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Josh Kerr has already set his sights on upgrading his Olympic medal again at Los Angeles in four years’ time after settling for silver in the men’s 1500m in Paris.
The Tokyo 2020 bronze medallist was pipped at the post following a late surge by America’s Cole Hocker, who gatecrashed the Kerr v Jakob Ingebrigtsen narrative to snatch a shock gold from under their noses.
Rather than be down in the dumps, Kerr takes pride in setting a new personal best in the event and will use what happened at the Stade de France as fuel to go for gold at the next Olympics in LA in 2028.
“It was a little bit bitter sweet for me,” Kerr told the PA news agency. “There’s a lot of big positives to take away from my performance.
“Big execution on a big stage for me, best 1500 performance I’ve ever put on in my life and just a little bit short of my biggest goal.
“I’m ready for that next step, take it and start another four-year cycle is going to be an exciting one. It’s massively motivating for me. I’m looking forward to analysing and getting back to the drawing board.”
The Edinburgh runner was just 0.14 seconds adrift of Hocker on Tuesday evening and only one hundredth of a second ahead of bronze medallist Yared Nuguse in a photo finish.
Tokyo 2020 champion Ingebrigtsen surprisingly finished outside the medal positions in fourth as he floundered in a thrilling denouement, having set the pace for much of an absorbing race.
“To have three or four guys still battling with 100 metres to go is mind-blowing but it wasn’t something where I was like ‘oh my goodness, I can’t believe this is happening’,” Kerr added.
“I was able to stay composed in that moment and not fall apart. I held on as much as I could and got beaten by the better man and that’s going to motivate me in that next cycle.”
