Josh Kerr: "I can’t see Jakob running the 1500m for another Olympic cycle"
Will we ever see an Olympic 1500m rematch between Josh Kerr and Jakob Ingebrigtsen? The Scotsman is not so sure.
Still processing the events of the night before, during which he broke the British record and took silver behind surprise winner Cole Hocker, the world champion admitted he “didn’t envy” the Norwegian’s Paris schedule that meant he was straight back on to the Stade de France track to contest the heats of the men’s 5000m on Wednesday morning (August 7).
Ingebrigtsen won his in 13:51.59 and the two-time world champion over the longer distance looked comfortable in doing so. “I'm lucky because I get a second chance to show what I'm good for,” he said.
After a third consecutive global 1500m final in which he missed out on first place – this time finishing outside of the medals completely – it’s natural to question if the 2021 Olympic champion might soon be done with the metric mile, when it comes to championships racing at least.
His record over 12-and-a-half laps is formidable and there have even been suggestions that the half marathon might be a distance to which he is perfectly suited. Even though he is the European record-holder, there is now a clear Achilles heel for the European champion when it comes to the 1500m – Cole Hocker being the latest to expose it, despite the Norwegian’s attempts to destroy the opposition by setting a blistering pace.
The hype around that unforgettable Olympic final was caused, largely, by the feud between Kerr and Ingebrigsten and the fact that both have been tearing strips off one another for the past year. By the time LA 2028 rolls around, however, the event might be in need of another rivalry to build the narrative around.
Asked if he thinks Ingebrigtsen might start to turn his full attention to the longer events, Kerr said: “He’s obviously pretty dominant in the 5000m and he’s closing faster than all of those guys. We’ll see. I can’t see him running the 1500m for another whole Olympic cycle but, again, he’s running really, really fast times so that’s not for me to determine. I’ll be sticking to my 1500m. I don’t think my 13:23 is going to get me anywhere near the medals in the 5000m any time soon.”
For his part, Ingebrigtsen was magnanimous in defeat, an impressive Instagram post offering warm congratulations to the medallists. Does this mean we might be about to see an end to these verbal hostilities?
“Well, you never know,” grins Kerr. “I’ve heard that he’s said something nice. I’ll believe it when I see it. Obviously, it was a big race, a fast race, he took it out pretty hard, which is a very brave move. I think both of us got beaten by the better man. That was the result yesterday. I feel it was pretty fair.”
Hocker’s win was no fluke, given his proven quality and finishing speed, but it’s also true that he took almost three seconds from his personal best, producing the performance of his life during the biggest race of his life to break the Olympic record.
Kerr knows from personal experience, though, that such big leaps can happen when the right ingredients are place.
“I think he [Hocker] has taken a similar approach to me, where he hasn’t taken the Diamond League circuit massively seriously compared to a lot of other higher-end 1500m runners,” adds Kerr. “It has served him well, but it hasn’t shown in the PBs. I hadn’t run a PB since 2021 until last night. I came into the Olympics in 2021 with a 3:32 PB and came out with a 3:29.0. You can make those jumps – you’re just not in the right races at the right times.
“He was very much focused on 5000m during the season and he’s evidently peaked at the right time. I thought maybe he had pushed the boat out a little bit too much at the US trials by doubling up with the 5000m.
"But I knew how much of a danger he was. To win the US trials coming in, you are always going to be a big danger. To beat Yared [Nuguse] the way he did was pretty special. Did I think he could run 3:27? Not particularly. But I hadn’t run 3:27 at that point. I didn’t know what it took. He’s put together one heck of a performance that I am sure he is incredibly proud of.”
When it comes to Kerr’s future, he has a wedding to plan for next year, as well as the defence of his world title in Tokyo. He has also signed up to be part of Grand Slam Track, the new athletics league that is the brainchild of former 200m and 400m world champion Michael Johnson that will also be a feature of the 2025 calendar.
“I am the first guy to sign with that league,” says Kerr. “I am really excited to be involved in all four meets. I knew after the Olympics I was going to be another challenge to keep the motivation going and try something a little bit different to keep the racing strategies sharp. That was the decision.
“It sounds like we will have some great athletes going head to head every month or so. We have an indoor and outdoors World Championships, too, so we are not going to be dry of competition. I think it will be nice to do that instead if time trialling every month.”
Kerr’s immediate future involves some rest and recovery. He described upgrading his 2021 Olympic bronze to silver as having been “bittersweet”, yet still he is the first Scottish track athlete to win medals at two Olympics and heads home from Paris having succeeded Mo Farah as the British 1500m record-holder.
“It means a lot,” he says. “Being able to be at this part of my career and knowing that I have a lot left to give and still come away from all these championships with medals – it might not always be the medals that I want, but it’s still medals. It’s the consistency that I feel like I can bring to the sport.
"I am ready, when the lights are on and the pressure is on, I know I can turn up, I know I have that consistency, to be able to bring those stats back to Scotland and break that British record that I have wanted for a very long time. It really does mean a lot. It’s a big stepping stone in my career.”
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