Why is the Bowerman Mile the biggest attraction of the Prefontaine Classic? Everything about the event featuring Jakob Ingebrigtsen and Josh Kerr

Jakob Ingebrigtsen vs Josh Kerr clash will headline the Bowerman Mile at the Prefontaine Classic 2024 on May 25. While one is a reigning Olympic champion, the other is a reigning world champion in the 1500m. The odds are equal, and so are the head-to-head records as Hayward Field gets set to witness one of the most talked about rivalries in track and field.

Bowerman Mile, which started in 1975, is named after the former University of Oregon coach Bill Bowerman, who was also the co-founder of Nike. However, the mile race was named after Bowerman only in 2000.

Over the years, the Mile race has witnessed several breathtaking contests inside the Hayward Field. A year after Bowerman’s name was honored, Alan Webb set the high school record in a field that featured mile world record holder Hicham El Guerrouj.

At the 2021 Prefontaine Classic, Olympic champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen broke the meet record at Bowerman Mile. Two years later, he came close to Moroccan’s world record at the same venue, missing by just 0.60 seconds after clocking 3:43.73. But timings aside, this year's Bowerman Mile is one of the most exciting in the event's history.

Arch-rivals Jakob Ingebrigtsen and Josh Kerr will headline the Prefontaine Classic’s Mile clash alongside American record holder Yared Nuguse. While Ingebrigsten looks for a title defense and redemption of last year's loss at the World Championship finals, the Scot is making his first Bowerman Mile appearance.

Last year, Kerr handed Ingebrigtsen a surprise loss at the World Championships, and the two have engaged in a fierce war of words of since then. Both have taken jabs at each other publicly, with the Olympic champion once claiming he could beat Kerr ‘blindfolded’ when the latter broke the indoor world record in the two-mile distance in February 2024.

While there are no favorites in this race, the odds will favor Josh Kerr. The world champion has had an incredible indoor season, which included a world-record performance, while Ingebrigsten will be featuring in his first meet of the year.

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What happened the last time Jakob Ingebrigtsen and Josh Kerr faced each other?

Day 5 - World Athletics Championships Budapest 2023

Jakob Ingebrigtsen and Josh Kerr first faced off at the Tokyo Olympics where the Norwegian cruised to a gold medal. The two met at the 2023 World Championships in Budapest and Kerr redeemed himself with a win in the 1500m final.

Kerr clocked 3:29.38 to win the gold medal while Ingebrigtsen secured the silver in 3:29.65. After the race, Ingebrigtsen claimed he was sick. He even congratulated Josh Kerr for the victory.

"All credit to Kerr, he did a good race, but I feel a little bit unlucky for being in this position. I got a little bit of a dry throat in the semi-finals and it escalated to a sore throat. It got a little bit better this morning but obviously not a hundred per cent," Ingebrigtsen told Olympics.com.

Josh Kerr didn't believe his words, claiming that the Norwegian was showboating in the semi-finals. He claimed this was because of insecurity, setting the basis for year-long swipes at each other.