Josh Kerr is blocking out the noise as he begins his bid to compete in what he believes will be “one of the best 1500m races of all time” against Jakob Ingebrigtsen.
The reigning world champion takes to the Stade de France track in the first of three heats tomorrow morning at 10.10am, with fellow Brits Neil Gourley and George Mills also looking to book places in Sunday’s semi-finals.
Next Tuesday’s final is set to include one of the most eagerly awaited head-to-heads of Paris 2024 as Kerr renews his rivalry with outspoken Norwegian Ingebrigtsen.
Ingebrigtsen, alongside his two brothers, released a song on the eve of the Games entitled “Ingen gjør det bedre” (“Nobody does it better”) and clocked a European record in Monaco last month.
But Kerr is not letting his rival’s on, or off-track actions affect him ahead of their titanic tussle.
Focused
“I changed my phone a long time ago and I have been off social media for a long time, so I don’t know about that [song],” he said.
“I’m focused on running the fastest race at the Olympic Games and I’m pretty excited about that.
“Monaco is a fast race every year and a couple of weeks out from an Olympics, there will always be fast times.
“I thrive more off a hard training camp, and I’ve beaten people with a lot faster PBs than me before, so I’m not too worried about it.
“We have created this rivalry over the last couple of years and I’m excited to race. It’s going to turn out to be one of the best 1500m races of all time.
“I compare myself to myself and I have run exactly how I wanted to this year. I’m feeling spicy.”
The 26-year-old from Edinburgh has traded plenty of verbal blows with Ingebrigtsen in recent years.
Kerr has accused his Scandinavian adversary of surrounding himself by ‘yes men’, while Ingebrigtsen, who has put his defeats against Kerr and Jake Wightman at the last two World Championships down to illness, has claimed he could beat the Scot blindfolded if fully fit.
“People can write whatever story about me, I’m really enjoying my life right now,” he said.
“I’m involved in one of the best 1500m eras of all time. That will create rivalry, big battles, and headlines.
“I’m going to answer questions honestly and people will spin that however they want to, and that’s OK, that’s everyone’s prerogative.
Captain Kerr
“I’m cool with it and I’m going to continue to be myself. I’m here to run fast and bring medals home to my country.”
Kerr is captaining the British athletics team in the French capital and addressed the squad last weekend before they made the trip across the Channel.
“The message was that we are in such an amazing position right now,” added the Tokyo bronze medallist, who is one of over 1,000 elite athletes on UK Sport’s National Lottery-funded World Class Programme and hailed the impact of the funding on fuelling his World Championship triumph two years later.
“Over the next couple of weeks, these results are going to last for decades, and we are in full control of that.
“As a team, we are a medal threat across the board. On the field or on the track, we are going to be going after medals.”
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