"Grinding quietly" - Josh Kerr puts out message days ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympics

Josh Kerr recently issued a bold message ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympics. He said he has been training quietly and would let success do the talking. He would vie for the 1500m gold in Paris after missing it at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Kerr shared a few photos of his indoor training sessions on Instagram, confirming that he would unfurl his prowess only at the quadrennial event.

"Grinding quietly, letting success make the noise"

The highly contentious 1500m line-up will feature the likes of Jakob Ingebrigtsen and Josh Kerr, among the top 1500m athletes of the world. Although he doesn't have Olympic gold in his repertoire yet, the 1500m reigning world champion will put his best foot forward, as that is what he has dreamt of since the age of 12.

"I’ve wanted to win these Olympic Games since I was 12 years old. I’ve known that for a very long time and I knew it was possible," he said in January (via Olympics.com).

At the 2022 Boston University Last Chance Meet, Kerr clocked 3:48.87 in the indoor mile. His effort broke Peter Elliot's British indoor mile record (3:52.02), set in 1990, and lowered the European indoor mile record of Eamonn Coghlan (3:49.78), set in 1983. The following year, he defeated the world record holder, Jakob Ingebrigtsen, in the 1500m at the 2023 World Athletics Championships.

Kerr set the indoor two-mile world record after clocking 8:00.67 at the 2024 Millrose Games in the build-up to the Olympics. In the most anticipated Bowerman Mile showdown at the Prefontaine Classic, the Scott defeated Jakob Ingebrigtsen again, clocking 3:45.24, and lowering Steve Cram's British record (3:46.32).

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Josh Kerr - "I know I’m the best 1500m runner in the world"

Josh Kerr earned the coveted Olympic seat after soaring to the 1500m victory at the 2023 World Championships. After going back and forth with rival Ingebrigtsen, Kerr doesn't feel a lack of self-confidence ahead of the Summer Games.

He said he tried to prove himself at the Tokyo Olympics but going into Paris, he is cognizant of his abilities.

"There was an element of proving myself in Tokyo and proving that I belonged in those races..I hadn’t quite had the results that I wanted to. This one makes a big difference because I know I belong there. I know I’m the best 1500m runner in the world so it is just executing a plan of what I do every year. It’s following a blueprint a bit more than before when I was trying to figure out what that blueprint was," he said in an interview with Athletics Weekly.

Men's 1500m Round 1 will open its gates on August 3 at Paris Olympics 2024. Josh Kerr will be in contention with Ingebrigtsen and Yared Nuguse in the showdown.