Kerr v Ingebrigtsen – the rivalry we never knew we needed

Jakob Ingebrigtsen reckons he can beat Josh Kerr blindfolded when fully fit.

World champion Kerr says the Olympic gold medallist has “flaws on the track and in the manners realm”. And that he’s surrounded by “yes men”.

But when the gun heralds the start of the men’s 1500m in the Stade de France on Tuesday, talk will fall silent. Deed will take over.

Barring a significant shock, one of these two will be crowned Olympic champion in Paris. It will be “one of the most vicious and hardest 1500m races seen in a very long time”, according to Team GB captain Kerr.

“There’s been a lot of words over the last two years,” added the Tokyo bronze medallist. “I’m just looking to settle that. I’m ready to go after it.”

These two do not like each other. It’s visceral yet palpable. They were even judiciously kept apart when they spoke to the media after the semi-finals, from which the Norwegian qualified just ahead of his Scottish rival.

“So, no words from now on?” asked Ingebrigtsen before putting his hand over his mouth when told of Kerr’s comments.

These are two men without a filter but with a burning desire to prove they are the best in the world over three and three quarter laps of the track.

A little before 20:00 BST – live on BBC One – they will have the chance to prove it.

Most observers think the niggle started when Ingebrigtsen was beaten in Budapest by Kerr in the World Championship final in 2023.

But the source of their simmering hostility is actually 12 months earlier than that.

Boy wonder Ingebrigtsen, a year after winning gold in an Olympic record in Tokyo, arrived at the 2022 Worlds in Eugene expecting to be garlanded with gold again.

What he didn’t expect was Jake Wightman to run away from him down the stretch.

“A lesser athlete,” is how the stung Norwegian described the Edinburgh runner.

Wightman was amused rather than annoyed. But the slight against his childhood pal piqued Kerr. Ingebrigtsen needed dealing with.

In Budapest a year later, he was.

Ingebrigtsen cruised though the rounds and was doing the same in the final until Kerr, shielded by shades, shifted on to his shoulder with 200m left, kicked hard, and outlasted him down the home straight.

The silver medallist told anyone who would listen that he was ill. Not at his best. That Kerr was just “the next guy”. Another shock defeat, another petulant reaction.

Ingebrigtsen is, indisputably, the faster of the two.

He’s the Olympic record holder. His personal best of three minutes 26.73 seconds – set in Monaco last month – is more than two seconds quicker. He’s also competing in the 5,000m here so, in theory, should have better endurance.

But the 1500m at a championship is not a Diamond League time trial. There is no pacemaker to drag the big boys along to a faster finish.

They are not running in isolation against the clock. They’re bumping and jostling. Surging and easing off. Administering a clip of the ankle here and a jab of the elbow there.

Kerr lives for that kind of racing. He considers himself among the “best finishers” in the world. In Budapest, his time was slow, but it was quicker than Ingebrigtsen’s.

So how might the Norwegian feel if he’s leading again with a lap to go in Paris and Kerr on his shoulder? Will Budapest be in his mind?

The two have raced 15 times over 1500m since the World Under-20 Championships in 2016. That day Ingebrigtsen was ninth. Kerr 10th.

The Norwegian has had the best of 12 of the meetings since. Which makes it all the more puzzling that Kerr seems to consume his thoughts as much as he appears to.

In Sunday’s semi-final in Paris, Ingebrigtsen allowed Kerr to surge ahead in the first lap before losing patience and slingshotting himself to the front.

“I think this is a sign of weakness from Ingebrigtsen,” said former world champion and Olympic silver medallist Steve Cram on BBC One.

“If he was super-confident, he could get through this semi without going anywhere near the front until about 500m to go. I think that’s a feather in the cap for Josh.”

While nursing an Achilles injury over the winter, Ingebrigtsen had to deal with a very public fallout and criminal charges against father and coach Gjert – who denies the allegations – as well as watch Kerr become world indoor champion over 3,000m.

But more than the medal, it would have been the aura the Scot seemed to run with that might have discomfited him. The field were scared of him.

Defeat by Kerr over a mile in Eugene in May won’t have helped assuage any doubts. And neither will what has happened here so far.

Kerr visited the Stade de France last Christmas, talked his way into the stadium, stood on the finishing line and pictured what winning gold would be like.

His fiancee Larimar presented him with a medal. He’s had his tactics for this race noted on his phone for years. He wants this badly.

“Josh is going to believe it into existence,” said former Olympic heptathlon champion Jessica Ennis-Hill on BBC One.

Kerr is all about details. He wore exactly the same kit as Wightman to try to spook Ingebrigtsen in Budapest. He’ll undoubtedly have something in mind this time.

The contrast between the two as they fulfilled their media duties on Sunday was striking. Kerr was calm, understated and only stopped briefly a couple of times to speak. Ingebrigtsen was loud, demonstrative and eager to have his say.

“Emotions are going to be high and I know I can handle the pressure,” the Scot said. “I believe I’m the best and he thinks he is. So we clash on that and it’s pretty raw.

“People are excited about the rivalry and I’m not going to shy away from it because I know exactly what is going to happen.”