Edinburgh runner roared on to Paris silver

Down at Meadowbank, they almost took the roof off.

Over 150 young athletes had gathered in the bowels of the stadium to roar on Josh Kerr, to will him over the line in first place. The noise built and built and as the Edinburgh runner overtook Jakob Ingebrigtsen on the home straight it reached a crescendo.

Alas it was not to be and their man was pipped at the post. He won the all-consuming battle with his Norwegian nemesis but no-one reckoned on Cole Hocker and the American timed his run to perfection to come through and snatch 1500 metres gold.

It's a nervous watch for the young members of Edinburgh Athletics Club at Meadowbank as local Josh Kerr runs in the 1500m Olympic final.

Meadowbank was briefly stunned but the kids, parents and volunteers quickly regained their voices and recognised what Kerr had achieved: an Olympic silver medal, and an upgrade on the bronze he claimed at Tokyo 2020. The local hero had delivered and at the stadium where he first ran as a kid the cheers rang out at a watch party organised by Edinburgh Athletics Club and the National Lottery.

Kerr joined Edinburgh AC when he was eight-and-a-half and long-serving volunteer and current club president Yvonne Jones recognised something special in him.

“Josh was always out in front,” said Jones. “Even from a young age he didn’t stay with the pack. In my mind he was always going places. He was fearless from a young age, and focused as well.”

Kerr can come across as feisty, a warrior. His rivalry with Ingebrigtsen is the stuff of legend and he said pre-race that he was expecting an “absolute war” with the Norwegian. Over at Meadowbank, there was only love for Kerr and his first coach, Eric Fisher, was a proud man. Now 78, Fisher still coaches the Edinburgh AC kids and hopes they will be inspired by Kerr.

Silver medallist Josh Kerr of Great Britain celebrates on the podium during the men's 1500m medal ceremony on day eleven of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Stade de France. (Photo by Hannah Peters/Getty Images)

“I enjoyed the race,” he said, “disappointed it wasn’t the gold we were hoping for but a few moments before the race came on I said to my younger athletes, ‘remember - it’s an achievement to get to the final and to get a medal is a bonus, and we’ll keep our fingers crossed and hope it’s a gold’. It’s silver but a silver in the Olympics is marvellous.”

Lee McConnell, the three-time Olympian, was also among the watchers at Meadowbank. The now retired former 400m runner believes Kerr, 26, can go one better at the 2028 Olympics in LA.

“It didn’t quite go the way everyone thought it would,” McConnell said. “Ingebrigtsen was so focused on beating Josh he blew himself up and it allowed others to come through. But an Olympic silver medal is fantastic. It’s an upgrade on last time and maybe at the next Olympics he’ll complete the set. He’s got another Olympic cycle in him, no problem.”

For Yvonne Jones, there wasn’t much time to digest the outcome. She was too busy handing out Mars Bars to the young Edinburgh AC members. “It was a really exciting race,” she said. “Ingebrigtsen put it all out there but you just don’t know what’s going to happen and it turned out at the end that he wasn’t the one Josh needed to worry about.

“But I’m so proud of Josh winning an Olympic silver medal. From him coming here from eight years old to this.”

Thanks to National Lottery players, Team GB's Olympic athletes are supported to live their dreams. With more than £30m a week raised for Good Causes, The National Lottery has enabled Great Britain to become a global force in Athletics and has provided more opportunities for people inspired by athletes like Josh to take part in the sport. For details visit

Inside Josh Kerr's Olympics watch party as local hero inspires Meadowbank youngsters to raise the roof

Comments