How the Ingebrigtsen-Kerr 1500m rivalry was pushed to new heights – even though neither man won by Liam Tharme
Here are some of the key ideas from this (very good) article about how the Jakob v. Kerr rivalry allowed Hocker to earn that unexpected Gold:
Going into the race, there were 20 instances of athletes running a sub-3:28 1500m — nine of those were from Morocco’s world-record holder Hicham El Guerrouj. This final was the first instance of three men running 3:27 in the same race and that does not include Ingebrigtsen, the only one who started the day having previously broken the 3:28 barrier.
Ingebrigtsen actually broke his Olympic record in Paris. The only problem was three guys went faster than him: champion Cole Hocker (3:27.65), silver medallist Kerr (3:27.79), and bronze medallist Yared Nuguse (3:27.80), who went seventh, eighth and ninth in the list of fastest 1500m runners ever. Nuguse and Hocker weren’t even born when El Guerrouj set his 3:26.00 world record in 1998.
Tuesday makes it three wins for Kerr over Ingebrigtsen in their last four meetings...
Ingebrigtsen raced the Olympic final like a time trial. Theoretically, it played to his strengths and forced Kerr to run better than ever before. The risk? Ingebrigtsen had to play it perfectly or the wheels would come off.
“It was 100m too long. It’s not always easy to spend your energy wisely,” Ingebrigtsen told Eurosport after the race. “The pace is so fast the whole race, especially with me opening so strong, you can’t really tell, 100 per cent, when you’re hitting the wall before you hit it... I felt strong the first couple of laps,” Ingebrigtsen said. “I had difficulty telling the pace because it
was quite fast. It was difficult to slow down. I saw I was starting to get a gap, so kept on pushing.” He was his own pacemaker.
Ingebrigtsen looked like he tried to run the kick from Kerr early, not even willing to get to a situation where the gold was reduced to a 200m shootout.
To Ingebrigtsen’s credit, he rolled the dice. It was brave more than reckless. That style of racing will be needed to break a world record that has stood for 26 years. Ingebrigtsen tied up on the home straight, fighting harder, getting slower and losing all form, closing the final 100m in 13.8sec. For comparison: Hocker and Nuguse closed in 13sec flat and Kerr in 13.2sec. He tied up, too, just closer to the finish line. Ingebrigtsen’s plan looked as much about him winning as Kerr losing.
Ingebrigtsen gave two glances over his shoulder along the back straight of the final lap. It’s generally a sign of fear and an indication that an athlete might be hitting the wall, and is something you never see from him.
“I’m so proud of myself. I executed the best 1500m race I’ve ever done, on the biggest stage, by over a second,” Kerr told Eurosport. “It’s difficult to control what anyone else does, but I controlled myself, I positioned myself well to win and go after medals. It wasn’t enough over the last 20 or 30 metres, but I got beaten by the better man. I have to walk away with my head held high”.
Kerr ran wide on the final bend, trying to pass Ingebrigtsen. Those extra few metres are probably the only thing he regrets about the race. He finally got him with about 60m to go, only for the most unexpected ending to transpire.
Ingebrigtsen ran ever so slightly diagonally to cut across Kerr and force him wider in a last-ditch effort to stay first. This left the inside of lane one, by the curb, empty. Hocker ran straight up the inside and took gold. Kerr won the battle against Ingebrigtsen but not the war, and in desperately trying to beat Kerr, the reigning champion gave up his crown by pacing Hocker to break the Olympic record he set three years ago.
Kerr spoke to the BBC afterwards about being “consistent at this level” and maintaining success across major championships. That silver is his fourth medal in as many years. Ingebrigtsen’s medal cabinet still dwarfs Kerr’s — this ended a run of 17 international competitions where the Norwegian had made a podium, going back to the 2019 World Championships. Even so, the pattern is now three global 1500m finals where Ingebrigtsen has been beaten.
This isn’t over, it’s just getting started.
