Why Josh Kerr made Paris trip to help his Olympic medal bid

Wednesday 3rd April 2024

Josh Kerr celebrates gold in Glasgow after his World Indoors 3000m title win (photo by Bobby Gavin)

Saturday night fever and why Josh always waves flag for Scotland

Josh Kerr went to Paris at Christmas to give his Olympic medal daydreams the right context.

The double World Champion, who added the World Indoors Men’s 3000m gold in Glasgow to his Budapest title in the Men’s 1500m title, visited the Stade de France which will host the track and field action at the 2024 Olympics.

And it is abundantly clear that, for Josh and his support team led by coach Danney Mackey, the planning never stops.

‘I spent a little time in Paris over Christmas,’ revealed the Edinburgh AC athlete who is now a huge name in our sport globally.

‘I wanted to go over there and see what the track was like for the Olympics.

‘I wanted to see the stadium at Stade de France and just familiarise myself with the surroundings as much as I could.

‘Grangemouth made me the athlete I am now’ – Josh Kerr

‘Yes, that was the forward planning started. I am a planner by nature. I like to know where I am going to be; what the stadium and the track is like; where I am going to race.

‘It is nice to know that when you are creating scenarios in your head – while training weeks and months earlier. It gives you the right context for things. That is why I went at Christmas time.

‘I enjoyed the city as well, of course. It was bouncing.’

Josh, of course, won 1500m bronze at the last Olympics in Japan when Laura Mur took silver over the same distance. Those were the first individual medals at Olympics by Scots since 1988 (with Eilidh Doyle having won a relay medal in Rio in 2016).

Eric Liddell won 400m gold in Paris a century ago in 1924 while it is now 44 years since Allan Wells won gold in the 100m in Moscow in 1980.

‘It is the job of this current generation to try and get medals and write history for athletics in Scotland – that’s my job and the job of Jake Wightman, Neil Gourley, Laura Muir, Jemma Reekie, Eilish McColgan (and others). We take that seriously.

‘And, also, it is about showing young athletes in Scotland what is possible. There is a model there, a pathway, and it works.

‘I like looking back at the history (of athletics in Scotland) and I would love to write a new chapter.’