Josh Kerr Silences Boastful Jakob Ingebrigtsen on US Soil After Winning Eugene Diamond League

Josh Kerr had made it two out of two. After winning the 1500m World championships over Jakob Ingebrigtsen, this year, Josh Kerr humbled the latter again, in the Prefontaine Classic 2024. In the Bowerman Mile event, the Scottish runner took 3:45.34 seconds to remain ahead of the Norwegian.

However, despite being the clear winner in the last three Bowerman Mile, in Hayward Field, Jakob lost the plot. He retained the runner-up position by finishing his race in 3:45.60 minutes. The victory could end the verbal spat between the runners now, in which they invested a sizeable chunk of time in the last several months. 

With today’s timing, Josh Kerr is now standing at the sixth position on the all-time list of Mile, the same event where Jakob Ingebrigtsen has established himself as the legend. But today the legend has certain points to justify his sluggish run compared to Josh Kerr’s last-minute maneuvering. 

Mainly after the defeat in the Budapest World Athletics championships, Jakob Ingebrigtsen hurled several jabs toward Josh Kerr. But the latter preferred to be in the moment, registering a reply through his performances, as the one he did today. While finishing the race in 3:45.34 minutes, Josh Kerr climbed to the top in the British track and field record book.

His timing decimated Steve Cram’s record, made 39 years ago. Coincidentally, the former British champion was present in the game today, in the role of the commentator. The reason for merriment does not end there. The Prefontaine Classic 2024 was Jakob’s season opener as he had returned from an Achilles injury, faced at the business end of the last season.

But before that, he achieved the tag of being the third-fastest runner in the mile in history. Furthermore, in the Prefontaine Classic 2023, the 3000m race witnessed him creating a record. However, the defeat today might make him push extra in the upcoming days. As far as the American challenge is concerned, today Yared Nuguse remained in third position, posting his season-best 3:46.22 timing.

Surprisingly, Jake Wightman slipped into the fifth position today. But overall, the UK band of runners proved themselves the next big thing in the Bowerman Mile as in top-5, three came from the British allegiance. Certain results may not satisfy Jakob Ingebrigtsen. Now, after today, what will be the fate of Josh Kerr and Jakob Ingebrigtsen’s rivalry? That would be the million-dollar question. 

Is it the end of the rivalry between Jakob Ingebrigtsen and Josh Kerr? 

Last year, Jakob Ingebrigtsen termed Josh Kerr as “just the next guy” after winning the 5000m title in the 2023 World Championships, the same contest where Josh Kerr handed Jakob a defeat in the 1500 m final. Since then, the streak has continued. Though Amazon Prime authority claimed that the verbal fight between Josh and Jakob was purely based on entertainment purposes, forming a part of their latest documentary. But hardly anyone has paid heed to that segment till now. Coming to this season, Josh Kerr threw fiery words at him, speaking about the flaws in his behavior. 

“Myself and Jake Wightman have shown where those flaws are. And I think he [Jakob Ingebrigtsen] has some flaws in the manners realm as well,” Josh Kerr added. But at the same time the world indoor champion posed himself as the better performer while injured Jakob thoroughly noticed that. 

In a gap of approximately 30 days, the Olympic champion put up a message, veiling a challenge. “I’m pretty sure I’ll win next time anyway. I know that I win 98 out of 100 times against them. Hopefully, it will be a long time until next time. But we never know when time number 99 will come,” the message conceded. However, the ‘99th’ may have come in the Prefontaine Classic, the very first meet between the two after the Budapest contest from last year. Now, what will be the next outcome?