Josh Kerr meets the GB athletics writers, Part 1

Be careful what you wish for. 

Seb Coe, the President of World Athletics, told assembled media at the very end of December 2023 that he wants the very top competition in every WA Champs event. 

I recall Seb’s smile when he gave Jake Wightman his medal in Eugene. I also recall Seb smiling with Josh Kerr and his win in Budapest! Josh Kerr gives Stuart Weir a rather intimate view into this level of competition, and as a fan of World Athletics, please enjoy this first part of the Josh Kerr Interview from senior writer for Europe, Stuart Weir. 

Josh Kerr meets the GB athletics writers,  Part 1

Josh Kerr took time out before Christmas to chat to the GB athletics writers.  He is always a witty and engaging interviewee.  The discussion inevitably turned to the Paris Olympics. “I focus on the one day. August 6th is my day, and I know that one by heart it’s just going to be everything working back from that moment, and we’ll get there”. He added in terms of his ability to get it right on the day that he had run a season’s best or personal best in every major final since 2019.     

We were interested in how life had changed for him as World Champion, meaning that he would be the favorite rather than an outsider.  He seemed unfazed as usual: “I’ve gone through that stage, every part of my career. Whether it was Scotland, the UK, Europe, the US, and now the world like I’ve got to that point, and I’ve won, and I’ve had to defend, and I know how difficult it is.  And it’s going to be even more difficult on the world stage. But I’m not the current Olympic champion. I am the current Olympic bronze medallist, and I’m gonna go after that gold medal, and that’s not a situation of like, ‘Oh, I feel like I deserve like to go after it’. I’ve earned everything that I’ve got in my career up to this point, and I’m going to earn the right to be in that conversation, and I’ll show that through performance. And I’ll show that through a kind of mental resilience in everything that comes. my way this year.

“I’ve had these Olympics circled for a very, very long time, 12 years to be exact. And I realized at that point, at 26, I would be at the peak of my career and for the 1500. it made sense that this would be the one. So, I’m…