Josh Kerr: "Come championship day, I am the best athlete in the world. And no LetsRun article is going to tell me otherwise.”

The worst thing about that podcast is how cringe the David guy is at simping for Kerr, it's so a one sided and creepy it's painful.

Is it always an argument to say you are sick when you loose?

That's an easy argument and in the case of Jakob it looks anecdotal some times.

that assumes each race of the 14 is of equal importance. Both athletes have indocated that they don't believe this to be true.

Jacob/Jakob you know who i meant.

There are roughly two ways to behave after losing: 1. You could try to look sympathetic by never launching any excuses or explanations at all. (Very boring, and little educational). Or you could simply be satisfied by the result because you know you weren’t the best one in the field.

2. You could try to explain why you lost / isn’t satisfied by the outcome.

Jakob (as well as Cheruiyot f.ex, and many others) combines everything mentioned above in the post race reactions. F.ex Jakob didn’t evaluate what he could have done better / what went wrong in the Worlds U20 2018 (got silver and bronze) despite being close to winning both the 1500 and 5000m. Why not? -Because he really seemed to enjoy these two very fun races, his own performances, and a totally OK outcome given the overall context… And these are not the only examples of “a not making excuses Jakob”.

Then I feel like making a huge jump to the Bowerman mile 2023 (3.43.70 by Jakob) -English speaking fans of the sport doesn’t know this, because most of the relevant pre interviews here with Jakob is in Norwegian: He makes “excuses” in advance for his upcoming race (makes a huge number out of him being plagued by jet lag -he has just traveled 9-10 time zones by plane). So what is the deal here -is this an athlete so afraid of losing that he has to make up excuses even before his races!? Not at all (of course) -he just shares his evaluation of the situation, because he is an athlete that tries to understand factors that increase or reduce your ability (because he then sometimes can manipulate these factors -although he, with eyes open, chooses to run this race / races despite not ideal conditions). And if he was so afraid why on earth does he choose to frontrun the 3000m less than 24 hours after the mile..!?

Another example: Jakob makes a lot of “excuses” after his Silesia win, pb and new European record -why? -He doesn’t need any excuses here; this being his best race ever. The answer is this: As always “the excuses” aren’t excuses -they are explanations. As they are when he tells he is sick! -People just won’t get it (despite the context -Jakob all of a sudden running 2 seconds slower than expected in a solo run!).

Or you can turn it around and say that it is often some reason for the dominating athlete to loose, for example sickness?

dont matter buddy, kerr's the one with the gold medal hung high on the living room

It was the greatest track and field quote in recent memory. And it's still mind boggling that it wasn't listed as best quote during the annual run down on this site. I replied immediately to that thread in dismay that they could even consider anything else.

It's absurd to say that Jakob and Kerr have the same personality. Prior to that quote, nobody cared about Kerr's personality. It was never a topic or concern. Kerr's personality is suddenly on display via his own insecurity.

Meanwhile that quote is pure Jakob. He could have offered it at any point since age 10.

They’re both arrogant sods.

It’s one of the reasons why they’re so good.

I've thought about this in the last couple of days . Is he losing the 1500 because he cares too much and tenses up and by the same token winning the 5000 because it doesn't mean as much to him . Either way his record over both distances in both championships and diamond leagues have been one of the best if not the best we have been lucky enough as fans to witness . If he stays focused and the demons of his relationship (or lack of) with his father don't take him down a dark hole he is without a doubt on track to being the G.O.A.T !! Only time will tell.

Not quite right, because of the current top athletes Cheruiyot, Ingebrigtsen, Wightman and Kerr are the ones with the gold medal hung high on the living room… And if we then would try to differentiate these four (choosing the best) I think we had to have a look on other merits -pb’s, winning strike, winning other championships, WR’s. Don’t you think..?

You mean esteemed novelist David Ribich?

Great post. Jakob just says what happened in his estimation. I’d rather that than anything tbh. Often what we get from the athletes who’d call out Jakob for is in my mind worse. Lower transparency, late, and having it both ways. Would you rather hear Kerr explain his cruddy 2022 season vaguely in 2023 like he did? I’d much rather heard after Worlds in 2022 he’d said: “I’m struggling with my diet, and my motivation’s been scattershot all year from the highs of the Olympics. So I did my best race of the season here today but I’m not at the level of the top guys. I believe I’ll beat them at my best.” Or did you prefer the canned answers we got until a year later?

This is after Eugene. All cliches, and saying words without meaning anything. Give me Jakob any day over this politically correct line of answers:

Jacob lost to Kerr at the last championship.

Josh Kerr's confidence is as powerful as solar panel. Belief in oneself is key to greatness, transcending any article's opinion. His mindset illuminates his path to championship glory.

Nope. Cole Hocker was better. Josh Kerr will never win an Olympic Gold.

Bump

I get why this might seem fitting to bump, but let's get real about GST - it's not a "championship" of any kind. They don't even do an overall group champion (after the 4 meets) which actually would be interesting and a better gauge. But as ironic as it might seem to bump this after today, it's just not really that relevant in my opinion.