Couldnt agree more. Feels so good to see this guy being exposed. This is why Jakob is better, he is ALWAYS an item in EVERY race.
WRONG! Jakob had to stop to walk during the Copenhagen half marathon, and he finished that race more than 5 minutes behind the winner. After the race, he was flat on his back, totally broken and humiliated.
I’m intrigued in this conversation “off-camera”. Did he ask to not have an official on- camera interview? @JG - you know this interview would be one of the most viewed, (controversial story-line, all his smack talk on Jakob and even Arop). Who decided not to have it on camera and what is the protocol for those decisions in the mixed zone?
The explanation all seems fishy and convoluted. The whole Millrose thing is just plain weird.
After the 1500, you can hear Kerr in the background giving brief interviews to people who clearly don't put their stuff in videos online. Say what you will about Kerr and the media (of which I've been a part), but he doesn't avoid questions. You might not love the sincerity of his answers when he says training has been good before Millrose and then we find out later it had actually been pretty much non-existent.
This post was edited 26 seconds after it was posted.
Jakob last year ran a 3:45 mile as his debut after coming back from injury
Then here's Kerr struggling to run under 1:51 for 800 lol
Jakob had a several month buildup to his 3:45.
I have some disjointed thoughts that I need the few gurus on this thread to help me resolve. Let me begin.
1. I have trouble making sense of the 800m race introduction for some reason. In particular I couldn’t quite comprehend why Nuguse‘s self intro using his 2 hands to mimick a bird flying felt so grossly inappropriate in a mens race. Perhaps I had a bad day at work or I forgot to do laundry, many reasons you get the point but I had to speak my mind and state what I felt. Is this feeling wrong because I’m struggling to reconcile Nuguse the male athlete and Nuguse the femme provocateur.
2. Point 1 above is additionally grossly contrasted by Marco Arop’s and Wanyonyi’s free flowing boyish stylus in verbal and non verbal carriage before and after the race. I saw the way the boy Wanyonyi was prancing around after the race like Hercules lookalike and I had no doubt today in Tuesday and the time reads 430pm. This is the reality I’m used to watching on the track and in real life. Again could I be wrong in my perception of reality? Could Nuguse herald the era of Dianas and Janes in a male sport?
3. Finally my last thought was that the 1500m guys are so far behind the 800m specialists by the end of the first lap? To see Hocker, another Diana of the sport, scrambling up desperately behind Arop and Wanyonyi like a famished kitten is really comical and food for laughter. He is just so out of place among the 800 guys who were not even breaking a sweat. Jakob would have been even further back if Hocker is really a better 800m runner than he is. The race was such a joke already with so many Dianas.
Kerr didn’t have a great weekend at Grand Slam Kingston. He was 5th in the 1500 and DFL in the 800. I spoke to him briefly after the race off-camera and he said that, contrary to some rumors, he was not sick. But he was dealing with a hip injury for 3 months that severely impacted his training.
I asked him if that was true, why did he show up to Millrose (even though he didn’t race)? He said it’s because he likes the meet and had committed to run but acknowledged in retrospect it was a dumb idea.
He said he’s had a month of healthy training coming into Kingston and is looking forward to keep building and getting into better shape.
I haven’t had time to collect my thoughts in a ladder fashion but all I can say is the prince of the sport Josh Kerr’s era of reign is over by this year. Just like Jake Wightman except a little more successful and lucky at the top. I’m Kerr neutral and I don’t see any evidence to indicate he will run faster than 3:30 this season..
Kerr didn’t have a great weekend at Grand Slam Kingston. He was 5th in the 1500 and DFL in the 800. I spoke to him briefly after the race off-camera and he said that, contrary to some rumors, he was not sick. But he was dealing with a hip injury for 3 months that severely impacted his training.
I asked him if that was true, why did he show up to Millrose (even though he didn’t race)? He said it’s because he likes the meet and had committed to run but acknowledged in retrospect it was a dumb idea.
He said he’s had a month of healthy training coming into Kingston and is looking forward to keep building and getting into better shape.
So he never got the Noro virus? I'm confused. He did indicate in a video though that he had a hip injury.
