Heavy is the head that wears the crown. That’s what the old saying dictates but no one appears to have told Josh Kerr.
When the World Athletics Championships get underway in Tokyo this weekend, Kerr will have officially gone from the hunter to the hunted. A remarkable kick down the home straight in Budapest two years ago took the US-based Scot past bitter rival and heavy favourite Jakob Ingebrigtsen to secure the men’s 1500m world title.
It wasn’t just the culmination of a lifelong dream and years of hard graft for the Brit; it immediately put a target on his back.
Last year’s Olympics in Paris provided another shock, but this time it was American Cole Hocker with the late kick to stun Kerr and Ingebrigtsen and snatch a gold medal from their grasp. Kerr was forced to settle for silver, an upgrade on his bronze from the previous Games but short of his stated target.
Now he heads the start line in Japan as the reigning world champion, the owner of the title that everyone in the race is desperate to make their own. That pressure to defend overwhelms some, but Kerr is quick to dismiss the notion of it affecting him.
“I have a world title,” explains the charismatic 27-year-old. “I’ve already got one, so I don’t need to go out and search for one.
“I have the plan, I have the road map – I’m the one sitting here with the crown on my head. It’s one of those things where I’m not chasing someone, I’m being chased and people say that’s harder, but I think if you approach the race in the right way, it should be easier.
“It’s a difficult one to explain, but from a fitness standpoint, a mentality standpoint, I’ve never been so confident and relaxed going into a championships.
“There’s not many people that have got back-to-back 1500m titles and I’m the only one on that start line that’s going to be able to do it that day. It’s a fun challenge that I’m excited and ready for.”
The memories of last year’s Olympics are still fresh and somewhat bittersweet. The men’s 1500m was one of the most eagerly anticipated races of the entire Games due to the Kerr-Ingebrigtsen rivalry that had played out on the track and in the media.
The fact that the presumed straight shootout between the pair ended with interloper Hocker pinching the gold only made things more dramatic, but it’s hard to say Kerr ran a bad race. He clocked a huge PB of 3:27.79, which also smashed Mo Farah’s British record by more than a second, but, crucially, was the second man to cross the finish line.
So, is the way that race panned out providing fuel moving forward?
“Oh, definitely,” says Kerr, without a moment’s hesitation. “I’d be sitting on a beach somewhere right now if I’d got gold, I’ll say that.
“What it showed me is even when things go smoothly and you are in an amazing position, that this sport can throw anything and everything at you. And your job is to just turn up and do the best that you can and let the chips fall the way they fall.
“You’ve got to just control your controllable. So that’s my job in Japan – go out and nail my process and believe that I can win this race.
“If I go out and run another British record and take another silver medal, then we get back to work, and that’s just life.
“I can’t control what anyone else in the sport is doing other than myself, but I feel very excited and confident that what we learnt from Paris is going to be taken into this one and it’s another year of experience banked.”
You only need to speak to Kerr for a few seconds to realise he has an unshakeable belief in himself, forged from thousands of hours of hard work and success on the big stage.
It’s a description that could also be applied to old foe Ingebrigtsen, who, despite his brilliance, is still looking for a first World Championship gold over 1500m.
The Norwegian has also had far from perfect preparation, spending most of the season sidelined with an achilles injury and not racing competitively since March. Yet Kerr has no intention of writing off one of the sport’s most mercurial talents.
“I fully expect Jakob to be fit and ready to go,” says Kerr. “I have absolutely no idea what’s going on with him, but I am 100 per cent ready for him to be in world record shape because I think that’s probably what he’s going to be in.
“I don’t know why he would be standing on a start line at the World Championships and not be ready to win, so that’s the way I view it and the way I’ve viewed it all season. When you’re good, you’re good. If he’s signed up to race, then he’s going to be good to go and I’ll be good to go as well.”
Kerr is currently sat atop the mountain, but don’t count on him worrying about those scaling the sides trying to knock him off.
