Editor’s note: Stuart Weir is writing again, after a couple of weeks’ hiatus. Stuart Weir reflects on JoshKerr and the Scotsman’s eight races in 2026, which brought WR for the mile, NR for the 1,500 meters (and mile), a Commonwealth Games victory, a World Indoor title, the Ultimate Games win, and, oh yes, a new 800m PB!
Josh Kerr drew a alot of social media attention this year with his vlogs, interviews, and IG posts. He handled it well.
We can not wait to see what Josh Kerr will focus on in 2027!
Josh Kerr: Considering A Most Excellent Year…
Josh Kerr only ran 8 times this year. Amy Hunt ran 44 times. I know they are different events, but still…. Josh ran an indoor 2 miles, an indoor 3K, and outdoor twice at 800m, once at 1500 m, and in three one-mile races. And what a brilliant season he had. 2025 ended badly when he limped home in the final of the 1500 m World Championships, finishing 14th in 4:11.23.
Josh has always said that championships are what it is all about for him, and winning the 3000m at the World Indoors in Poland was the first goal of the season. He won in 7:35.56, commenting: “It’s nice to be back to where I was. This race didn’t go the way I wanted, but racing is all about dealing with the situations you are put in. I shouldn’t worry much about the mistakes in the race, even though I made a lot today. I didn’t have time to think about them; I had to push. I wanted this gold medal so badly. I had all kind of scenarios in my head and I am just pleased it all went in my favour today. I put a lot of pressure on myself before this race and I was stressed”.
He added a reflective comment: “I had previously won at World Championships outdoors and World Indoors back to back (2023 and 2024), and I took it for granted. I thought I would be at the top of the sport for a long time, but after missing a couple of opportunities I wanted, I am really going to enjoy this gold. It took a lot of work to be standing on the podium today.”
In the spring, Josh announced he would run in the London Diamond League and try to break the world mile record. He called it Project 222, the number of seconds he needed. Usually, world records come from athletes trying to win the race and run as fast as possible. This time, by announcing months in advance that he would target the world record, Josh put pressure on himself. This meant that even an impressive victory would look like a failure if he didn’t set the world record.
I was part of a media group that got to talk to him the day before his world-record attempt. He explained how it had come about: “I think 2026 being a year that we don’t have an Olympic Games or traditional world championships, you start to wonder ‘what is my plan?’ And over the last four years, I’ve created this team around me of people and brands that are capable of a lot. And we were at a point where I looked around and I went, ‘this is a world-class set of people. I need a world-class goal’. And so that was the number one because Coach Danny and I have talked about running this mile record for many years, but I didn’t feel like I was in shape for it, or I didn’t feel like I had the team of people around me because this is not an individual pursuit. This is a team of people that have just worked tirelessly for me to be able to show off the training, do my job and go home – but also have it in a situation where we can affect as many people as possible, young athletes having a full stadium of people and doing it in the right event, in the right atmosphere”.
A great example of his meticulous planning was when he was asked what kind of time he was looking for in the London 1500 m race. He replied: “I mean, anything in the 27s will work. The even split, I think, is 27.9”. His time was 3:27.62, a new UK NR.
He gave us another insight into his mindset: “I’m not scared of failing. It’s something that I was born with. I’m on the attack at all times, and I’m bold about what I say, but when the figures and stats back up my claims, I don’t see why I can’t go out there and do my job. And I think it’s important to tell people what your goals are. I think it keeps you honest; it keeps everyone honest in track and field and, hopefully, brings a couple more eyeballs on it. But yeah, I’m not fearing that in any way. I’m just going out there and doing what I’ve said that I’m capable of doing”. At the same time, he admitted that, given the strength of the field, he could break the old world record but not win the race!
The result was
1 Josh Kerr 3:42.66
2 Yared Nuguse 3:45.69
3 Jake Heyward 3:46.73
The Commonwealth Games isn’t really a global event, but it has a special appeal for Scottish athletes: there’s a British team, just separate teams for each nation that makes up the United Kingdom. Add to that the 2026 Commonwealth Games were being held not just in Glasgow, but at Scotstoun Stadium, where Josh ran as a teenager. To be fair, the Commonwealth mile, the hosts opted for the traditional distance rather than the more usual 1500m, drew a strong field. Josh won in 3:54.12 from Cameron Myers and Timothy Cheruiyot, with Jake Wightman also in the field.
Speaking after the race, he began with a cheeky comment: “I went out to prove that the mile is British a couple of weeks ago, so I can’t lose the first one back, can I?” He continued: “It was fantastic. I think that’s what pure racing is. We got out there and didn’t run super slow. Obviously slow through the 800 and 1200, but able to kick it down to a more respectable time. I’m here to do that and win gold medals, whatever that looks like, whether it’s going out and time-trialing 3:42 or battling through the chaos; I really enjoyed it. It was fantastic.
Those performances take a lot of hard work, and having a bit of time to enjoy it in the last 100 – [a quick wave to the crowd] – is a memorable experience for me. Doing that in front of a home crowd is everything I want. It’s been a great two weeks, and I’m glad I’m able to perform on the big days”.
Then there was the Ultimate Championship, and again Josh won, but in a tighter race:
1 Josh Kerr 3:29.35
2Cameron Myers 3:29.68
3 Hobbs Kessler 3:30.73
4 Cole Hocker 3:30.74
5 Yared Nuguse 3:30.76
He summed up the race: “I didn’t feel amazing during the warm-up, but I knew I could do it. I just didn’t want to push too early. The race rhythm made the most sense for me; someone else pushed ahead, and I managed to push hard at the finish. Sometimes you have to dig a bit deeper to win or set a world record. In the last two weeks, I pushed myself a bit, and I knew I had been working hard. This sport has moved on in the last couple of years, and I’m impressed where it is now. Anything that can move the sport in the right direction and do good for athletes I support”.
For much of the year, Josh trains in Albuquerque, New Mexico, at roughly 5,250 feet above sea level. He also set up his bedroom as an altitude (hypoxic) chamber, adding the equivalent of another 3,000 feet. He spends roughly 12 hours a day inside the room to simulate an elevation of 8,500+ feet.
On one level, Josh is a fanatic, but equally, he is an exceptionally nice person. Your correspondent is low on the pecking order of track writers, but Josh never fails to speak to me after a race. A few years ago, in Zurich, after a race, he told me he could not speak to me as he was about to throw up. Ten minutes later, I heard someone call my name. Josh had come back to do the interview.
A special athlete and a special person.