Uh the noro virus was just an artificial concoction. He honestly looked in the pink of health in that video self filmed in NYC. If he didn’t run it’s because he wasn’t up for it for all reasons bar none.
Kerr didn’t have a great weekend at Grand Slam Kingston. He was 5th in the 1500 and DFL in the 800. I spoke to him briefly after the race off-camera and he said that, contrary to some rumors, he was not sick. But he was dealing with a hip injury for 3 months that severely impacted his training.
I asked him if that was true, why did he show up to Millrose (even though he didn’t race)? He said it’s because he likes the meet and had committed to run but acknowledged in retrospect it was a dumb idea.
He said he’s had a month of healthy training coming into Kingston and is looking forward to keep building and getting into better shape.
We took Jakob at his word in Budapest, we can do the same here for Josh Kerr.
That being said, it's not like he ran poorly last night. He ran 3.35.61 with a 52.3 last lap - that's not quite world title winning form but I think he'd take that in the first week of April, in fact it's somewhat impressive.
What it doesn't explain is the 1.50.7 today. That was giving up.
When you consider he has a 3 year, million dollar deal with GST (nearly $42k per start), maybe it puts that effort (or lack thereof) into perspective. He made 12.5k today which put him at nearly 55 for the meet. That's even more cash than a challenger would make coming in and getting second (50k + 2k appearance). Make of that what you will.
Uh it could be but it also could be not him giving up in spirit. His legs were too laden with acid you probably could digest a whole meal using those in place of hydrochloric acid. Actually there was a video snippet at the 100-200m mark of the race. I thought I saw Kerr limping like an uneven gait somewhere. He wasn’t hitting the ground with his usual sprightly self. He lose to a couple of Dianas in Nuguse and Hocker which is not what you would expect from a veteran 800m and 1500m specialist.
So then the question is, if you are Michael Johnson and this guy was a marquee signing - he was second after only SML and you are paying him that much cash to be the distance running "icon" of your league - are you stoked about that?
I think my basic prediction was that guys were happy to take a ton of cash without really understanding what they are getting into full picture. This is happening at a crucial time in the season when guys like really charging their batteries coming off winter grind. These meets are 6 days of commitment - arriving on Wednesdays and leaving Mondays. Now you have another 3 to do in the next 11 weeks or so. I'm not surprised at all.
I 100% agree and it’s why Kerr was such a strange signing. The guy who shrugs off rare bad performances (partially because he rarely races) with “I run great when it counts most” and competes sparingly is a tough match.
You’d actually want the opposite and it’s why Ngetich is keeping her category afloat. She isn’t worried about that stuff and just runs hard and the prize (not just appearance) money means a lot. The format did make Kerr more interesting than in a DL style race. In that maybe he runs 3:31 high and is well off the others in an uninteresting way.
But the 800 part of things and the risk with committing to Kerr is he’s interesting when fit and the act wears thin if he’s out of shape and just coming off as disingenuous. Same deal with Kerley. I’d much rather have a guy who maybe doesn’t have the same clutch factor but is steady for this sort of thing like Simbine let’s say or Tim Cheruiyot let’s say in the 1500. Kerr’s a tough sell for the 800, SML has no such limitations and could even do 2 other groups. The injury risk is there but the indifferent performances are not.
So what exactly do you ask of Kerr. You previously claimed Kerr wasn’t racing enough and ducking races and he should race more and GST afforded him that but now you are saying he shouldn’t race more and should keep remaining true to himself to duck races because his body can’t handle it?
I don't know if I buy the theory that guys like Josh Kerr are phoning it in and don't care because they are pocketing a big pay day. These guys are professional athletes, they should be motivated to perform and expected to perform BECAUSE they are being paid well. Plenty examples of this in track and field and other competitive sports.
In other sports, if you are paid well but don't perform...you get cut.
So how do you explain running 1.50.7 today in the 800m after he ran 3.35.6 with a 52.3 last lap yesterday? - a 1500m performance that isn't bad in any era of the event.
It can't be and isn't fitness (the 1500m showed that) because if he was fit enough to do that, he sure as hell was fit enough to come back to today and run better than that. Don't give me "well it's hard to do races back to back" - wasn't a problem for Wanyoni. Isn't a problem for NCAA athletes. Isn't a problem for his big rival sitting over there in Norway.
