The world may have just read of his successes and failures. But only a few have been privy to the journey Josh Kerr has had, leading up to those moments. Well, his family is certainly on that list. From the time he set foot out of their Edinburgh abode at 17, to the routes he navigated before being titled the 1500m world champion in Budapest, his parents have seen it all. His collapses and climbs, good and bad days, the Kerrs have withstood it all like a concrete unit.

Later this month, the middle-distance runner will be eyeing to make the headlines with his possible Olympic triumph. Eyeing an upgrade from his Tokyo bronze, nothing but the glistening gold will be shining brightly in his sight. But before that, let’s dig deeper into the maestro’s family background and get to know about the integral pillars that make his house a home.

All we know about Josh Kerr’s parents

The knack for sports seems to run deep in the Kerr family. As per records, Josh’s parents are John and Jill Kerr, both of whom have been avid sports persons themselves. His father, a professional rugby player for the Caledonia Reds in his time, mastered the art of team play and conquering his opponents with the oval-shaped ball. Taking after him, Josh’s older brother Jake treads the same course, being Bristol Bears’ newest hooker since 2021. On the other hand, their mum relies on her grip and aim for scoring in golf, whilst being a professional physiotherapist.

Admittedly so, Kerr has a strong sense of belief in his family. And he hardly ever fails to acknowledge their contribution. Even when all eyes were on him and rightly so, as he had just been crowned the world champion, Kerr took a moment to appreciate his very own support system. “It’s quite an overwhelming experience. But I’m so proud of myself, my team and my family,” he said, including them in his historic win.

With his eyes welled up, Kerr continued to articulate the magnitude of this victory for his family. “This is a lot for our family and they’ve put a lot of time, effort and money in to me…They’ve given me so much and it was nice to pay that back a little bit today.” He said. Well, it does take substantial backend support for a sportsperson to blaze through their career. Fortunately, the victory was a happy ending for the Kerr clan, as so were Josh’s words as he confessed, “I just couldn’t be prouder to represent the Kerr family name today.”

Beyond his aww-worthy family moments and his decorated records, Kerr has a lot more to him that people know fairly less about. One of these aspects is his background.

Where is Josh from? Ethnicity and nationality

Josh Kerr seems to be extremely proud of his Scottish heritage. Naturally so, for he was born in Scotland on October 8th, 1997. Subsequently, he took to the track and field domain when he was 8 and initially trained at the Edinburgh Athletic Club. At the age of 17, in his quest to excel on track, Kerr moved to the USA, where he onboarded the University of New Mexico.

Interestingly, Kerr had never even been to the U.S. before. However, his dreams and hopes for a better future propelled him to the country. Besides, Kerr is British by nationality and is set to represent his country, Great Britain at the 33rd Olympic Games.