‘I’m not a robot’: Josh Kerr primed to peak against arch rival Ingebrigtsen

Josh Kerr has had to rely on a wild card to compete at the World Athletics Ultimate Championship. Photograph: Tom Jenkins/The Guardian View image in fullscreen Josh Kerr has had to rely on a wild card to compete at the World Athletics Ultimate Championship. Photograph: Tom Jenkins/The Guardian Interview ‘I’m not a robot’: Josh Kerr primed to peak against arch rival Ingebrigtsen Sean Ingle A $150,000 prize in Budapest has the record-breaking Scot buzzing but the middle-distance star insists he’s no longer chasing paydays The richest event in track and field history launches in Budapest this weekend, and the prospect of walking away with $150,000 at the World Athletics Ultimate Championship has got Josh Kerr ready to rumble again, on and off the track. Some critics have noted that the Scot has run only five times in 2026 – compared with Amy Hunt’s 43 races – and has had to rely on a wild card from World Athletics to even compete in Budapest. Others, including the double Olympic champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen, have questioned why Kerr swerved the chance to race in front of his home fans at the European championships in Birmingham last month. Josh Kerr: ‘What has running taught me about life? If you are determined enough, you can 100% do it’ Kerr’s response? To insist that “I’m not a robot”, before pointing out that in four of his five races this year he has broken the world mile record, set a personal best over 800m, and won gold at the world indoor championships over 3,000m and the Commonwealth Games over 1500m. “I’m tired of just saying it,” he says. “I’m a human being at the end of the day. And to run a world indoor championships and come out with a gold medal there, go after a PB over 800m, which I was able to do for the first time in seven years, get a Commonwealth Games gold medal, and and also go get a a world record, and then go after an outdoor major championships, that’s enough for me. But the 28-year-old athlete insists he deliberately targets “two to four big dates a year” and wants to race only when he is in prime shape. “I’m not trying to avoid racing. I just don’t love racing when I’m not ready to go. And the reason I can race so well is because I pick my races.