Josh Kerr hopes his triple bill of Commonwealth Games and world indoor gold – and a world record – finally gives him a shot at the BBC Sports Personality prize.
The Scots superstar, 28, ignited the fireworks at Scotstoun on Saturday night when he claimed the men’s mile title with a stunning victory. It came just two weeks after he ran the quickest time in history at the distance in London to join legends like Seb Coe, Steve Ovett and Roger Bannister in holding the mark.
But Kerr admitted he was “massively disappointed” in 2023 when he was left off the six-person short-list for SPOTY despite winning the world 1500 metres title with Coe, now World Athletics president, tweeting, ‘are you having a laugh?’ And the two-time Olympic medallist, who kicked off the year by claiming his third global crown in the 3000m at the world indoor championships in Poland, is praying this is the year he gets the nod from the Beeb’s judging panel.
Kerr said: “I don’t want to get my hopes up too early for this one, but I would love to. It would be an honour for me. Obviously there’s been some fantastic sporting heroes for this year, with the Winter Olympics, with the World Cup, and all the rugby that’s going on. It’s difficult to keep up with all these guys.
“But I’m just going to keep doing what I’m doing, and hopefully they respect what I’ve done so far.”
Kerr began his career at Edinburgh Athletics Club in his hometown where he spent the past week training on the old routes he used before relocating to the USA at 18. But he celebrated into the night in Glasgow with a lot of his former coaches and supporters and he hailed the staff at Scottish Athletics for keeping him on track.
He said: “There were times in my career where I was really down in the dumps, not being able to make London mini-marathon teams. They pulled me out that hole and sent me in the right direction.
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“And everything I can do when I wear that Scotland vest is really special. It’s something slightly different, and to have it every four years and to be able to do it in front of a home crowd, you just can’t get better than that. So I appreciate all the work they’ve done for me, and I’m glad I’m able to pay that back a little bit now.”
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