Don’t get why he feels the need to respond to anything his competitors say even if it has nothing to do with him. Very odd he said that. Continues to do everything possible to turn people off as fans of his
I think it's related to this quote from the interview re: the hype of the men's 1500m final in Paris and how his trash talking with Jakob contributed to it:
“I feel like I’m a massive reason why that race was as hyped up as it was, and I feel a great amount of responsibility for that,” says Kerr. “I know the other 1500m guys are pretty thankful for how big a stage we made that. I think we put on a show. We made people care about our sport.”
I said in another thread that Kerr is similar to Noah Lyles in that they deliberately say and do things to generate buzz about the sport, and they are willing to take on the villain role to do it. His comments about putting on a show and making people care about the sport remind me of what Lyles tweeted last summer about his Olympic performances: "I hope everyone enjoyed the show. Whether you were rooting for me or against me, you have to admit you watched, didn't you?"
He better have credited Pete Weber after he said that
Jakob is undeniably the best in the era. Any sane person would say this.
I disagree. I don't think it's clear who is the best of this era. From 2019 to today, five different people have won gold at each of the five global champs. Two guys have medals from three of those champs (Jakob and Kerr) but still only one gold each.
And only one of them have dominated diamond league and are among the top 5 fastest times in the 1500.
Jakob is undeniably the best in the era. Any sane person would say this.
I disagree. I don't think it's clear who is the best of this era. From 2019 to today, five different people have won gold at each of the five global champs. Two guys have medals from three of those champs (Jakob and Kerr) but still only one gold each. No doubt, Jakob dominates the circuit, but that's a very specific type of racing and those races are kind of meaningless in the grand scheme of things, unless he does eventually the WR in one of them. So I don't think there's a clear best of the era.
What I will say for Jakob is that he's the most important 1500m runner since El G. He has changed the game entirely and raised the floor of the event. Every single guy on the circuit owes the PB to Jakob. There still hasn't been a sub-3:30 race without Jakob for at least five years. Just watch any DL 1500 when Jakob isn't running and it is inevitably won in a une above 3:30. While he hasn't yet raised the ceiling of the 1500, he's made it the current field the most competitive in history. When they're all retired and looking back, I think even his fiercest rivals will recognise that.
Diamond League wins are not meaningless. That is ridiculous. Even if we only look at global championship medals, which is a dumb constraint, Jakob still has Gold Silver Silver. Nobody has matched that. If Kerr can finish ahead of Jakob in 2025, then yes he is the best championship runner and has an argument for the best. But now, we have to look at other things, which Jakob is clearly on top of.
He already is the best of this era. Last year for those who followed the sport closely he was the overwhelming favourite, only to be beaten narrowly by a dark horse. But when he's in shape he's still the guy to beat.
He already is the best of this era. Last year for those who followed the sport closely he was the overwhelming favourite, only to be beaten narrowly by a dark horse. But when he's in shape he's still the guy to beat.
I meant the Olympic, of course, not some random TTs.
He already is the best of this era. Last year for those who followed the sport closely he was the overwhelming favourite, only to be beaten narrowly by a dark horse. But when he's in shape he's still the guy to beat.
3rd year in a row where he's been the "favorite" and gotten slammed. The only victory he has is when the Kenyan team rabbited themselves for him.
Jakob is undeniably the best in the era. Any sane person would say this.
Zero accolades without pacers btw.
It’s more skillful to win a paced race than a tactical one anyways. The best runner usually wins them. So even if that were true, which it isn’t, it is not as big as an argument as you think.
It’s more skillful to win a paced race than a tactical one anyways. The best runner usually wins them. So even if that were true, which it isn’t, it is not as big as an argument as you think.
He already is the best of this era. Last year for those who followed the sport closely he was the overwhelming favourite, only to be beaten narrowly by a dark horse. But when he's in shape he's still the guy to beat.
3rd year in a row where he's been the "favorite" and gotten slammed. The only victory he has is when the Kenyan team rabbited themselves for him.
By that logic, the only victories the others have are when Jakob rabbited himself for them.
It’s more skillful to win a paced race than a tactical one anyways. The best runner usually wins them. So even if that were true, which it isn’t, it is not as big as an argument as you think.
If he's the best, why does he need a pacer?
El G is almost universally acknowledged as the greatest miler of all time, and he had his teammate pace him in multiple finals. It’s also completely stupid to suggest Jakob needs a pacer without acknowledging that everybody he races uses him as a pacer in every single race. Nobody who has won a 1500 title or broken 3:30 in the past 3 seasons has done so without sitting behind Jakob.
