- World 1500m champion Josh Kerr has a point to prove in Glasgow this weekend
- The Scot recently broke Mo Farah’s 2015 indoor two-mile world record
Josh Kerr has promised to put on a show for his Scottish home crowd as he attempts to win his second global gold in six months.
The world 1500m champion admits it is an ‘honour’ to be seen as the figurehead of the British team at the World Indoor Championships in Glasgow, which start on Friday.
But Kerr still feels he has a lot to prove to the British fans after finishing 12th in his last major outing here at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
And so the Scot is determined to make the crowd proud by winning the 3,000 meters on Saturday in a packed Emirates Arena – the stadium where he grew up racing.
“I’m here to win in front of my home crowd,” said the 26-year-old. “That’s what we have to do here: put on an exciting race, go out there and win. I’m in fantastic shape. I think I’m going to be a real problem for whoever is on the starting list.
World 1500m champion Josh Kerr has something to prove at the World Indoor Championships
‘I don’t feel that I have made the British fans as proud in recent years as I could have been with my performances in Britain. I feel like I haven’t quite reached the level yet.
‘So it’s very exciting to come back in very good form and be ready to win a world title on home soil. I feel like this is what the British fans deserve from me: to show them where I am in my career and give them something to be excited about.”
Kerr is the only one of Great Britain’s six individual medalists from last summer’s outdoor world championships to compete in Glasgow, with others choosing to focus solely on the Olympics. The middle distance star only decided to participate the evening before the team was announced.
But US-based Kerr explained: ‘It was only one lap and I was able to fly over and do it. It’s just so nice that it’s home.
“I grew up racing here. I’ve probably raced in Glasgow 50 to 60 times. That’s why that conversation was open for longer than would normally be the case during an Olympic year for World Indoors.
“I’m looking forward to competing and trying to win a world title and connecting with as many Scottish and British fans as possible.”
Kerr has arrived in Glasgow in good form after breaking Mo Farah’s 2015 indoor two-mile world record at the Millrose Games in New York earlier this month.
“There’s a reason this record has stood for so long, because it was incredibly difficult,” he said. ‘I love chasing Farah’s records. He has such a great legacy in our sport and it’s really cool to take a record away from someone like him. Hopefully it won’t be the last record I take from him this year.’
After that record-setting run in New York, Kerr’s 1500-meter rival, Jakob Ingebrigtsen, said he “would have beaten him blindfolded in that race.”
It was not the first time the Norwegian Olympic champion has been disparaging of the Briton since losing in Budapest last summer.
But Kerr insists there is no ‘ill will’ between them ahead of the Paris Olympics, where he will look to beat Ingebrigtsen again and improve on the bronze he won in Tokyo.
The Scot beat rival Jakob Ingebrigtsen to the world title in the 1500 meters in Budapest last year
Kerr has arrived in good form after Mo Farah broke the world indoor two-mile record in 2015
“There’s some back and forth and I think that entertains some people,” Kerr added. ‘I wouldn’t say I thrive on it, but I don’t avoid it.
“He’s obviously a big character and a big name in our sport. Those are the questions people sometimes want to ask me and I give answers and reviews and I think he does the same. I don’t think it really goes too deep on either side.
‘There is no ill will towards him. I’m now focusing on the performances and hoping those performances speak for themselves.
“I’m sure Jakob and I will be racing again before we go to the major, so it will be a really fun and exciting time around those races.”
