“I’ve wanted that [British] record for a very long time because there are probably three or four guys who can go after it over the next couple of years,” he said.
As well as Kerr and Wightman, Lynsey Sharp and Chris O’Hare have both won major championship medals after spending formative years at Edinburgh AC. So what is the secret? “If you have a mixture of hill reps and track runs, maybe that’ll be it,” said Kerr, pointing also to “gritty” cold winter training in Scotland and Wednesday night racing in Grangemouth. He also highlighted Gourley, Laura Muir and Jemma Reekie from other parts of the country and how they subsequently all had the confidence to follow their own distinct routes.
‘The best athletes make sacrifices on a daily basis’
Kerr comes from a family of sportspeople – his brother Jake is an international rugby union front-row forward for Scotland – and, aged only 16, he made the bold decision to accept an athletics scholarship at the University of New Mexico. He has been based at altitude in Albuquerque ever since. “They said they had 307 days of sun – so I was there,” he says, smiling. “My parents had to come over with me to sign my release forms because I was too young. It was probably the least cool someone’s ever rocked up to a university.
“We’re showing that different paths can still create amazing results. I think that’s what we can show to that next generation: Go with your heart, go with your gut and pick the right training set-up for you. The best athletes are making sacrifices on a daily basis. I live away from my parents, my brother and my nephews. I currently live in a different state to my fiancee.
“I’m not with the people I love and not where I grew up. On the start line, I know the sacrifices I’ve made. I’ve put in the hard yards – I’ve done it in an honest way.”
On the subject of ‘clean’ sport, Kerr also reiterated his concern that therapeutic use exemptions (TUEs) are being used by some athletes to gain a pharmaceutical edge when they do not have a medical need. “Every pound that goes into the research and development and making sure we’re keeping this sport clean is money very well spent,” said Kerr. “I wasn’t saying TUEs were bad. But I do think people take advantage of that. We’re an open book. I was able to beat everyone in the world. And I’m doing that in this position where I know I’m a clean athlete is very very satisfying.”
That satisfaction was very visibly evident as Kerr crossed the line on Wednesday night. So what was it that he screamed at the crowd after crossing the finishing line? “‘I’m world champion now’,” he says. “I’m kind of miming to myself, ‘This is my turn’. It was emotional. I’ve been in four major championship finals and I‘ve come away with a gold now.”
Kerr wages psychological warfare to defeat Ingebrigtsen
When the choice came between the three different designs of Great Britain vest for Wednesday night’s final, Josh Kerr did not hesitate. He wanted the outfit that his friend and team-mate Jake Wightman had worn 12 months earlier to inflict the only other defeat of note on Jakob Ingebrigtsen during more than two years in which the Norwegian had racked up every other conceivable title in the sport.
“I work on the mental side of the sport a lot,” Kerr had told journalists before the World Championships and, after so memorably prevailing after going stride-by-stride with Ingebrigsten in a classic 1500m final, dropped more than a hint that the choice had been deliberate.
“I’m not saying I wore the specific one to bring back some nightmares… but I needed every single ounce I had,” he said, with a twinkle in eyes that had themselves earlier been disguised by the £200 designer pair of Oakley glasses which he had worn during the race.
“It makes me very laser-focused, because nobody can see my eyes, especially in the [pre-race] call room,” he explained. “It’s fantastic. At one point [in a previous race], someone was swearing at me and saying ‘are you like looking at me?’ and I said ‘I’m not sure mate, you don’t know where my eyes are looking’. It’s a very intimidating thing for people in the call room. So it’s a nice thing up my sleeve. I have enjoyed racing in them.”