Throughout Josh Kerr’s perfect season, he has made the sublime look routine. So when the bell rang for the final lap of the men’s Ultimate 1500m final, with the Scot in third and closing on the leader, Yared Nuguse, the next 53 seconds felt preordained. First Kerr sauntered past Robert Farken into second.
Then with 250m remaining, he scootered past Nuguse. The 20‑year‑old Australian star Cam Myers chased valiantly but Kerr smoothly nursed a three-metre lead to the finish. As Kerr crossed the line in 3min 29.35sec, with Myers 0.33 back, he cupped his hand to his ear.
The sound he was hearing? The adoration of the crowd, and the kerching of the $150,000 (£111,000) first prize. I pressed again at 120m, and then the gap didn’t change, and I knew that at that point I had it.” The only shame was that Jakob Ingebrigtsen, who won a brilliant 5,000m victory on Friday, decided to skip what would have been a mouthwatering clash.
But Kerr was generous to his great rival afterwards, describing Ingebrigtsen’s victory as “very impressive” and praising his decision to rest up to protect the longevity of his career. Kerr will now take a holiday having ended his season having shattered the world mile record and walked away with three major prizes: world indoor championship gold over 3,000m, Commonwealth Games gold over the mile, and now the Ultimate Championship trophy. But the 28-year-old continues to have big plans for the future – including an attempt on the world 1500m record next year.
But I’m a human being, and I understand the highs of the sport are sometimes followed by a lot of real lows. I’m not taking it for granted.” Elsewhere the American Melissa Jefferson-Wooden had plenty of jaws crashing to the floor in the 200m. Against the Olympic champion Gabby Thomas, Jefferson-Wooden ran 21:47 – the fourth fastest time in history.
It was 0.13sec off Florence Griffith Joyner’s world record, despite a -0.6m/s headwind. Thomas was second in an impressive 21.77, while Britain’s Amy Hunt was fourth in a season’s best 22.10 in what was her 47th race of the year. In the men’s javelin, Rumesh Pathirage capped a brilliant breakthrough season by throwing 91.09m to take first prize – and said later that cricket had helped him to become the best in the world.
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