Athletics Gala. The pair have worked with each other since 2012 and their relationship has steadily evolved over 14 years.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Almgren competed in the 800m and claimed a bronze medal at the 2014 European Junior Championships in 1:45.65, a time that still stands as the Swedish under-20 record. He lowered that two-lap PB to 1:45.59 in 2015 but was then dogged by multiple injuries over a number of years.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In 2019, whilst sitting on a training bike as part of rehabilitation from a stress fracture in his sacrum, he watched compatriot Kalle Berglund make the world 1500m final in Doha. That moment was a turning point. After returning from injury Almgren added two double threshold sessions to his training week \u2013 the Norwegian method that inspired Berglund \u2013 and, to test out his new training schedule, competed in the 3000m at the 2020 Swedish Indoor Championships.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Almgren not only broke the Swedish indoor 3000m record with 7:48.34 but beat Berglund by almost 10 seconds. He has since prioritised the longer distances and never looked back.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Andreas Almgren (Getty)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThe type of training that I now do means that I can essentially build a base anywhere from the 1500m to the half-marathon,\u201d Almgren says. \u201cUrban was like a \u2018pure coach\u2019 when I was younger but it\u2019s more of a two-way street now where we discuss base training. So I usually write the programme and then ask him what he thinks about it. He makes me question things. For example, he\u2019ll say: \u2018Do you really think this is the optimal thing for this session?\u2019. If we\u2019re getting near a race, I\u2019ve done well in the session and we\u2019re approaching the last workout, he\u2019ll also say: \u2018Are you sure you need to do this last interval?\u2019. I really like this set-up.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Asked about his current training in Sierra Nevada, Almgren says: \u201cI usually run around 200km per week. On Mondays and Wednesdays I\u2019ve got two easy runs and some strides, which is kind of prehab training. On Tuesdays and Thursdays I do double thresholds.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cFriday is the easiest day, where it\u2019s one easy run of about 10-12km and there\u2019s some strength work as well. On Saturday I have my toughest workout and it\u2019s a mix of hill work and half-marathon training. Then, in the afternoon, it\u2019s an easy run. On Sunday it\u2019s a long run, around 25-30km right now, and some strength work in the afternoon.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cFor my easy runs I always go by feel. So if I feel fatigued I\u2019ll go more slowly and then, if I\u2019m feeling good, I can run them pretty fast. On my long runs I can average anywhere from 3:30 to 4:10\/km.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Training inspiration isn\u2019t in short supply, either. Almgren has spent a lot of time with Jakob Ingebrigtsen and being up close with the Norwegian during sessions has been invaluable.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cTraining with Jakob is definitely motivating,\u201d he says. \u201cWe ran a lot together last winter and he was insanely strong. Everyone saw that when he broke both the world indoor 1500m (3:29.63) and mile (3:49.15) records in Li\u00e9vin. He was then so impressive winning double gold at the European and World Indoor Championships.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve discussed training quite a bit but it\u2019s more the general philosophy than any specific thing like gym routines or nutrition. He\u2019s been very open to me about what he believes in. I think he\u2019s also appreciated training with me as we\u2019re quite similar doing thresholds.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s more when you get to the faster, more specific, workouts that he\u2019s at a different level. I\u2019ve been humbled by him in a lot of them. He can just run so fast without feeling the effects of lactate. I get quite jealous of that.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

So which areas of training does Almgren believe he can improve in? \u201cEverywhere,\u201d he laughs. \u201cI can obviously be faster in sit-and-kick races but I also see myself getting stronger in those \u2018semi-hard\u2019 areas in training \u2013 so not when you\u2019re going full lactic and not when you\u2019re doing thresholds. I\u2019ve developed a lot in that \u2018middle ground\u2019 area over the past year but there\u2019s still a long way to go.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m still learning new things when it comes to thresholds and I also want my body to handle lactate a lot better in the future. I haven\u2019t actually competed in that many longer distance races. I\u2019ve only run two half-marathons [Barcelona 2024 and Valencia 2025], for example. I\u2019ve matured a lot over the past few years and that just comes with experience. I\u2019ve been a lot better at listening to my body.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Andreas Almgren and Jimmy Gressier (Getty)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Almgren will train in Sierra Nevada in the spring before switching to use St Moritz as a base in the summer months. His main goal this year is to secure European 10,000m gold in Birmingham.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI haven\u2019t stood on the top of the podium at a major championships yet,\u201d he says. \u201cI also want to improve my 5000m best of 12:44.27 and lay down a mark of 12:3 something this season [Joshua Cheptegei\u2019s world record of 12:35.36 has stood since 2020].\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

He is undecided on whether to compete in the 5000m at the inaugural World Ultimate Championships in Budapest or the half-marathon at the World Athletics Road Running Championships in Copenhagen. Just six days separate the events in September.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe main thing for me this season, above anything else, is staying injury-free,\" adds Almgren. \u201cI suffered from them over so many years and that stays with you. I feel like I\u2019m in a much better position in my career now so the future will be very interesting.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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European 10km record-holder talks about moving up in the world, making history, training with Jakob Ingebrigtsen and targeting Birmingham gold. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":579563,"featured_media":1040008455,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_searchwp_excluded":"","inline_featured_image":false,"wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_championship":0,"wds_primary_country":0,"wds_primary_sports":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[36,12],"tags":[],"championship":[],"country":[],"sports":[35990,35989,36035],"class_list":["post-1040009823","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interviews","category-news","sports-10000m","sports-5000m","sports-road-events"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/athleticsweekly.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1040009823","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/athleticsweekly.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/athleticsweekly.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/athleticsweekly.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/579563"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/athleticsweekly.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1040009823"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/athleticsweekly.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1040009823\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/athleticsweekly.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1040008455"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/athleticsweekly.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1040009823"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/athleticsweekly.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1040009823"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/athleticsweekly.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1040009823"},{"taxonomy":"championship","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/athleticsweekly.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/championship?post=1040009823"},{"taxonomy":"country","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/athleticsweekly.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/country?post=1040009823"},{"taxonomy":"sports","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/athleticsweekly.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sports?post=1040009823"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}