Josh Kerr this morning made an authoritative start to his bid to turn his world 1500m title into Olympic gold as the first day of track and field action got underway at the Stade de France.
Kerr, the bronze medalist in Tokyo three years ago, made his move down the back straight of the final lap of Friday’s opening heat and looked comfortable in pulling clear to win in a time of 3:35.83 and confirm his place in Sunday’s semi-finals.
“My goal for this was to stay relaxed, stay confident in my fitness and I did that today,” the Scotsman said. “Everyone gets really antsy in these first rounds, because of all the build-up, the hype, and it’s a big stadium with lots of people.
"So I just made sure I stayed relaxed, and when it was time to go I put the burners on. Maybe a little bit too hard, I thought everyone was going to be battling me. But it felt exactly how I thought it would, and that’s always a reassuring thing.”
Kerr produced a stunning performance to take World Championship gold in Budapest last year, ahead of Norway’s reigning Olympic champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen.
The rivalry has been building throughout the 12 months since and the pair remain on course for what has been billed as one of the biggest clashes of the Games after Ingebrigtsen eased through in third in the final heat.
Kerr will be joined in the semi-finals by team-mate Neil Gourley, but George Mills must come through the repechage round after finishing only tenth in heat two.
Daryll Neita goes through with a season's best in the women's 100m heats!
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) August 2, 2024
Will her @TeamGB teammates Imani Lansiquot and Dina Asher-Smith join her? We're about to find out on @BBCiPlayer and Red Button.#BBCOlympics #Olympics #Paris2024 pic.twitter.com/3coZ30IB4r
Elsewhere, Dina Asher-Smith, Daryll Neita and Imani-Lara Lansiquot all qualified for tomorrow night’s 100m semi-finals, with Neita particularly impressive in winning her heat in a season’s best time of 10.92, the third-fastest of the morning.
"I’m in great form,” she said. “To me it’s just about execution at this championships and really believing in myself and just going for it. It’s a stepping stone for tomorrow.”
High-jumper Morgan Lake, however, is out of the Games after finishing only 15th in qualifying, a best clearance of 1.88m some way below her season’s best of 1.95m.
"Not at all what I wanted,” she said. “It’s not been the best season after last year, still not quite sure what went on. I was maybe thinking ahead to Sunday too much, focusing on the final before I even got through qualifying."It's something I should be used to - this is my third Olympics now and every round matters, and you can’t take any round for granted.”
