Instant reaction:

Kyle Merber: I’ve lost elements of my voice. I was screaming at the television. There was so much anticipation. I felt like I didn’t care about anything else today. The entire meet, I was like: can we just get to the mile? People were running well and there were great races and I enjoyed it, but this was the only thing I cared about in my life for the last few days. It was incredible. So well delivered.

I called my daughter in from the other room and said, “you’re going to want to be able to tell people one day that you saw this moment.” I don’t want to speak in too much hyperbole, but it was a genuinely memorable moment even for those of us watching at home.

Chris Chavez: Major kudos to Josh and Keely Hodgkinson for hyping this meet so far in advance. Josh appeared on this podcast back in March and announced he was going after the record—that’s so much time to build the fitness, to risk getting injured, to put yourself out there. And historically, when he’s called his shot, he’s delivered. He did it at Millrose, too.

There was a discussion in our group chat during the meet about how many people don’t like Josh, and your point was that that’s actually fine—it makes you root for him even more, and that’s what sports are. Not every athlete is this universally beloved figure. There were people rooting hard for Yared in this race. But Josh built something without ducking any competition.

The balls to call it in March. Tim Hutchings said on the broadcast this was the ballsiest world record to go after. And it keeps you accountable. That’s the whole thing. It’s an off year.

Kyle Merber: Normally, you’d need a World Championship or an Olympic medal to really motivate you, especially someone who’s been doing it as long as Josh has—he’s 28 and has been extremely good for the last decade. To find that motivating thing, announce that you’re going to do it—that keeps you so honest in all those moments in March and April and May when you might otherwise let things slide a little. It puts all the pressure on yourself. It forces you to be perfect and find those one-percent margins everywhere.

Josh Kerr vs. Hicham El Guerrouj’s Race Execution

El Guerrouj’s record was one of the most celebrated in track and field, having been set in Rome in 1999, just ahead of Noah Ngeny second in 3:43.40. It survived 27 years and the entirety of the superspike era until today. Kerr breaking it “at home” in London, in front of 60,000 people, with his training partner as the pacer, is one of the defining moments of the 2026 season and arguably the biggest mile/metric mile record in a generation.

Kyle Merber: One of the things I love about this so much is how different Josh approached this vs. El Guerrouj getting the record. El Guerrouj had a full-on race with Noah Ngeny—he had to win that race to get the world record. Josh did it solo for the last 600 meters. That’s incredible. The pacers did their job. And there is a world in which Josh breaks 3:42 today if he’d had a rabbit going another few hundred meters and someone to race the last 200. Running 3:42.66 with the last 600 all by himself, completely away from the field—nobody runs their best times doing that. So I love the way he did it.

The difference in how Josh and El Guerrouj approach the sport is also fascinating. El Guerrouj raced constantly—his 10th best time in the 1500 is 3:28.37. He was always racing. Josh races every now and then, circles things on the calendar, and when he races, he goes hard. When you think about their profiles—El Guerrouj won Olympic gold in the 5000m, was a 1:47 800 guy who closed faster than almost anyone. Josh comes at it with lower mileage, more speed-oriented, an 800m/1500m type who has expanded up. Different methodologies, same destination.

Chris Chavez: Josh and Coach Danny Mackey have done a tremendous job each time of being in the best shape for whatever they’ve circled as the big moment. It’s only missed when he’s been injured—like last year, when a calf issue in the semifinal took away what could have been a really special World Championship moment. This was his Super Bowl. Everything that comes after is riding off of this fitness.

Kyle Merber: Since 2020, Josh has just been there. Always. Consistently on the medal stand, breaking records. His only real blips were 2022 in Eugene, where he made the final but had a rough race, and then last year’s injury at Worlds. Other than that, almost nothing has missed.