By that logic, the only victories the others have are when Jakob rabbited himself for them.
There is more to it... If Jakob wasn't leading those races in Eugene, Budapest, and Tokyo he would have still lost. Jakob needs a fast pace to win. That's why he's so great with a rabbit, but at the end of the day his racing style is dependent on an pacer. He hasn't proven otherwise. Until he does, he'll be a fraud in my books.
There are two guys who have both Olympic golds and faster 1500 PRs. One of them is over a second faster at 1500 and has a 3-2 record vs. Kerr in global championship 1500s, and absolutely owns the DL circuit.
Let's play "what would he actually have to do then to cash the cheque his interview just wrote"
1) He needs to win the 1500m in L.A - absolute non-negiotiable.
2) He needs another 2 medals from the world champs. I don't think they need to be golds but at least one of them a silver where it could have gone either way I think is necessary
3) He needs to get his PR down to under 3.27.0. He's not getting the WR but sub 3.27.0 (even high 26's) is the rare air that coupled with his racing record (including all of the above) would be important in the resume.
Considerable issues to overcome
1) He's 27. In L.A he will be 30, nearing 31. That would be historically right up there with guys winning the Olympic 1500 and he is going to have a host of younger talent to compete with including the reigning champion on home soil.
2) See above - after a few years in the doldrums the event is now one of the hardest to compete in with a never-ending pipeline of talent.
3) How and where do these fast races happen for a guy who quite simply doesn't run much in the race circuit where the vast majority of these fast races happen? Last year excluding Paris (the Olympic final) the fastest time not run in a DL meet was 3.32.16 by Cooper Teare of all people in Charlottesville. In 2023 excluding Budapest, the fastest time not run in a DL meet was 3.32.10 by Robert Farken in Rehlingen (love this meet btw). You get the picture.
Yet Josh Kerr decided Grand Slam Track was for him - in essence unpaced dual meets where he is signed up to run 4 of them (8 total races) prior to the beginning of July. Considering he has rarely run even more than 5 or 6 outdoor races (excluding championships) across the peak of his career, it's fair to ask the question of where exactly he thinks he is going to run these times and does he understand the massive increase in racing he is going to need to have to do so.
So yeah, talking is easy.
This post was edited 23 seconds after it was posted.
1 olympic gold and 3 Euro Champs in the 1500 m without pacers speaks for itself.
He was definitely paced by Tim for 2 3/4 laps in Tokyo. And Kerr would likely have won gold if he hadn't left himself with way too much to do.
Kerr does have two olympic 1500 medals and a WC gold. I agree Jakob is the best of the last five years, but it's not quite as clear cut as most here think. If Kerr wins gold this year, then he is up there with Jakob.
Re: issue #3, Kerr is like Hocker in that they tend to run their fastest times in championship races (with thanks to Jakob the last few years and Cheruiyot before that). When sharing his plans for 2025 on the Citius podcast interview, Kerr said he has his eyes on a couple of Diamond League races after Grand Slam Track, and his goal is to run a PB at the world championships in Tokyo.
By that logic, the only victories the others have are when Jakob rabbited himself for them.
There is more to it... If Jakob wasn't leading those races in Eugene, Budapest, and Tokyo he would have still lost. Jakob needs a fast pace to win. That's why he's so great with a rabbit, but at the end of the day his racing style is dependent on an pacer. He hasn't proven otherwise. Until he does, he'll be a fraud in my books.
Indoor WR as well. It was an El G record so don't say it was soft or weak.
Euros are next to meaningless, the American champs are more competitive than Euros.
it's not Jakob's fault that Kerr skips the Euro's. That could be another championship for them to race against each other in for fast times and titles (which Kerr says he wants). Kerr knows Jakob will be there every year, he still skips it anyways. You dont have to like him or his personality but Jakob isn't hiding from anyone. If there's a fast race or a championship he can win he's normally toeing the line.
1 olympic gold and 3 Euro Champs in the 1500 m without pacers speaks for itself.
He was definitely paced by Tim for 2 3/4 laps in Tokyo. And Kerr would likely have won gold if he hadn't left himself with way too much to do.
Kerr does have two olympic 1500 medals and a WC gold. I agree Jakob is the best of the last five years, but it's not quite as clear cut as most here think. If Kerr wins gold this year, then he is up there with Jakob.
Jakob beats Kerr by almost every metric. It is clear cut.