The Paris Olympics 2024 are full of some classic long-standing rivalries between athletes at the peak of their powers.
There's Eliud Kipchoge vs. Kenenisa Bekele in the men's marathon, Mutaz Essa Barsham and Gianmarco Tamberi's reunion in the men's high jump, and potentially Sha'Carri Richardson's opportunity to rekindle her battle with Jamaican duo Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Shericka Jackson in the women's 100m.
One rivalry that deserves to be mentioned in the same breath is the eternal tussle between Timothy Cheruiyot and Jakob Ingebrigtsen in the men's 1500m, a one-on-one competition-within-a-competition that has shaped the careers of both men and seen each raise their game in a bid to beat the other.
"Rivalry is good," Kenya's Cheruiyot told ESPN. "I never shy away from racing. I will turn up when and where I can so long as it fits my season planning.
"I was the one dominating at first with wins all of the time. I was ranked World No. 1 for 173 weeks consecutively at one time, [but] now Jakob has been beating me these past few years."
It's Ingebrigtsen who enters the competition in Paris as favourite to clinch gold, having broken the Olympic record in Tokyo with a time of 3:28.32, before setting -- in July this year -- the World leading record of 3:26.73 in Monaco amidst an increasingly stacked field.
In Tokyo, it was Ingebrigtsen who took gold as Cheruiyot had to accept silver, while the Norwegian also beat his rival to gold at the World Championships of 2022 and 2023, following the Kenyan's success in 2019.
It wasn't always this way.
The first notable clash between the pair came at the Lausanne Athletissima in 2019, when Ingebrigtsen -- then only 19 -- memorably finished second only behind Cheruiyot. The Kenyan may have taken the victory, but in the headline-stealing Ingebrigtsen -- breaking a European U-20 record and setting a personal best in the process -- it was clear that the pack leader had to contend with a young lion who would have a say in the East African's end-of-career medal haul.
In the Diamond League, Cheruiyot has four 1500m golds -- compared to Ingebrigtsen's one -- but it was the European who had the more recent triumph when he eclipsed his rival by three hundredths of a second during a dramatic conclusion to the Oslo Diamond League race in May.
On that occasion, with Cheruiyot catching up with and then threatening to overtake his rival down the final straight, the difference between the two men was solely due to Ingebrigtsen's last-gasp dive across the finish line that gave him victory at the expense of Cheruiyot.
On this occasion, on home soil, it was the young lion, a sense of panic crossing his typically unfaltering features, who learned the feeling of his adversary breathing down his neck and threatening his place atop the podium.
"I can't wait to race at my second Olympics and to race against the very best in the world," the 28-year-old continued. "[Jakob and I] don't communicate with each other ahead of events, although the morning after the Oslo DL, we did bump into each other in the gym. "He asked if I was going to be practicing my diving," Cheruiyot chuckled. "We had a laugh about it."
The 28-year-old's last success in a major competition came at the Doha World Championships in 2019, when he took gold as Ingebrigtsen finished fourth. Since then, while the Norwegian's stature has grown, Cheruiyot has struggled with injuries that reached a nadir at last year's World Athletics Championship in Budapest.
He suffered a knee injury warming up only minutes before the semifinal began, and was ultimately sidelined for nine months, with the athlete's distinctive forward-leaning running style conspicuous in its absence from major athletics events during that period.
"I was so disappointed not to reach the final at the Budapest Worlds," the 'Chariot' continued. "It was my first ever time not to be in the final at a World Championship since the beginning of my career.
"This knee injury was serious and the worst of my career to date. I had to be strict with rehab, have international expertise and medical support as well as support at home in Nairobi.
"Now, I'm injury free and that's the most important thing."
It wasn't the first time that injury has slowed the former world champion down, with Cheruiyot also revealing that his silver-medal-winning performance at the last Olympics came amidst fitness concerns.
"In Tokyo, I was managing a hamstring injury [as well], but thankfully, through much hard work and rehab since Budapest, my body is feeling much stronger.
"My races in the Diamond League -- Doha, Oslo, Monaco -- have all shown me where my shape is, as I've gone from 3:31 to 3:29 to 3:28, so this is a great confidence-builder." He may have been defeated by Ingebrigtsen again, but the Norwegian's desperation in having to dive across the finishing line to secure victory was proof enough for Cheruiyot that he was returning to his best.
"I was nervous going into the Doha DL in May - it was my first 1500m event since Budapest nine months earlier -- but I was really pleased, and the next two [meets] were evidence that I was back, especially the close race in Oslo with Jakob."
It's clear that an immense mutual respect has developed between Cheruiyot and his long-term rival, with both clearly relishing the prospect of testing themselves against each other again when the heats begin on August 2.
"Your competition is always going to keep you on your toes," Cheruiyot noted. "It's not just Jakob, but [Oliver] Hoare [AUS], Josh [Kerr, GB], [Yared] Nguse [USA], Jake, my fellow up-and-coming Kenyans.
"But when it comes to who is the fastest: I am... next to Jakob."
Cheruiyot will surely get the chance to prove it -- up against young lion Ingebrigtsen once more -- in the 1500m final on August 6.
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