Say what you want about Kerr but he has proven to be a guy that loves to compete, does what’s necessary in preparation, and knows how to execute when stakes are highest
You’d be crazy to doubt he was sick
if he was healthy and ready to race he holds the indoor mile record (until Jakob broke it)
Say what you want about Kerr but he has proven to be a guy that loves to compete, does what’s necessary in preparation, and knows how to execute when stakes are highest
You’d be crazy to doubt he was sick
if he was healthy and ready to race he holds the indoor mile record (until Jakob broke it)
50% of the video spent proving to fans he wanted to run and he’s sick
Who films someone with the bathroom door closed? Totally staged.
Why does he sound and look drunk when eating the pancakes?
I thought the last bit was hyperbole, but he looked and sounded hammered
What's funny about this is that, as a fellow Scot, I recognised during this section that Kerr had dropped the American-esque twang from his voice whilst he was eating his pancakes, and his real accent was coming through. However, to the rest of the world, 'more Scottish' seemingly equals 'more drunk'. Not sure whether to be offended or proud of this.
This post was edited 25 seconds after it was posted.
I was just posting anonymously on a message board for fun. But also, if anything from the video was real, the hip injury is believable and maybe he wasn't fit enough. Dodging is from a fear of losing or fear of living up to a certain hype. If my hip were jank, the last place I'd want to be is on the biggest stage in the world on a 200m indoor banked track with the expectation of world record shape.
He was hurt. They keep talking about his hip. The sickness also likely real. it was the right call not to race
So what you are saying is that even if he wasn’t sick he would place last in a race where it would be set world records.
I heard an (unsubstantiated) rumor that the real reason for Kerr being "sick" is that he was out the night before batting it up pretty hard with Ray Flynn, Marcus O'Sullivan, and Eamonn Coghlan, and woke up with a king-sized hangover.
He should know better than to drink with the Irish.
Ovett blames his 1500m loss at Moscow in 1980 in part due to going out drinking with the Irish after his 800m gold
That was before he was mentally broken by Hocker in the last 50 meters of the Olympics.
Exactly. He’ll never fully recover.
Not sure where this narrative of Kerr being mentally broken by a silver medal started but it doesn't seem based in reality. After his breakthrough bronze at Tokyo, Kerr came 5th in the next World Champs then last place in the Commonwealth Games final. The following year he got 9th at his rival's home games at Bislett and 16th in a 5k. Do these results sound like someone who fears racing when he's not guaranteed victory?
Agreed, he certainly doesn't race as much as Jakob but his actual result history is entirely consistent with someone who is willing to race himself into fitness when the schedule demands it, and isn't afraid to finish last in a race that he is targeting. In the video when he said he was willing to go out there and finish last, I have no reason to doubt that- his results history completely validates his claim.
Before watching the video, I thought that Kerr got sick. It happens. After watching the video, I really don’t believe the illness excuse. He was injured. He wasn’t ready to race a mile at WR pace. A lot if the video seems awkward and staged.
The guy probably had norovirus and was firing from both ends. Give him some privacy in his suffering.
He was an early sign-on to GST. Say what you all about GST, but committing way early to doubling 4x in a few months isn't really a dodger move. Yared and Cole will be there, and the door is open for challengers. They know where to find him.
The guy probably had norovirus and was firing from both ends. Give him some privacy in his suffering.
He was an early sign-on to GST. Say what you all about GST, but committing way early to doubling 4x in a few months isn't really a dodger move. Yared and Cole will be there, and the door is open for challengers. They know where to find him.
under the gun, do you believe Kerr will complete all 8 of those races?
Before watching the video, I thought that Kerr got sick. It happens. After watching the video, I really don’t believe the illness excuse. He was injured. He wasn’t ready to race a mile at WR pace. A lot if the video seems awkward and staged.
If that were true it would make more sense for his reputation if he'd scratched in the weeks leading up to the event, even days makes more sense. Why would he fly to New York, do all the press, do all the filming for his 'road to Millrose' youtube video, only to pull out mere hours before- for a long-standing hip injury? Especially given we know that Kerr has raced in a sub-optimal condition many, many times- even at Millrose itself.
If he had some unbeaten record to protect then maybeee it's feasible but everyone seems to have forgotten that he has already lost to Yared since the olympics- in Zurich (finishing 5th behind Nuguse, Hocker, Ingebrigtsen and Laros). By your logic he should have sat that one out too knowing that he wasn't in perfect condition for a win?
