The world 1500m outdoor champion and two-time Olympic medalist is back on the world stage after a heartbreak in Tokyo last September.
Josh Kerr couldn’t walk to breakfast six months ago. In the semi-finals of the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo last September, the Briton “overstretched” and suffered a “slight strain” in his calf before pulling it all the way through the 600m to reach the final.
Echoing Derek Redmond’s finish at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, Kerr limped across the line and finished in 4:11.23 to the cheers of tens of thousands at Japan’s Olympic Stadium.
Kerr soon learned he had torn a muscle in his right calf and spent the next two weeks on crutches. The difficulty of walking was such that even stairs became an obstacle, and common daily rituals were more difficult to navigate.
He decided the best course of action was to stay in Japan to recuperate, and with the help of his mother, who becomes Carey’s physiotherapist, was able to get off the crutches fairly quickly.
For a month, Kerr used the AlterG anti-gravity treadmill before returning to Albuquerque altitude training in January.
A month later at the Millrose Games, Kerr finished second, more than two miles behind Cole Hawker, clocking 8:07.68 in a tactical race in New York.
The 28-year-old has been given a medical exemption to miss the British Athletics Indoor Championships due to “bleeding up” but now believes he is in the form he needs to regain his world indoor 3000m title in Torun, Poland.
If Kerr achieves the feat, it will be the third time he has stood on top of the podium at a major world championships, following gold medals in the outdoor 1500m and indoor 3000m in Budapest and Glasgow.
Considering Kerr returned to full training just two months after Tokyo, it’s an incredible turnaround for a man now aiming for a hat-trick of world crowns.
“It was a difficult scene to begin with,” says Kerr. “But the turnaround was a lot faster than you’d expect for a guy who can’t even walk to breakfast. This entire journey has exposed me to some amazing people around me, including my mom, who is also my physical therapist.
“His first thing was like this. “We need to make sure it’s restored the way you want it to be so you can move forward with this process.” So the next day we were at the pool in Tokyo. I also have Danny Mackin who I work with who is big on the mental aspects of the sport.
“I’ve been competing in the majors since 2017, so you know things like this are going to come up at some point. You won’t always have the best success, and recognizing that is part of the process and shouldn’t get in the way of your overall goals and who you are as a person.
“If I’d made bigger, more drastic mistakes, maybe I’d look back at my systems. But this was more about how the dice rolled that day, and all is well. So I won’t change who I am and my goals.
“The fact that we’re sitting here talking about going for a world indoor title after everything I’ve been through is incredible. I know other athletes won’t be able to do that.”
Kerr believes Torun is a great opportunity to show why he is considered the best middle distance runner in the world.
The Briton did not compete in Nanjing last year, but secured the 3000m indoor gold medal on home soil in 2024, beating Jared Nguuse and Selemon Barega in Glasgow.
Nugus is back in the field, but this time with the likes of Hawker, Ian Shrubb, Andrew Coskoran and Geordie Beamish in the line-up.
“I’m the most experienced in the championship so I’m excited to reclaim the title that I believe is mine,” Kerr said. “I just remember sitting in my hotel room in Glasgow and not being nervous about the event.
“I just wanted to make sure I did myself justice in front of the home crowd. And I was able to do that, which is great. It’s a similar approach in Poland where I’m just going to take these races one by one.”
Kerr’s priority is this summer’s Commonwealth Games in Glasgow and, if the body is ready, the European Athletics Championships in Birmingham a month later. Budapest will also host the inaugural World Championship in September.
The British 1500m record holder also believes he can go faster than his national mark of 3:27.79, which secured him Olympic silver in Paris two years ago.
He has yet to announce his plans for the outdoor season, which will wait until Torun, but it seems he wants to get closer to Jakob Ingebrigtsen’s European mark of 3:26.73 or even Hicham El Gerouj’s 26-year-old world record of 3:26.00.
“I have some pretty big goals for this season,” adds Kerr. “There are no Olympics or outdoor worlds, so I have a bit more flexibility with the timing to prove I’m the best runner in the world at these distances.
“I think you know that there will come a day in those (Olympic) years that you can prove that you are the best athlete in the world. This year, being the best 1500m runner in the world will be established within a season. It’s a fun challenge for everyone to fight for that top spot and that keeps me motivated and excited.”
