For Josh Kerr, the 2024 Olympic silver medalist in 1500m, the track and field season did not start on a positive note. Participating in his first race after the Paris Olympics, Kerr was up against a star-studded lineup that included Jakob Ingebrigtsen, Cole Hocker, and Yared Neguse at the Zurich Diamond League.

The 1500 race was a hot topic since two longtime rivals, Jakob Ingebrigtsen, and Josh Kerr, were locking horns one month after their Paris encounter, where Cole Hocker, proving a big upset, shattered the dream of claiming the gold for the pair. Much to the dismay of the rivals, once again, a dark horse took away the glory they both were gunning for quite hard. Surprising everyone, Yared Nuguse, the Olympic bronze medalist in 1500m, nicked the victory at Zurich with an impressive runtime of 3:29.21.

Surprisingly, Josh Kerr, the world 1500m champion, couldn’t keep up the pace in the last 300m and finished fifth with an impressive 3:31.46. He fell well behind Ingebrigtsen, who secured second spot, clocking 3:29.52, and Hocker, who finished third with his run time of 3:30.46.

However, Kerr attributed his loss to the lack of rest and heavy mental tiredness, which seems a bit far-fetched. The 26-year-old British sprinter was returning from a month-long break, and the Zurich Diamond League was his first race after the 2024 summer events. Besides, he seemed in good shape right before the race, even acknowledging that he was looking up at the events, stating, “I took a month off after the Olympics just to make sure I’m ready to go for this one.”

But post-race, Josh Kerr was narrating a completely different story. In a video posted by Athletics Weekly on X on September 6, the 2x Olympic medalist appeared, blaming the busy schedule and the mental toll it puts on the athletes as the reason for his loss. “Yeah, I think it’s probably more my fault than Cole’s… I don’t know, that was mentally very tiring; I don’t have like a week-after-week time trial brain, so it’s kind of, races, it’s kind of boring sometimes, so, you know, getting up for it was one thing, and I was excited to race. I am in a good place… Training has been going well,” he explained.

He further expressed frustration for not being able to maintain momentum in the last 300m and concluded his strong start with a win. Although he acknowledged he was up against the world’s best runners, and they beat him fair and square. “I mean, look, you see, for the first 1200 there I was in great shape; I just couldn’t close it down; it took a lot of mental energy to stay in it really, and I didn’t have much left in the last 300, but it’s the way it goes, man. I mean, I had to peak for this whole season in August. I have run world records and gold medals indoors from February to March. 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,” he admitted.

Can he win against the sprinting top guns in the Diamond League Final in Brussels?

Josh Kerr did not have the best start that he had hoped for in the Diamond League. He will once again face the world’s best long-distance runners in the finals at Brussels. His biggest rival, Jakob Ingebrigtsen, might have faltered in Zurich, but he has already proven how formidable a challenge he is. The 5000 Olympic gold medalist put to dust Cole Hocker in the Lausanne Diamond League.

He leveled the score after his shocking defeat against the US sprinter in the 1500m at the Paris Olympics. Right after his thumping victory in Lausanne, Ingebrigtsen once again proved his metal when he smashed Daniel Komen’s 3000m World Record with his extraordinary 7:17.55 runtime. Likewise, Yared Nuguse, the 1500m bronze medalist in the Paris Olympics, will also be looking to continue his winning momentum after his surprising victory in the Zurich Diamond League. The road is tough for Josh Kerr, and if he wishes to prevail over the behemoths of long-distance running at Brussels, he has to rise over his excuses and give his best.