You think that just because guys get guaranteed money it means they show up and give full effort every time? Also tell me what other pro sports there are with athletes who sign contracts that don't have a large portion of the contract (if not all of it these days) guaranteed?
You don't follow of lot of pro sport do you.
Kerr is a guy with a glib tongue and I hate that about him. One time I got so upset and lost all respect for him when he clearly insinuated Hocker cheated for the Paris Olympic last year but when LRC interviewed him to clarify he suddenly twist his words and say he didn’t meant that. This is what I mean by doublespeak. Politicians speak like that, lawyers too, only pastors and bishops speak from the heart.
Kerr’s performance in the 800m is exactly what I would call a glib performance. Maximise reward and minimise effort. He was behind 4 guys in the 1500m and he ended up being behind the same 4 guts two of which were Dianas. Overall, Kerr ran the 800m predictable to the 1500m results.
Not a Kerr fan at all but this is an overreaction. He’s an amazing athlete (despite his terrible persona).
he just needs to figure out the format and the timing. Guy is too good… I love Jakob almost as much as Rojo but none of those wins by Kerr against him were flukes (yes likely even Budapest) Kerr can blast a last 600 with anyone.
Budapest was the biggest fluke win. Jakob and Nuguse were sick, Hocker had a bad build up.
Everything about Kerr is a fluke or fake job. Had Jakob been fit he would have one more WC 1500m gold to the collection and Kerr knows that. He merely took advantage of a lucky situation and was not better than Jakob. Next Kerr likes to lie in public. He claimed he and Mackey wasn’t referring to Hocker doping to beat him but it’s so clear that he has to know what he was thinking about. For a guy who boasts to be self righteous and well cultured well mannered, do you really think he wasn’t mindful enough of the meanings and implications of his words and statements? Thankfully I believe he is done and out for good this year. I don’t see any more progress from him in the 1500m or mile.
They signed him because of all the media attention he gets with his drama with Jakob, and now they're quickly finding out that there's a reason for why Kerr is making headlines for his loud mouth rather than his racing results.
Come on. We can debate whether Kerr was the best signing for this format. And there's no doubt he likes to talk but you cannot look at what he did in 2024 and say he didn't back it up with results. Called a WR at Millrose ahead of time and delivered. Won World Indoors. Beat Jakob at Pre and again at the Olympics.
What results were they? He didn’t win the gold at the Olympics he didn’t run a WR in an outdoor settting and in an Olympic distance and won a soft world indoors race. Beat Jakob and 2 American Dianas at Pre when the one was injured and the other 2 haven’t juiced to the max which they only accomplished at Paris games.
There ZERO achievement from Kerr and lord of talking and twisting.
They signed him because of all the media attention he gets with his drama with Jakob, and now they're quickly finding out that there's a reason for why Kerr is making headlines for his loud mouth rather than his racing results.
WRONG! They signed Kerr for the short distance group b/c they wanted all the 2024 Olympic 1500m medalists. Jakob doesn’t fit that description! 😆
Uh Jakob is running 3:25:1 this year which while not as fast as the 3:23 El G said he would run in todays technology is still good enough to etch his name in the annals of greatness.
So what exactly do you ask of Kerr. You previously claimed Kerr wasn’t racing enough and ducking races and he should race more and GST afforded him that but now you are saying he shouldn’t race more and should keep remaining true to himself to duck races because his body can’t handle it?
You are hard to sell too.
Huh?
Im happy Kerr is racing more. I just think some criticism is valid if he talks big and somewhat belittles others and doesn’t come through. I’m not offended by it but the eggs in your face when you’re DFL of the 1500 guys and 7th in the event group.
I have some disjointed thoughts that I need the few gurus on this thread to help me resolve. Let me begin.
1. I have trouble making sense of the 800m race introduction for some reason. In particular I couldn’t quite comprehend why Nuguse‘s self intro using his 2 hands to mimick a bird flying felt so grossly inappropriate in a mens race. Perhaps I had a bad day at work or I forgot to do laundry, many reasons you get the point but I had to speak my mind and state what I felt. Is this feeling wrong because I’m struggling to reconcile Nuguse the male athlete and Nuguse the femme provocateur.