The Greatest Of All-Time Conversation

Hicham El Guerrouj’s Résumé:

800m – 1:47.18, 1000m – 2:16.85, 1500m – 3:26.00 WR, 1500m (Indoor) – 3:31.18, Mile – 3:43.13, Mile (Indoor) – 3:48.45, 2000m – 4:44.79, 3000m – 7:23.09, 3000m (Indoor) – 7:33.73, Two Miles (Indoor) – 8:06.61, 5000m – 12:50.24

🥇 Olympic Games (2 Gold, 1 Silver) – 🥇 2004 – 1500m, 🥇 2004 – 5000m, 🥈 2000 – 1500m

🥇 World Championships (4 Gold, 2 Silver) – 🥇 1997 – 1500m, 🥇 1999 – 1500m, 🥇 2001 – 1500m, 🥇 2003 – 1500m, 🥈 1995 – 1500m, 🥈 2003 – 5000m

🥇 World Indoor Championships (3 Gold) – 🥇 1995 – 1500m, 🥇 1997 – 1500m, 🥇 2001 – 3000m

Josh Kerr’s Résumé:

800m – 1:44.60, 800m (Indoor) – 1:46.64, 1000m – 2:17.60, 1500m – 3:27.79, 1500m (Indoor) – 3:32.86, Mile – 3:42.66 WR, Mile (Indoor) – 3:48.87, Road Mile – 3:44, 3000m – 8:08.4, 3000m (Indoor) – 7:30.14, Two Miles (Indoor) – 8:00.67 WR, 5000m – 13:23.78

🥈 Olympic Games (1 Silver, 1 Bronze) – 🥈 2024 – 1500m, 🥉 2021 – 1500m

🥇 World Championships (1 Gold) – 🥇 2023 – 1500m

🥇 World Indoor Championships (2 Gold) – 🥇 2024 – 3000m, 🥇 2026 – 3000m

Noureddine Morceli Résumé:

800m – 1:44.79, 800m (Indoor) – 1:47.70, 1000m – 2:13.73, 1000m (Indoor) – 2:15.26, 1500m – 3:27.37, 1500m (Indoor) – 3:34.16, Mile – 3:44.39, Mile (Indoor) – 3:50.70, 2000m – 4:47.88, 3000m – 7:25.11, 5000m – 13:03.85

🥇 Olympic Games (1 Gold) – 🥇 1996 – 1500m

🥇 World Championships (3 Gold) – 🥇 1991 – 1500m, 🥇 1993 – 1500m, 🥇 1995 – 1500m

🥇 World Indoor Championships (1 Gold) – 🥇 1991 – 1500m

Chris Chavez: The value of an Olympic gold medal is so high in these conversations, and that’s the one missing piece for Josh. He came so close in 2024. You’ll have critics pointing to the total body of work—not as many sub-3:28s as El Guerrouj, not as many sub-3:29s. But that’s partly because he’s in a different era where he’s not necessarily getting out there as often. As of right now—I wonder if he moves up to number two all-time behind El Guerrouj until he potentially snags the 1500 world record from him. But the problem is he has two Olympic medals and neither of them is gold. It’s genuinely hard.

Kyle Merber: The question becomes: has he usurped Noureddine Morceli? Morceli held the mile world record prior to El Guerrouj, won the Atlanta Olympics in ‘96, Worlds in ‘95, ‘93, ‘91. He has four global championship golds and a World Indoor 1500 title. But Josh has now run faster in the mile. They’re pretty close. I think within two years, Josh will overtake Morceli.

Chris Chavez: Important to note, though, that so many of those marks and performances were set before proper testing for EPO existed, before the Athlete Biological Passport, way before super shoes. People are allowed to have their level of skepticism. Neither El Guerrouj nor Morceli has ever failed a drug test or served a suspension. But what I would say is: Josh getting drug tested right after this race—blood, urine, all of it, take a stool sample if you want—and getting the ratification in a couple of weeks, that’s going to add another layer of legitimacy. Josh has always been a very vocal critic of doping, has no TUEs on record, is pro-clean sport all the way. That actually drives more points toward him in the legacy argument. We have greater confidence in performances being done the right way in this era.

Kyle Merber: Can I just say that the anti-Josh Kerr rhetoric that exists out there is so misplaced and wrong. Everything Josh does is good for the sport. He’s transparent. He shares everything. He does things the right way. Even if you root against him because you like Jakob Ingebrigtsen or Cole Hocker or Yared, he makes people care. And that’s so good. But I also want to step back and say: the persona he has (the wrestling trash talk, the confident declarations), it’s clearly something he knows generates interest. But every teammate loves him. Everyone I know who has interacted with Josh respects him. People have been completely fooled by a little bit of trash talk. He makes you care in a sport that desperately needs people to make you care. Hopefully, today won some people over to the pro-Josh camp.

Although we need some anti-Josh [sentiment] out there because it makes it interesting and just a bit more balanced.

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