The guy probably had norovirus and was firing from both ends. Give him some privacy in his suffering.
He was an early sign-on to GST. Say what you all about GST, but committing way early to doubling 4x in a few months isn't really a dodger move. Yared and Cole will be there, and the door is open for challengers. They know where to find him.
under the gun, do you believe Kerr will complete all 8 of those races?
I think the financial incentives are there, that yes, he runs all 8.
If he doesn't run, I think it'll be a significant injury, and he'll be missing time throughout the summer due to the extent of it. But I don't see him just bailing on a single weekend because of a niggle.
Other thing from the video was the sleep data wasn’t so bad. 6hrs isn’t ideal but I bet that’s the median or better for most runners who race in the morning. That certainly wouldn’t come close to stopping anyone from racing but I do believe he had some sort of stomach bug/norovirus in all likelihood.
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Not sure where this narrative of Kerr being mentally broken by a silver medal started but it doesn't seem based in reality. After his breakthrough bronze at Tokyo, Kerr came 5th in the next World Champs then last place in the Commonwealth Games final. The following year he got 9th at his rival's home games at Bislett and 16th in a 5k. Do these results sound like someone who fears racing when he's not guaranteed victory?
Agreed, he certainly doesn't race as much as Jakob but his actual result history is entirely consistent with someone who is willing to race himself into fitness when the schedule demands it, and isn't afraid to finish last in a race that he is targeting. In the video when he said he was willing to go out there and finish last, I have no reason to doubt that- his results history completely validates his claim.
Wait, I thought Jakob sucked at championship racing while the rest was geniuses.
I heard an (unsubstantiated) rumor that the real reason for Kerr being "sick" is that he was out the night before batting it up pretty hard with Ray Flynn, Marcus O'Sullivan, and Eamonn Coghlan, and woke up with a king-sized hangover.
He should know better than to drink with the Irish.
Ovett blames his 1500m loss at Moscow in 1980 in part due to going out drinking with the Irish after his 800m gold
Nah. Ovett had plenty of time between events to recover.
Genuinely fascinating insight into Kerr pulling out of Millrose. He clearly desperately wanted to compete. Definitely the best episode yet and really interesting to hear him and Mackie planning their race tactics before the illness:
Yeah, good video! They mentioned he had a hip injury that it seems was bad enough to be brought up in terms of a real risk to sideline him after. The race tactics part was interesting though they didn't have a good handle on Yared's plan which was to push after the rabbit dropped no matter what. Still a full-strength Kerr and his plan to make a move in the last 2 laps would've been tough to beat. History tells us he could've made the pass and we don't know if Yared could've come right back at him in the last 100.
I guess I'm a bit more skeptical about his ability to make the pass. He'd need to be close to peak to be able to go around the outside of Nuguse at that pace. Though is suppose it's close to the strat he used against Jakob at Pre and he was successful there. If he did manage the pass then there's no way Nuguse would come back. It's a shame we were robbed of a top showdown.
Fantastic video. Shows how competitive these athletes are and the importance of the team around them. Great collaboration between Josh, Danny and Julian. Love how they all have the best interest of the athlete in mind and how the coaches may need to veto the athletes wishes, even someone as accomplished as Josh. We need more behind the scenes content like this. You really get to know the athlete and how the team works behind the scenes.
Wait, I thought Jakob sucked at championship racing while the rest was geniuses.
I think you are mistaking what a people are saying. Jakob is the most consistent and best-prepared athlete over the last 5 years. Outside of 2023 when he had a minor illness, he’s been healthy and the fittest (outside of 2019 Cheruiyot) in the field. He is the best at preparing himself and the best bet to get to the line healthy and supremely fit.
As you can even see in this video Kerr appears to really struggle in his preparations. 2 years out of 3 they say he’s comically sick ahead of Millrose. 2 out of 3 years he’s had poor preparations (last year, this year with hip injury). He seems to be great at rising to the occasion but bad at preparing. Jakob is a very good championship performer because he gets there in phenomenal shape. The only part where you worry is his execution and tactics against top flight competition.
It's okay my guy. We would never truly know why Josh Kerr did not race. I was just relaying what I heard. But I agree with you. He should just say "Hey I got <Noro/insert whatever sickness>, couldn't race." Now he's getting more sh** by making a scene with all that cinematic bs.