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Josh Kerr is not afraid to talk and is equally willing to translate his fighting words to the track when he bids to add Olympic gold in an enthralling showdown against his nemesis and defending champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen.
The men’s 1500m final offers sizzling potential; the Norwegian, who has already captured a personal best of 3mins 26.73secs in the build-up to Paris 2024, must combat both strategy and a fierce pace, with the last four major championship finals all below 3mins 30secs. The trash talk between the pair has added extra spice to a race deep with talent and now demanding athletes possess 5000m strength and 800m speed.
Kerr pinned himself to the back of Ingebrigtsen in Budapest and ran a two-miles indoor world best in February, demonstrating immense fitness as well as a sound racing mind.
“I would have beaten him in that race, blindfolded,” Ingebrigtsen later remarked when asked for his views on the race.
So Kerr has hinted at a different strategy for Paris, one which would produce a more spectacular victory, without enough interpretation for his rivals to make excuses that a different winner would have emerged under an alternative tactic.
“They should be expecting one of the most vicious and hardest 1500 metres this sport has seen for a very long time,” Kerr declared, suggesting a race that may approach Hicham El Guerrouj’s mythical world record of 3mins 26.00secs, given Ingebrigtsen’s fitness off the back of the Monaco Diamond League suggests he is capable of running within a second of this time now.
“I am ready to go after it. I think we all are. There has been a lot of talk and words over the last 12 months, even two years. I am looking to settle that on Tuesday and give it my best performance.
“This is my fifth major championship final. I don’t miss these because I am good at what I do. I will show that in the final.
“I have been picturing this for my whole life. It is going to be another day in the office for me. I will put on a performance in front of millions of people. And give our sport the best crowd experience – that’s my job.
“Jakob will try to win, I will try to win, and we will see who wins.”
Ingebrigtsen, usually comfortable to front run in finals, in comparison to his relaxed and lethargic effort initially in heats at the back of the pack, may flirt with Hicham El Guerrouj’s mythical world record of 3mins 26.00secs to break Kerr and the competition.
It may take a world record pace to remove the devastating kick Kerr possesses from 200m out.
Punished twice by Jake Wightman and Kerr, Ingebrigtsen, who possesses immense strength as a two-time world champion at 5000m, has ominously evolved.
Ingebrigtsen’s decision to steadily crank the pace up at the Monaco Diamond League appears to be his antidote to any rivals keen to profit from his work at the front of the race.
That European record saw him go through 400m in 55.17secs, 800m in 1min 50.66secs and then 1200m in 2mins 46.37secs. Despite turning the screw, or rather refusing to allow the pace to drop, he still had enough to surge home in the final 400m in 54.06secs.
It completed an impressive recovery after an Achilles injury deprived him of a chance of glory in front of Kerr’s home crowd at Glasgow World Indoor Championships in February.
The second place at the Prefontaine Classic in May behind Kerr proved a bitter pill to swallow.
“Nobody is confident and has the balls to challenge me,” Ingebrigtsen remarked, having just returned following an Achilles injury that deprived him of a chance of glory in front of Kerr’s home crowd at Glasgow World Indoor Championships.
Yet Kerr is now brimming with confidence, his persona transformed with his bright sunglasses and chiselled beard.
“I achieved one of my life goals last year, winning the World Championship, being the best in the world at something,” Kerr said.
“It’s something I have strived towards that for my own career. That brings more external pressure, with the media and other people’s opinions on you and everything you are doing.
“But no pressure can be more than the internal pressure, and that has not changed one part. I have not changed anything that I do. I feel very, very relaxed coming into these Olympic Games.
“I changed my phone a long time ago. I have been off social media. I am focused on running the fastest and best 1500ms at the OG. That is my job. I feel pretty excited.
“I compared myself to myself. I have run exactly how I wanted to do this year. I am feeling spicy.”
So while Ingebrigtsen remains steadfast in his confidence to beat anybody in the world over 1500m, a different strategy should emerge. If only to avoid lightning striking three times. If he leads this race at his own European record pace and still gets beat, he’ll just have to applaud the better man. Kerr is ready and it promises to be a race for the ages.
