KERR BELIEVES INGEBRIGTSEN DUEL IS DONE

BRIT NOW SEES 1,500m RIVAL FOCUSING ON 5,000m

- Matt Majendie

JOSH KERR considers his Olympic duelling days with Jakob Ingebrigtsen are over, after the Norwegian missed out on a 1,500m medal in a thrilling final in the Stade de France last night.

The race had been billed as a straight shootout between Kerr and Ingebrigtsen (below), who have been verbally sparring off the track for the past year, but both were upstaged by American Cole Hocker across the line It is the third successive global final in which Ingebrigtsen has been beaten to 1,500m gold, and the first one in which he has come away empty-handed after a fourth-place finish.

And Kerr suggested there would not be a third Olympic head-to-head between them in Los Angeles in four years' time, the pair having also sparred for the medals in Tokyo.

"I don't envy running the 5,000m today," said Kerr ahead of the heats over the longer distance facing his Norwegian rival. "That's hard work. He's obviously pretty dominant in the 5,000. We'll see.