Britain’s Josh Kerr beats Jakob Ingebrigtsen AGAIN to lay down Olympic marker as Scot smashes Steve Cram’s 39-year-old mile record
- Kerr defeated Ingebrigtsen to win gold in the 1500 meters at the 2023 World Championships
- He defeated his Norwegian rival again in the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene
- The Scottish runner shaved almost a second off Cram’s 1985 mile record
Josh Kerr defeated Jakob Ingebrigtsen again when he broke Steve Cram’s 39-year-old British mile record in Eugene on Saturday evening to set an early Olympic milestone.
The Scot faced his Norwegian rival for the first time since beating him in the 1500 meters at the World Championships in Budapest last summer.
And Kerr met Ingebrigtsen’s challenge in style in the prestigious Bowerman Mile of the Prefontaine Classic, winning in a time of 3 minutes 45.34 seconds – almost a second faster than Cram’s 1985 mark.
It was an important victory for Kerr, who is looking to upgrade the bronze he won at Tokyo 2020 when the Paris Olympics take place in two months.
Olympic champion Ingebrigtsen finished second in 3:45.60 in his first race since September.
Britain’s Josh Kerr beats Norwegian rival Jakob Ingebrigtsen in the Prefontaine Classic
The victory in Oregon allowed Kerr to set a useful milestone ahead of the Paris Olympics
While there was also an encouraging return for Britain’s Jake Wightman, the 2022 1500m world champion, who finished fifth with a personal best of 3:47.83.
The other British success story from last night’s Diamond League meeting was Keely Hodgkinson, who beat world champion Mary Moraa to win the 800 meters in 1:55.78, the fastest time in the world this year. Her teammate Jemma Reekie finished third in 1:57.45.
Hodgkinson’s run was ominous for her rivals as she attempted to secure her first global gold at this summer’s Olympics, having claimed silver at Tokyo 2020 and the last two World Championships.
In the women’s 100 meters, Dina Asher-Smith finished third behind world champion Sha’Carri Richardson.
There was more success for Great Britain when Keely Hodgkinson won the women’s 800 metres
Elsewhere, British sprinter Louie Hinchliffe, 21, ran the fastest 100 meters in all conditions in the world this year when he clocked an eye-catching 9.84 seconds during a university race in America.
Hinchliffe’s time was slightly above the legal wind limit, but is still the second fastest ever by a British athlete in all conditions, and puts him in the running for the Olympic section.