Josh Kerr beat his great 1500m rival Jakob Ingebrigtsen yesterday in the Olympic Games final but it was not enough to claim gold at the Stade de France.
Kerr, favourite before last night’s race, came home in second with a British record behind surprise winner Cole Hocker of the USA, who broke the Olympic record in claiming his gold.
Fellow American Yared Nuguse sandwiched Kerr on the podium with Ingebrigtsen only able to finish fourth. All four men were below the previous Olympic record, set by Ingebrigtsen in Tokyo.
Kerr was looking to become the first Brit since Lord Seb Coe in 1984 to win a men’s 1500m gold for Team GB.
Kerr realistic
“I can’t walk away from this championship disappointed,” Kerr said. “But I put in a performance out there today that I was extremely proud of. I focused on my controllables and ran the fastest and best tactical 1500m I have ever run in my life.
“So when you start worrying about what everyone else has done you’ll never be satisfied.
“It’s not the colour of medal I want but it is working towards the right colour.”
Team GB finished just 0.02 off the 200m podium after Dina Asher-Smith (fourth) and Daryll Neita (fifth) finished behind eventual winner Gabby Thomas. Saint Lucia’s Julien Alfred and Brittany Brown completed the medals.
A medal for Britain would have been their first in women’s 200m running since 1960.
Matthew Hudson-Smith won his semi-final to reach the 400m final this evening. His time was the slowest of the three semi-final winners but the Brit eased up after storming into the lead in the first 200m of the one-lap race. Bellow Brit Charlie Dobson did not progress.
Lina Nielsen tripped and fell on the last hurdle to leave Team GB without a representative in the final of the women’s 400m hurdles – Jessie Knight also failed to progress.
The gold medal is likely to come down to a battle between Dutch hurdler Femke Bol and American Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone in what many are suggesting could be the athletics race of the Olympics.
Today at the Stade de France eyes will be on finals in the steeplechase, discus and pole vault – as well as Hudson-Smith’s 400m – but track and field will also see the first Olympic edition of the marathon race walk mixed relay this morning, where various distances – 42km combined – are completed by men and women.