Josh Kerr’s one track mind

British miler talks about that Olympic final, his hopes for the Grand Slam Track League and why he won’t be keep any thoughts on his rivals to himself

So far, this hasn’t been a winter of discontent for Josh Kerr. There has been no brooding or moping around his Seattle home over an Olympic 1500m final of epic proportions that he had done so much to build up but ended with him falling fractionally short of the outcome he so desperately wanted. 

The silver lining of coming second to Cole Hocker’s searing Stade de France surge in the closing metres is the knowledge that “nothing was left on the table” as he replaced Mo Farah as the British record-holder with a run of 3:27.79. It was very much the case that Hocker won gold rather than the world champion giving it away.

“What allows me to be content is that I did everything I could for the best result, and that was the best result I could ever get,” says the Edinburgh AC athlete. “I’m not like: ‘I should have done this or that, and the result would have changed’. That was the best 1500m race I’ve ever run, and could be the best 1500m race I will ever run in my life. [Silver] wasn’t what we wanted but I’m still very proud of what it was.”

It was a final that lived up to the considerable hype, much of it generated by the very public and less than friendly verbal sparring that had played out between Kerr and his arch rival Jakob Ingebrigtsen. In the end, Paris didn’t come down to a prize fight between those two big names and instead it was Hocker who delivered the knockout blow. 

“I feel like I’m a massive reason why that race was as hyped up as it was, and I feel a great amount of responsibility for that,” says Kerr. “I know the other 1500m guys are pretty thankful for how big a stage we made that. I think we put on a show. We made people care about our sport.”

Expect more of the same in 2025. When asked about the likes of Hocker and third-placed Yared Nuguse having gatecrashed the party, and if that means the mind games and outspoken exchanges with Ingebrigtsen are likely to be dialled down, Kerr’s response suggests that, if anything, the flames are going to be fanned even more vigorously. 

“I’m trying to be the best 1500m runner of our era, and that means I need to have more titles than everyone else and run faster times, so anyone that’s going to challenge that will hear my honest opinion on their life and their…