Kerr ran it like Faith Kipyegon and Mo Farah. That was my immediate thought.
If you have the best kick, do it from the front.
Americans love late rallies. It is an extremely low percentage tactic at highest level, regardless of sport. You cannot cede ground against other elites. Kerr understands that and it is the reason he can't rely on another Wightman 2022 or Kerr 2023 scenario. Everybody focuses on the bottom line in those races instead of the burden of reversing fortune late against someone who rarely loses.
Jakob ran extremely well. I knew he would be very satisfied despite the defeat. His mission is markedly more clear cut than prior to the race. Tactics don't mean much of anything. He needs to be capable of running a time that Kerr cannot match.
Under that reality I'm not sure it wasn't a mistake for Kerr to run this race and use that tactic. He could have waited for Paris to stun Jakob by going to the front. Instead it reminds me of Hassan and Kipyegon in 2021. Hassan had defeated Kipyegon in their prior meeting, the 2019 world championship final when Kipyegon was coming off maternity. Then Hassan did it again during an early Diamond League race in 2021. Kipyegon ran very well but lost.
Fast forward several weeks. Kipyegon was suddenly the conventional wisdom underdog to Hassan. But Kipyegon had used the prior outcome more toward situational awareness than motivation. She needed to get faster. When they met again in Monaco, Kipyegon ran a time that Hassan simply wasn't capable of. And it held up through Tokyo and beyond.
Jakob is not as good of an athlete as Kipyegon. That's the primary difference. She could build base while also maintaining the very quick late turnover rate.