Josh Kerr (born 8 October 1997) is a Scottish middle-distance runner who has held the world record in the mile since 2026, with a time of 3:42.66. In the 1500 metres, Kerr won gold at the 2023 World Championships, silver at the 2024 Summer Olympics, and bronze at the 2020 Summer Olympics. In 2026 he won the inaugural World Athletics Ultimate Championship in the event. In the mile, he is the 2026 Commonwealth Games champion. In the 3000 metres, Kerr is the 2024 and 2026 world indoor champion. As a junior, Kerr won gold at the 2015 European Junior Championships.
Kerr competed for the University of New Mexico from 2015 to 2018, winning three NCAA titles. In April 2017, he set a collegiate record in the 1500 metres that stood until May 2021. He turned professional in 2018 and joined the Brooks Beasts Track Club. In 2023, Sportscotland named him Scottish Sportsperson of the Year.
Kerr was born on 8 October 1997 in Edinburgh, Scotland. His mother works as a physiotherapist, and his father is a former rugby player. His older brother Jake is a professional rugby player. Kerr began running with the Edinburgh Athletics Club at the age of eight. He was educated at George Watson's College. At 16, he started reaching out to athletic coaches at colleges in the United States, aiming to compete in the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA). Kerr stated that he received several negative responses from coaches, except for the coach at the University of New Mexico, who offered him a full athletics scholarship. In the summer before he started college, Kerr won gold in the 1500 m at the 2015 European Athletics Junior Championships. The following month, at age 17, he moved to Albuquerque and began competing for the University of New Mexico, majoring in exercise science.
While at the University of New Mexico, Kerr won three NCAA titles and set the collegiate record in the 1500 m. In March 2017, he won his first national title in the indoor mile, defeating Edward Cheserek, the collegiate record holder in the event and a 15-time NCAA champion. In June 2017, Kerr secured a second national title by winning the outdoor 1500 m, becoming the first man since Leo Manzano in 2008 to achieve both the indoor mile and the outdoor 1500 m titles in the same year. Kerr repeated his success in the indoor mile in March 2018, claiming another national title. On 20 April 2018, Kerr broke the collegiate record in the 1500 m with a time of 3:35.01, surpassing Sydney Maree's 1981 record of 3:35.30. This record stood for 3 years and 24 days, until it was broken by Yared Nuguse in May 2021. Kerr's final collegiate race was in June 2018, where he finished third in the 1500 m at the NCAA Championships.
2018–2020: Early professional career
Kerr turned professional in June 2018, forgoing his senior year of eligibility in the NCAA. He signed a sponsorship deal with Brooks Sports, a Seattle-based company, to train under coach Danny Mackey as part of the Brooks Beasts Track Club. He divided his training time between Seattle and Albuquerque. In August 2019, he participated in the 1500 m at the British Athletics Championships, where he won a silver medal, finishing behind Neil Gourley. This performance qualified him to represent Great Britain in the 1500 m at the 2019 World Championships later that month, where he placed sixth in the final.
In May 2021, Kerr set a personal best of 1:45.74 in the 800 metres. The following month, he won his first national title in the 1500 m at the British Championships. This victory secured his spot to represent the British team at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, which were rescheduled to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. At the Olympic 1500 m final, Kerr won a bronze medal in a personal best of 3:29.05, finishing behind Norway's Jakob Ingebrigtsen and Kenya's Timothy Cheruiyot.
2022: European record in indoor mile
On 27 February 2022, Kerr ran 3:48.87 for the indoor mile at the Boston University Last Chance Meet. This performance broke Eamonn Coghlan's European indoor mile record, which had stood since 1983, and Peter Elliot's British indoor mile record from 1990. Additionally, Kerr's 1500 m split of 3:32.86 en route to the finish set a new British national record for the indoor 1500 m, surpassing Elliot's previous record. In July, he competed in the 1500 m at the 2022 World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon. He finished in 5th place with a time of 3:30.60.
2023: Gold medallist at World Championships
On 23 August 2023, Kerr claimed his first major title by winning the men's 1500 metres at the 2023 World Athletics Championships in a time of 3:29.38, overcoming Norwegian favourite Jakob Ingebrigtsen in the final when he prevailed in a sprint to the finish line.
It was the second successive World Championships where Ingebrigtsen was upset in the men's 1500m final by an athlete from Edinburgh Athletics Club, following teammate and compatriot Jake Wightman's victory in Eugene in 2022.
Later that month, on 31 August 2023, Kerr competed in the Diamond League Final for the 1500 m, aiming to break the British record. He finished second to Yared Nuguse in a time of 3:30.51. This mark was 1.7 seconds off the national record.
In his final race of the season on 10 September 2023, Kerr won the New Balance 5th Avenue Mile, clocking a time of 3:47.9. He ended the year ranked third in the World Athletics Rankings for the 1500 m, behind Ingebrigtsen and Nuguse. He was named Scottish sportsperson of the Year in 2023 by Sportscotland.
2024: World best, world indoor champion, Olympic 1500m silver
In his first race of the year on 11 February, Kerr set a world best in the short track 2 mile at the Millrose Games. His time of 8:00.67 surpassed the previous world best of 8:03.40 held by Mo Farah since 2015.
On 2 March, Kerr ran 7:42.98 for 3000 metres to claim gold at the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Glasgow.
On 20 April, Kerr opened his outdoor season in the Pro Men's 800 m Challenge at the Oregon Relays, winning in a time of 1:45.94. On 25 May, at the Prefontaine Classic, Kerr won the Bowerman Mile in a new British record time of 3:45.34, ahead of Jakob Ingebrigtsen (3:45.60) and Yared Nuguse (3:46.22). This eclipsed Steve Cram's previous British record of 3:46.32 by almost a full second. The race was a highly anticipated rematch between Kerr and Ingebrigtsen, and as such was billed as the "Mile of the Century." This performance ranked Kerr as the sixth fastest miler in history.