The Brit claimed the top spot in Florida as four Grand Slam champions were crowned

Josh Kerr found redemption in Miami, capturing the men's Short Distance title after a standout weekend capped by a personal best of 1:45.01 in the 800m on Saturday night (May 3). The win marked a strong bounce back from a disappointing outing at the opening Grand Slam event in Jamaica.

Kerr kicked off his Miami campaign on Friday night with a victory in the 1500m. The Olympic bronze medallist led from the front to beat Yared Nuguse and Cole Hocker, crossing the line in 3:34.51 and securing the maximum 12 points available.

Heading into Saturday's 800m, Kerr held a strong position, though the event is not his specialty. The race saw Marco Arop repeat his Kingston success, surging to victory in a season's best 1:43.69. Behind him came Challenger's Kethobogile Haingura (1:43.75) and Peter Bol (1:44.13).

With the leading pack dominated by 800m specialists, the Tokyo 1500m podium of Nuguse, Kerr, and Hocker found themselves battling for valuable points in the chase group. All three ran personal bests: Nuguse clocked 1:44.77 to finish fourth, adding five points to the eight he earned in Friday’s 1500m. Kerr was close behind in fifth, while Hocker followed in sixth with 1:45.13.

Kerr’s combined total of 16 points — 12 from the 1500m and four from the 800m — was enough to clinch the overall title. Remarkably, it's the fewest points any Grand Slam champion has accumulated so far, showing the level of competition in the men's Short Distance field.

The win also served as personal redemption for Kerr after a disappointing showing in Jamaica (April 4–6), where he finished fifth in the 1500m and eighth in the 800m, landing seventh overall as Emmanuel Wanyonyi claimed the top spot.

Reflecting on his turnaround in Miami, Kerr said: "We were just looking for progress in this Grand Slam. We didn’t want to force anything coming off a pretty disappointing Jamaica. I think progress was definitely the name of the game this week. That allowed me to come in pretty relaxed and just ready to fight for wins. I was able to do that yesterday which put me in the drivers for today.

"I'm very happy coming out with a PB today. Execution was awesome. It’s hard to get these Grand Slams. To get my first one out the way is awesome and bringing it back in for the Racers versus the Challengers, we’re one and one in this race group so we’ve got some work to do.

"I think you can get busy trying to do math in your head in the last 100m or you can just make sure you’re trying to get to the line as fast as possible. For me, getting a PB today was huge and shows progress in that side of training. I definitely think we got some more sharpening to do before the end of the Grand Slam season. We’re having fun with it.

"It would be nice to get a day off in between like those long distance guys but it's a good gauntlet for us to keep working at it."

Alongside Kerr, there were three more athletes crowned Grand Slam champions on the second night of competition, with Melissa Jefferson-Wooden becoming the first athlete to claim back-to-back titles.

Jefferson-Wooden, who previously won in Kingston, sealed her second Short Sprints crown after a strong showing across both the 100m and 200m. The Olympic bronze medallist ran a personal best of 22.15 (1.1) in the 200m, finishing third in that race but adding crucial points to the 12 she earned on Friday night by winning the 100m in a wind-aided 10.75 (2.4). That gave her a total of 18 points — just enough to edge out Gabby Thomas and secure the $100,000 prize.

It was a narrow victory. Thomas, a specialist in the 200m, delivered in her preferred event, winning in 21.95. However, her fourth place in the 100m limited her to 17 points overall — just one shy of the top spot.

With wins in both Kingston and Miami, Jefferson-Wooden walks away from the opening two Slams with a combined $200,000 in prize money, all earned within the span of a single month.

She said: "I came out here and did what I knew I could. Obviously I wanted to win the 200m but going up against some of the best girls, I knew that in order to get what I wanted to I was going to have to push outside of myself and what I knew I was capable of and I feel like I did just that. I got a huge PB out of it and I’m excited for Philly now.

"I feel like Grand Slam is doing what it set out to do and that’s putting the best against each other every single time we step on the track. When we come out here, especially on the women's side, nobody’s ducking or talking about ‘I’m in this part of my training’. It’s all about right now and who has it on that day. I feel like so far, two slams in, we’re doing that."

In the women’s Short Hurdles, the spotlight initially fell on Masai Russell, who ran an American record of 12.17 in the 100m hurdles on Friday night — also the second-fastest time in history. However, it was Jamaica’s Ackera Nugent who emerged as the overall champion.

Nugent matched her personal best of 11.09 (0.9) to win the 100m flat on Saturday. Combined with her third place in the hurdles, she tallied 18 points—enough to secure the Short Hurdles title. Russell, who finished fourth in the flat with a personal best of 11.40, ended just one point behind.

The men’s Long Sprints title was also decided, with Trinidad & Tobago’s Jereem Richards taking home the crown. Richards finished second in the 400m with a season’s best 44.32, which, when added to his world-leading 19.86 in the 200m on Friday, gave him the edge.

Still, much of the attention went to Jacory Patterson, the unsponsored 25-year-old who stunned the field with a breakthrough performance. Patterson clocked 43.98 in the 400m to claim the win, setting a personal best and world lead. He outpaced Olympic silver medallist Matthew Hudson-Smith, who finished third, implying to media after that he was struggling with a hamstring issue.

"I can’t even put it into words right now," said Patterson. "I ain’t feel right in the 400m since 2021 so I got a new coach. Everything we’ve been doing has been hitting so we’re just going to keep the ball rolling."