After snagging a silver medal in the men’s 1500m at the Paris Olympics, Josh Kerr took a brief respite, aiming to end the season on a high note. His season had started with a victory in the men’s 3000m at the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Glasgow. However, the break did little to ease Kerr’s mental fatigue. In his first contest post-Olympics, he finished 5th at the Zurich Diamond League. The disbelief and disappointment over the result were present in his voice when he said, “I took a month off after the Olympics just to make sure I’m ready to go for this one.” But it seems the British athlete saved the best for his last contest for this season. 

Three days after his disappointing performance in Zurich, Josh Kerr successfully defended his New Balance 5th Avenue Mile title. He shattered Sydney Maree’s long-standing record from 1981, setting a new best time of 3:44.3. This impressive performance was nearly 4 seconds faster than his closest competitor, Josh Hoey.

And compared to Sydney’s previous record, he is standing 3 seconds ahead. Yet another fun fact is that now Kerr holds two timings among the top three in the event. Above all, he ended his 2024 season in New York, where he started it on February 11. So after a seven-month long journey, his realization is on the better side. 

After his defeat in the Zurich Diamond League, the 26-year-old athlete had been looking crestfallen. The defeat moved him in a way that his shoulders were falling off. He ultimately spelled, “It’s a long year, man. It’s tough to go in week in week out and do the same thing. But look… I am here to race the best guys in the world, and you know they beat me today.” But today, the two-time Olympic medalist showed up with a cheek-to-cheek smile, and he hailed the record-making victory for causing it. 

In his post-match interaction with FloTrack, he said, “It shows that I’m still in great shape and my body’s come off healthy and that’s an awesome feeling going into the fall and it’s been a long year.” Ultimately, his superior fitness on both mental and physical sides had paid him nicely in the race when he decided to go berserk in “off the hill”. The advantage remained so remarkable that despite feeling tired in the last 400m, Josh felt no weight to win the event by breaking the record. 

As now the world indoor champion has signed off from the track for this season, a lot of expectations will be there for him in the upcoming year. However, he has already said yes to his participation in the Grand Slam Track, Michael Johnson’s pet project to make track sports “great again”. Still. Kerr has revealed several ifs and buts on his entering the contests from next season. 

Josh Kerr is counting on his chance before moving to any competition 

After throwing good words on his 5th Avenue Mile performance, Josh Kerr conceded, “It’s nice to finish it here and with another record.” Now the athlete will move to his vacation to enjoy the leisure. But before doing that, he left behind several statements, leading to assumptions. 

In his conversation in the mixed zone today, the Edinburgh native patted his back for converting his three-year effort into Olympic silver. But he couldn’t do the same for his entire results in the season. Several reasons snatched the expected results from him. It could be because of the travel or lack of motivation to carry on every other day on the track. So Josh Kerr will measure his steps in the upcoming season. 

“I’m a bit selective and I’m excited for next year. I think we have some great races coming,” he claimed on the chances of his participation in the 2025 season. However, he hoped that he would show up stronger by following the drill he mentioned. Let’s hope he succeeds in his mission.