Is Josh Kerr the best in the world at the mental side of running?

Haha he's the most delusional, but there's a fine line between being mentally strong and being delusional. In reality, he just skips a lot of the best mid-season races and runs fast at world's because Jakob makes the race fast.

Cole Hocker has also set his last 2 PB's in world/oly finals, would that make him tied with Kerr?

Yes just like in the best runner in the world at picking my nose.

The fact that he feels the need to say that in almost every interview shows that he is actually very very insecure.

He runs well in global finals relative to his fitness. In 2019 and 2022, his fitness was middle of the pack and he wasn’t in contention. I’d take Centro’s resume in this category though, but now that he can’t get there physically it’s not a real asset.

I'd say the opposite - I'd say he's one of the worst. The best in the world at the mental side of running are those who stay quiet and don't need to give into the outside noise.
Jakob made one tindy comment and Kerr's been riding it for over a year now.

If you want to see someone with mental strength, take a look at Jess Hull - Just trains, gets the job done and is nice to everyone. Great ambassador for the sport.

Reminder that Josh Kerr hasn't PB'd in 1500 since the Tokyo Olympics. He's been talking about 3:27 shape for 3 years now without ever breaking 3:29.

I agree -his Olympic race was relatively good because it was a pb, but his WC win was weak (almost lost to the inexperienced Nordås, who only had a 3.36 pb the year before, and over a sick Jakob) -his winning time was at least one second too slow to be good… Saying that his capacity may be better, but he hasn’t been able to show us that, neither in ordinary races nor in championships…

He wins one race and tries to maintain the hype.

He's mainly just starting banter more than actually has that much belief in him.

Man shows up at work one day and steals from the sick and diseased, and now he thinks he's a hustler like Al Capone.

You have to be a bit mental to be a runner so he could be right.

He talks a lot and pride always comes before the fall. Jacob experienced this last summer at the world champs and Josh will as well if he doesn't change course.

Mans glory is like the grass your vibrant for a short time and then you fade away and someone else comes along to take your place.

Like a lot of things in life - if you have to self proclaim them, the opposite is probably true.

Kerr is a great runner but there are a lot of things that make me think he's actually "fighting" to be confident vs actually be confident. Things like these interviews, the reality that he doesn't test himself against the worlds best on a frequent basis the same way his competitors do and even down to small things like the stupid glasses he wears every race as some figurative "shield"/attention seeking ploy.

Again, his ability and talent are undoubtable - I just don't buy the bravado in any shape or form.

I like his swagger and rooting for him so we can hear more interviews by him.

The best in the world at the mental side of running cannot come from a race distance that lasts 3 and a half minutes when you have marathoners to consider.

I'm not sure but he'd be my pick to be the donut mile world champion.

um, no

Is he the absolute best at the mental side? Probably not. But he is the world champion so he sure as hell isn't bad at it.

Maybe he's never heard of Kipchoge.

Which of course would be fine if he wasn't the one hinting at/proclaiming it every time someone gives him airtime.