6 months ago
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Josh Kerr has "guaranteed" British Olympic medals this summer at 1500m as he set his sights on gold in Paris and a new British record after surpassing Steve Cram's 39-year-old mile best in Oregon.
The 26-year-old finished ahead of Olympic champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen of Norway in Sunday's Diamond League meeting, with fellow Scots Neil Gourley and former world champion Jake Wightman finishing fourth and fifth.
Kerr, the current 1500m world champion, thought "it was probably one of the best mile fields that's ever been assembled".
"Both Jake and Neil Gourley have been struggling with injuries over the past year or so and the way they stepped up this week is just phenomenal," he told BBC Radio 5 Live.
"It shows there's going to be some intense battles over the next couple of weeks going into the British Championships and then the Olympics," he added.
"I can guarantee right now there are going to be medals for the UK at the Olympic Games in the 1500 and they can come from any one of us."
Kerr spoke to Cram, who is now a BBC commentator, before and after Sunday's race and revealed that the Englishman had said it was about time someone broke his British mile record and "he was proud of me" even though "it was probably a bitter sweet moment for him".
The Scot reckons his victory in Eugene "showed my form to the British selectors", allowing him to run the 800m at the Olympic trials to work on his speed.
However, the 2020 bronze medallist is not "quite yet" thinking of doubling up at the Olympics.
"My goals in this sport was to be a world and Olympic champion," he said. "I've got the indoor and outdoor titles, but I don't have the Olympic champion yet, so I don't want to risk anything.
"Obviously I am there to go after gold, but I know the guys who will be on the team with me will be trying to do the same thing.
"A sweep on the podium might be a little bit of a pipedream, but you never know what can happen with this kind of calibre of guys."
As for his own rivalry with Ingebrigtsen, Kerr would only say he is "having a blast" being part of group of middle-distance runners who remind some of the days of Cram, Seb Coe [now Lord Coe] and Steve Ovett.
"The Brits and Europeans dominate this distance now like it was in the golden age of 1500m running. I'm proud to be leading that and I wanted to make sure, against a class field like that, I could still put in the work and show who the best guy is," he added.
"I definitely have the British 1500m record in my sights. The mile one was a bit older and it was really fun to get."
Meanwhile, Gourley is one of five Scots chosen for the GB & Northern Ireland team heading to the European Athletics Championships in Rome from 7-12 June and will compete at 1500m.
The others are Jemma Reekie at 1500m, Eilish McColgan and Megan Keith at 10,000m and Erin Wallace at 800m.