2. Point 1 above is additionally grossly contrasted by Marco Arop’s and Wanyonyi’s free flowing boyish stylus in verbal and non verbal carriage before and after the race. I saw the way the boy Wanyonyi was prancing around after the race like Hercules lookalike and I had no doubt today in Tuesday and the time reads 430pm. This is the reality I’m used to watching on the track and in real life. Again could I be wrong in my perception of reality? Could Nuguse herald the era of Dianas and Janes in a male sport?
This flamboyant fever-dream mess of a post is far more unsettling than anything that happened not that track.
Kerr isn’t coming off injury. He’s desperately trying to peak for the WCs, he’s not in top shape like drug fueled Africans with no oversight. The bitterness from the POMs who had to endure seeing Hocker give Kerr a jailhouse rogering in Paris is a hoot. Now they all cry ‘drugs’ at Hocker and Nuguse, when they have had tremendous - and very obvious - dopers in Mo, Kelly Holmes, Ohuruogu, etc.
WRONG! They signed Kerr for the short distance group b/c they wanted all the 2024 Olympic 1500m medalists. Jakob doesn’t fit that description! 😆
Uh Jakob is running 3:25:1 this year which while not as fast as the 3:23 El G said he would run in todays technology is still good enough to etch his name in the annals of greatness.
Budapest was the biggest fluke win. Jakob and Nuguse were sick, Hocker had a bad build up.
WRONG! The biggest fluke win was Jakob’s 2021 win in Tokyo. Nothing flukier than a global pandemic delaying the Olympics by a year and then racing in an empty stadium with no fans.
Couldnt agree more. Feels so good to see this guy being exposed. This is why Jakob is better, he is ALWAYS an item in EVERY race.
WRONG! Jakob had to stop to walk during the Copenhagen half marathon, and he finished that race more than 5 minutes behind the winner. After the race, he was flat on his back, totally broken and humiliated.
You clearly are lying just like Kerr. Jakob had no preparation nor training for the race and was racing it on empty. He also took multiple flights and just landed and had no time to rest. He will run 55:40 trust me that
So what exactly do you ask of Kerr. You previously claimed Kerr wasn’t racing enough and ducking races and he should race more and GST afforded him that but now you are saying he shouldn’t race more and should keep remaining true to himself to duck races because his body can’t handle it?
You are hard to sell too.
Huh?
Im happy Kerr is racing more. I just think some criticism is valid if he talks big and somewhat belittles others and doesn’t come through. I’m not offended by it but the eggs in your face when you’re DFL of the 1500 guys and 7th in the event group.
No you are not happy at all. You wanted him to rest more and only race when he can win like in the past. Are you seriously happy with the seeing him race more and lose more too? Kerr is not a durable athlete like jakob
I have some disjointed thoughts that I need the few gurus on this thread to help me resolve. Let me begin.
1. I have trouble making sense of the 800m race introduction for some reason. In particular I couldn’t quite comprehend why Nuguse‘s self intro using his 2 hands to mimick a bird flying felt so grossly inappropriate in a mens race. Perhaps I had a bad day at work or I forgot to do laundry, many reasons you get the point but I had to speak my mind and state what I felt. Is this feeling wrong because I’m struggling to reconcile Nuguse the male athlete and Nuguse the femme provocateur.
2. Point 1 above is additionally grossly contrasted by Marco Arop’s and Wanyonyi’s free flowing boyish stylus in verbal and non verbal carriage before and after the race. I saw the way the boy Wanyonyi was prancing around after the race like Hercules lookalike and I had no doubt today in Tuesday and the time reads 430pm. This is the reality I’m used to watching on the track and in real life. Again could I be wrong in my perception of reality? Could Nuguse herald the era of Dianas and Janes in a male sport?
This flamboyant fever-dream mess of a post is far more unsettling than anything that happened not that track.
So that’s is why it’s disjointed and needs fixing. Fix it for me and help me understand my inner chamber? Is it something wrong with me or with Nuguse? If it’s me I will willingly submit to cognitive behavioural therapy but if it isn’t shall we tax Nuguse instead?