Josh Kerr, ‘King of the Mile’, reflects on his seismic Commonwealth Games triumph
"I knew this was going to be one that I would remember for the rest of my life, regardless of the result."
From Games News Service
At the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games, Scotland's Josh Kerr lined up for the men's Mile on Saturday night, August 1, knowing whatever happened it was a race he would remember for the rest of his life. Thankfully, the memories are all golden.
"I knew I needed to show up and perform," Kerr told the Games News Service, little more than 10 hours after storming to victory 1.14 seconds ahead of Australia's rising young star, Cameron Myers, 3:54.12 to 3:55.26.
"These are moments that fly by if you don't grab hold of them. I knew I needed to come on the attack and own the ground that was mine."
While racing in front of a crowd packed full of family, friends, childhood coaches and old rivals carried plenty of pressure, the 28-year-old had heaped a whole load more on himself.
But, just as he showed when fulfilling his pledge to break the 27-year-old Mile world record in the London Stadium on July 18, the Scot is at his happiest when all eyes are on him.
"Those were pretty lofty goals, but this is what I want to do in this sport: go after really big moments and be loud and proud about it," Kerr said.
"I knew this was going to be one that I would remember for the rest of my life, regardless of the result."
The race, the first Mile at these Games since 1966, itself was an almighty scrap, despite starting in oddly serene style.
"I heard it because we were running slow, and I was like, 'Damn, that's cool'," Kerr said of The Proclaimers' iconic anthem I'm gonna be (500 miles) being blasted around the EDF Scotstoun Stadium crowd.
"I could hear myself humming along to it for sure. I didn't quite have the energy to whistle."
Energy in reserve, Kerr also had to maintain his nerve.
"I was just trying to stay on the rail (inside), and you either are out in lane two or three, or you're on the rail and look like you're boxed in. Make your decision... and on a windy day, I want to be in the box."
Myers, his compatriot and defending champion Oliver Hoare, plus Tokyo 2020 Olympic silver medallist Timothy Cheruiyot of Kenya and 2022 1500m world champion and fellow Scot Jake Wightman all knew what Kerr was capable of. Doing something about it was another matter.
"I let everyone else do their thing for a little bit and worry about what they were doing," Kerr said. "We'd ran slow enough where we could go from 400 (meters) out, and people were still a little bit antsy at 300.
"Then I was like, no, we're not waiting around any longer. I know how fast Jake is over the last 200, and and I wasn't going to leave that to chance.
"I was able to get a little gap and from there I just kept the foot on the accelerator, fed off the energy of the crowd and enjoyed the last 10 meters or so."
"It's not rocket science for me," he said. "I do this every day. It's nothing different to normal for me. Just go out there and do what your body's capable of doing."
Commonwealth champion and world record holder, all in little more than two weeks. Achievements worthy of a new nickname, surely?
"King of the Mile sounds pretty cool," Kerr said. "I haven't heard that before."
If Kerr makes that sound easy, it's because, in a way, it is.
