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.
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. I’m not a robot.
“The first question I was asked after running the mile world record is: ‘When are you going to go after the 1500m world record?’ And it’s just not that simple to peak like we did for London, and then to reset for the Commonwealth Games, and then reset again for a world record attempt, and then reset again for Europeans, and then reset again for Ultimates.”
Kerr has not been seen on a track since competing in Glasgow in early August, which has meant missing out on paydays and a chance to further promote his sport. 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 love 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. These next three years are going to be some of the biggest in my career. So I’m not going to get greedy.
“If you race a bunch, you’re going to have long-term injury problems, if you want to have a career that’s 10 or 12 years long, then you can’t do that. I’ve been caught chasing paydays early on in my career, and it doesn’t end up with long-term success.”
However, Kerr is excited by the Ultimate Championship, a new three-day competition which effectively serves as a mini world championships. The event, which has a $10m prize fund, is also being used as a testing ground for innovations in the sport, including a black infield, athletes being allowed to make content, and a more party-style atmosphere, all designed to attract a younger audience.
“I think it would be a lot more of an off-year, or a dud year, without a championship that we can all attend in September,” Kerr says. “Packing out stadiums, putting on a championship that people enjoy, and pushing the marketing on it. There’s only really one step left of how the sport gets bigger, and I think it’s sports betting.”
Kerr is in no doubt who his money will be on if he ends up racing his nemesis Ingebrigtsen, who is scheduled to compete in the 5,000m on Friday and then against the Scot in the 1500m final on Sunday.
“I’m very happy that he’s back running and racing,” Kerr says. “I think it’s great. He’s one of the best 1500m and 5k runners of all time, and I’m excited to go out and race him. I’m not going to lose, but I’m excited to go out there and race.”
Kerr is also excited about athletics being able to capitalise on the global running boom, and says the improved prize money is another sign that the sport is heading in the right direction. “We’re seeing progress, I’m not going to complain about progress,” he says.
“Obviously, $150,000 is is a lot of money. It’s not as much as other big sports, but they’ve earned that through years and years of continuing to push into marketing, and we’re moving in the right direction with these championships, and so I can’t complain.”
As Kerr points out, it’s also harder for lots of athletes to make money because there are so many events. “In tennis, there’s one winner,” he says. “In track and field, there’s 25 winners. But races and contracts are doing a lot better than they’ve ever been. Running is going through a boom, and we’re seeing that in shoe sales, on the athlete side, as well as social media.”
Meanwhile, returning to Budapest brings back happy memories for Kerr, given it was where he won his first world title in 2023. “It was an incredibly pivotal day for me. Your first world title is the most special. I just hadn’t really won a lot. And it was starting to really piss me off.”
While Kerr faces a strong field that includes the Olympic champion Cole Hocker and the Diamond League final winner Cameron Myers, it is clear he expects to win again. “I’m here to prove that I’m going to be the best 1500m runner of all time or of our generation at least,” he says.
“There are different ways to win a championship. One is to be so dominant that no one else has an option to win. That is what we are going for this year. If you want to make it fast, if you want to make it slow, you are going to be in trouble either way. That’s what Budapest should be for me.”