World 1500m champion Kerr and Olympic champion Ingebrigtsen were kept apart in the post-semi-final interview area as tensions ran high
Jakob Ingebrigtsen and Josh Kerr qualified for Tuesday’s Olympic 1500m final with relative ease. There were no mind games, nor any showboating. Drawn in the same race on Sunday (Aug 4), the Norwegian breezed home in 3:32.38 with a businesslike Kerr less than a tenth of a second behind. The post-race interviews were much livelier, though.
“They should just be expecting one of the most vicious and hardest 1500s that people have seen in a very long time,” said Kerr when asked what might be in store for fans in the final.
“I’m ready to go after it. I think we all are,” he added. “There’s been a lot of talk and words over the last kind of 12 months, or even two years. I’m just looking to settle that a little bit on Tuesday and give it my best performance.”
When Kerr’s comments were put to Ingebrigtsen moments later, the Norwegian, who was wearing a face mask, said: “So, no words from now on?” before putting his hand over his mouth.
The two men were deliberately kept apart in the athlete and media mixed zone in the underbelly of the Stade de France. Organisers felt it would be too awkward to have them standing a metre or two away from each other answering questions so they set up areas for each athlete to field some questions.
Josh Kerr and Jakob Ingebrigtsen (Getty)
Netflix are in town filming their second series on sprinters but perhaps they have picked the wrong event. The men’s 1500m final will be the must-watch race of the Games after a build-up full of trash talk and insults.
In recent months Kerr has accused Ingebrigtsen of having “flaws on the track and in the manners realm” and being surrounded by “yes men”. Ingebrigtsen countered by claiming he could beat Kerr blindfolded when fit and then, as the Games commenced in Paris, he said Kerr is an athlete who is known for hardly ever racing.
Kerr said on Sunday: “It’s my fifth major championship final in a row. I don’t miss these because I’m good at what I do and I’m going to show that in the final.”
On his semi-final, the world champion added: “It was a pretty standard 3:32 to be honest. There aren’t any lane draws in the 1500m that make any difference in the final. I just needed to get top six which is almost easier qualification than the first round. I just got myself further up the front and it was a simple day for me.”
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