Ingebrigtsen and Kerr war of words comes to a head in blockbuster 1500m final

Great Britain's Josh Kerr and Norway's Jakob Ingebrigtsen during the men's 1500m Olymic semi-final. Picture: Sam Barnes/Sportsfile

Tonight the talking stops. Tonight at the Stade de France, the 12-month long game of verbal jousting will turn physical, and the war of words will reach its denouement, settling the debate once and for all: who is the world’s best 1500m runner?

Josh Kerr believes it’s him. So too does Jakob Ingebrigtsen. Something has got to give.

As Kerr put it in Paris on Sunday, after coasting into the 1500m final: “The spectators and viewers should just be expecting one of the most vicious and hardest 1500s that the sport's ever seen.” 

Kerr and Ingebrigtsen sure can run, possessing an extremely rare blend of speed and endurance and astute tactical awareness. But they can also talk like few others, igniting interest in tonight’s 1500m final – which goes to the line at 7.50pm Irish time – that hasn’t been seen since Seb Coe took on Steve Ovett at the Moscow Olympics 44 years ago.

They’re both devout in their belief that they’re the world’s best. Ingebrigtsen is the reigning Olympic champion, beating Kerr to that title. Kerr is the reigning world champion, beating Ingebrigtsen to that title. They have raced 10 times over either a mile or 1500m. Ingebrigtsen has won eight. But Kerr has won the last two, outkicking Ingebrigtsen to win the world title in Budapest last year and at the Eugene Diamond League in May.

 

Ingebrigtsen said he was sick in Budapest while in Eugene, he was returning after a long stretch of injury. He believes Kerr has never beaten him at his best. Kerr believes Ingebrigtsen just can’t accept that there’s a new 1500m king in town.

Over the last 12 months, they’ve thrown many a barb back and forth in the media. It began in Budapest when Ingebrigtsen was asked about Kerr beating him to gold. 

“If I hadn’t run in the final he would probably have won,” he said. “If you stumble or fall, then someone is going to win the race, and he was just the next guy.” 

Kerr responded a few months later, telling The Sunday Plodcast the comments were “disrespectful” and that “the ego is pretty high on this one”. He said Ingebrigtsen was surrounded by “yes men” and has “flaws on the track and in the manners realm”. Looking to Paris, Kerr added: “If he doesn’t realise he’s got some real major weaknesses, he will not win the 1500m gold medal.” 

Ingebrigtsen said Kerr’s comments were a “desperate attempt” to get a psychological edge. “I’m pretty sure I’ll win next time anyway. I win 98 times out of 100.” The trash talk rumbled on into 2024, with Ingebrigtsen telling Norwegian network TV2 that he would have beaten Kerr blindfolded in the race where Kerr set the two-mile indoor world record in New York, and later telling The Times that the “biggest issue is giving people like Kerr attention – that’s what he is seeking. He is missing something in himself that he is searching for in others.” 

Before they raced in Eugene, Ingebrigtsen continued stoking the flames, saying some of the things Kerr said were “on the border of lying and maybe being a coward” because he’s never said anything like that to his face. Ingebrigtsen went on to win the European 1500m title in Rome with ease, an event Kerr, who races much more sparingly, chose to bypass.

“It is difficult to refer to him as a rival when he is never there," Ingebrigtsen said. "He is known as the Brit who never competes."

But Kerr will very much be present and correct in Paris tonight, trying to beat the Norwegian to Olympic gold.

Ingebrigtsen has the better endurance. Kerr the better speed. But both men are decadently equipped in either department. There are two men who could potentially interrupt their head-to-head: USA’s Cole Hocker and Dutch wunderkind Niels Laros, who seems poised to take over this event some day.

Ingebrigtsen can’t leave the pace dawdle too long, so expect him to get to the front on the second lap and then, for the last 800m, change gear almost imperceptibly every 100 metres, drawing the sting out of his speedier rivals.

Ingebrigtsen will almost certainly be out front down the back straight on the final lap and Kerr will almost certainly be on his tail, stalking, ready to unleash whatever he has left. Ingebrigtsen will be waiting for it, ready to engage his own top gear.

One man will have to eat his words. The other will be the undisputed best 1500m runner in the world. Someone is going home devastated.