Katy Barden talks to the European 400m champion about her move from combined events and the work that has seen her make such rapid progress on the track.

Age: 23. Coach: Unn Merete Jæger

European 400m champion and Norwegian record-holder Henriette Jæger was previously a talented multi-eventer and holds the world under-18 heptathlon best of 6301. She is now a force to be reckoned with over one lap, an event she has focused on since the spring of 2023.

Her progression has been impressive. In her first full year at the distance she lowered her best from 51.03 to 49.85. She improved that to 49.49 in 2025 and in 2026 has re-written the record books on multiple occasions, ending the season with her first sub-49 second clocking (48.78) – a mark that she and her coach had identified as one of her goals for this year – at ATHLOS in London.

“We were a little bit surprised that it came [so late in the season] at ATHLOS,” admits the 23-year-old who won gold in the 400m and 4x400m mixed relay at the European Championships in Birmingham in August, a personal highlight this year together with winning gold at the World Relays in Botswana. 

The strong base Jæger created while training for seven events has contributed to her power over one, giving her an advantage in spite of her relative newness to the discipline. There are additional factors too of course; she is training more and running “longer” and, alongside her coach (and mother) Unn Merete, she had linked up with the Dutch training group led by Laurent Meuwly.

“We have changed a little bit [in training],” she says. “Before, I only ran 300m as the longest rep but now I have started to run 500m and to work on my speed when I have lactic.”

“The goal is always to develop the speed, the endurance, the anaerobic and the aerobic endurance,” adds coach Jæger. “When it comes to strength, she’s got pretty much enough, but those elements I just mentioned, those are the elements we've been working on. 

“This is only the third year she's been going all in for the 400m, so with the same training, no injuries, just building a little bit more each year, she will develop, and that's what's happened this year. She has a great, great, talent for the 400m, we already knew that, but now she’s got more training in the box.”

The incentive to look outside of Norway for a training group came from a desire to improve further from both athlete and coach. The pair joined Meuwly’s group in January and in April went with them to Potchefstroom in South Africa.

Jæger has enjoyed the “fantastic sense of community and having such a great group of people to train with”. She says: “It is very motivating to push each other, surrounded by girls who are at a similar level and share many of the same ambitions. I have also really appreciated the opportunity to learn through testing and training alongside experienced coaches and athletes.”

“We’ve never had a [women’s] 400m runner at this level in Norway, so we don’t have anything to compare to,” explains her coach. “Laurent and the Dutch group are very open and they share a lot of their training knowledge, so we're very happy to be able to join them in practice. I’ve learned a lot as a coach because I also need to get up on a higher level. 

“We have our own training philosophy and approach, which we continue to follow and strongly believe in, but we have been incredibly fortunate to learn so much from them. We truly appreciate the knowledge and experience they have shared with us and that's maybe some of the reason [for Henriette’s success this season].”

A typical training week

Unless she is on camp, Henriette Jæger lives and trains in Oslo. The structure of her training week remains consistent throughout the year but the specifics vary depending on the time of year. While cross training is a constant, the cross trainer can be replaced by swimming, aqua-jogging or rowing.

“It’s about making a good foundation,” says coach Jæger. “I think of training as building a house. You can't just start with the roof, you have to build in the ground first, you know? So that's my philosophy, to make that solid so Henriette can handle all the training and the more specific training that comes when it's getting closer to the season.”

Monday: sprints, bounding (“heavy sprints, pushing and with more force”), plus general strength.

Tuesday: endurance session e.g., treadmill session on the Alter-G and core balance circuit. “I run on the Alter-G treadmill because I’m trying to get used to more training,” explains Jæger. “A great session could be 10-15 x 1 minute on/15 seconds off or 2 x (6 x 2min on/30sec off). The total distance depends on where we are in the season (on the track it will be around 3500m). We measure the blood and try to keep the lactic down.”

Wednesday: speed endurance e.g., 150m reps plus bounding. “Speed endurance becomes race pace when we get close to a competition,” says Jæger. “In the winter we do it indoors, but on the track in Potchefstroom it’s e.g., 3 x (3 x 150m) with five minutes between efforts and 10 minutes between sets. We're always working at the average, so we try to be consistent and not so far between the fastest rep to the slowest rep.”

Thursday: cross-trainer (“low-impact training to take pressure off the tendons and bones”) plus upper body strength and core.

Friday: speed day - sprints, bounding and specific strength e.g., sledge and bounding with resistance. “We can also do a lot of jumping, so we'll find a hill and I jump uphill, for example when doing Sprunglauf,” says Jæger.

Saturday: lactic session (currently on hills e.g., 200m or 300m hills with short rest but when closer to competition it’s race pace on the track with longer rest).

Sunday: rest/recovery day including e.g., massage, ice bath, bike.

Favourite session

“I really like a lactic session, like 4 x 300m with five or six minutes rest. That's a really hard one but it's a good one and, when I'm in good shape, it's actually really fun.”

Least favourite session

“The cross-trainer. It takes up so much time!”