Josh Kerr and Jakob Ingebrigtsen suffer Olympic deja vu in 1500m rematch
For the second time in less than a month, the athletics world was reminded that there is rather more to the men’s 1500m just now than the alpha rivalry between Josh Kerr and Jakob Ingebrigtsen.
After Cole Hocker upstaged them both at the Olympic Games in Paris four weeks ago, it was the turn in Zurich of his American compatriot Yared Nuguse to demonstrate that Ingebrigtsen and Kerr are not always the best runners as well as the most entertaining talkers.
Having tracked Ingebrigtsen for every step of the race, Nuguse timed his finish perfectly to come past the Norwegian in the finishing straight, while Kerr, who had briefly also put himself in position to challenge, faded disappointingly to fifth. It was at least confirmation of the rare compliment that Ingebrigtsen had paid Kerr and his coach Danny Mackey before the race in noting that the Scot was particularly adept at peaking each season for the most important race.
Kerr had run 3min 27.79sec when it mattered most, inside the Stade de France, but, even with an intense training block at altitude in Albuquerque since, looked jaded following the huge emotional high of Paris. He will surely now finish his season and set his sights on the big looming showdown in Tokyo next year when Ingebrigtsen will be determined to take the world 1500m crown from his shoulders.
Ingebrigtsen has himself won Olympic 5,000m gold and set a 3,000m world record since the Paris defeat but, having complained before this race of an infection, was clearly also below his best.
He sat just off the pace-makers during the race and, while still strong enough to shake off Olympic champion Hocker as well as Kerr, his closing 300m lacked its usual punch and allowed the popular Nuguse to seal a rare victory at this rarefied level in 3min 29.21sec.
With Ingebrigtsen, Kerr, Nuguse and Hocker now all having had their moments over recent months, the wider story this summer has been two-fold. Firstly, the 1500m has again been confirmed as one of the absolute blue riband events but we have also seen the re-emergence over middle and longer distance of an exceptional American generation to challenge the best Africans and Europeans.
In what was the penultimate Diamond League meeting of the year, there was earlier also another fast 800m for Georgia Bell, Team GB’s Olympic 1500m bronze medallist, in finishing second behind only the world champion Mary Moraa.
Kenya’s Moraa was beaten in Paris by Keely Hodgkinson but, with the British Olympic champion pulling out of the Zurich race due to injury, she confirmed her status as the next best this season with a dominant victory.
Jemma Reekie had earlier almost followed Moraa’s pace but just faded in the finishing straight where she was passed by the fast finishing Bell.
There was also another hugely encouraging late season performance by Dina Asher-Smith who, having been unable to peak in Paris, showed signs that she is returning to her very best.
After a fast start and excellent drive phase, Asher-Smith led both Olympic champion Julien Alfred and silver medallist Sha’Carri Richardson to around 80 metres but their superior closing speed just saw them pass the Briton in the closing strides.
Asher-Smith’s time of 10.89sec, however, was only just outside her 10.83sec personal best that was set in 2019; the year she became world champion over 200m. Fresh from winning an invitational 100m in 10.37sec the previous night, Mondo Duplantis also further delighted the Zurich crowd with a routine victory in his preferred pole vault discipline at which he has set 10 outdoor world records.