Ingebrigtsen feud fuels Kerr to go the distance

Should world champion Josh Kerr make it to the final of the men's 1,500m at the Paris Olympics, he will likely line up against Jakob Ingebrigtsen in what is shaping to be one of the tastiest track rivalries of the Summer Games.

Kerr and Ingebrigtsen have traded barbs since the Scot swept past the Norwegian to snatch world gold in Budapest last year.

It was a remarkable repeat of teammate Jake Wightman's victory over Ingebrigtsen at the 2022 Eugene worlds, where Kerr claimed bronze.

Kerr, 26, has gone on to claim the world indoor 3,000m title in March in Glasgow, shortly after setting a new indoor 2-mile world record.

"I'm the mailman, I guess!" Kerr said of his ability to deliver.

Ingebrigtsen, however, claimed that he could have beaten Kerr in the 2-mile race "blindfolded".

"But, it's good that people run better than they have done before," said Ingebrigtsen, who wrapped up a third 1,500m and 5,000m golden double at the European championships in Rome.

For his part, Kerr has said that he thinks that Ingebrigtsen has some "major weakness" and flaws in the "manners realm", all the while praising his rival as "very dedicated and amazing at our sport".

"He also wants to be the best in the world and so do I, and that's going to make us clash 10 times out of 10. I'll always have respect for his performances."

Jonathan Edwards, the reigning world record triple jump holder, told reporters that fans craved the kind of competition that could throw up the odd prickly exchange.

"That thing between Josh Kerr and Ingebrigtsen is great, it's really good. You need those rivalries," Edwards said.

"The essence of athletics is faster, further, higher. There is something about the pursuit of excellence for excellence's sake, and that records should still be held up as the gold standard, because I think that's the essence of track and field.

"But, rivalries are important, and I think they are the root of track and field."

Kerr called the rivalry "great", saying everyone was "trying to go after that title".

"You never want to be involved in an era where it's boring in the 1,500m, where you know who is going to win it.

"We're having a bit of fun back and forth, aren't we?"

Kerr and Ingebrigtsen's ding-dong mirrors the rivalries between now-World Athletics president Sebastian Coe and British teammate Steve Ovett, or Ethiopia's Haile Gebrselassie and Kenyan Paul Tergat.

"There are a bunch of athletes who are very good," Edwards told reporters referring to British middle-distance runners, with Keely Hodgkinson, Jemma Reekie and Laura Muir flying the flag for the women's team.

"It's phenomenal. We thought those days (for Britain) were over, but here we are, almost as strong as ever."

While the athletics program in Paris kicks off on Aug 1, Kerr revealed that he had visited the French capital over Christmas.

"I wanted to go over there and see what the track was like for the Olympics," he said. "I wanted to see the Stade de France and just familiarize myself with the surroundings as much as I could."

Kerr said the visit was where the "forward planning started".

"I am a planner by nature. I like to know where I am going to be; what the stadium and the track are like; where I am going to race.

"It is nice to know that stuff when you are creating scenarios in your head — while training weeks and months in advance. It gives you the right context for things. That is why I went."

Notwithstanding the stray elbows and tactics involved in safely negotiating heats and semifinals, Kerr's showdown with Ingebrigtsen — and potentially Wightman — on day six of the Olympic athletics calendar promises to be one of the must-watch events on the Stade de France's purple track.

"It's going to be a fantastic season of 1,500m running. I don't think I'm going to win them all, but I'm going to win the right one," Kerr said. "It's my goal. That's what I'm focusing on."

AFP