IT IS fair to say that Josh Kerr is not one to shy away from pressure. In fact, so confident is he of handling the weight of expectation, he happily admits he is heading to Tokyo with the goal of becoming Britain’s first male Olympic 1500m champion since Seb Coe won gold in Los Angeles, 37 years ago.

It is quite a target, but one Kerr believes is within his grasp, and he remains
undaunted by the pressure his openness may heap upon him.

“Pressure comes from myself more than anything. I don’t really care what anyone else says because it all comes down to me and my team. I expect a medal and anything less would be a disappointment,” he says. 

“It’s exciting. I’ve been trying to get ready to win Olympic medals my whole career so I’ve been dreaming about being in the position I’m in.”

Kerr’s last major championship appearance was at the World Championships in Doha just over 18 months ago.  He departed with a top-six finish but is clear he is aiming far higher in Tokyo in what will be his Olympic debut.

Certainly, the signs are that he is coming into form at the right time. Already this season the 23-year-old has set personal bests at both 1500m and  5,000m, as well as claiming his first British title at the Olympic trials last month in an event which is stacked with world-class runners.

Kerr’s most eye-catching race of the season was when he set his 1500m personal best, and the fashion in which he did it.

In the build-up to a meet in Oregon last month, Kerr decided to spice things up by declaring he was going to break the American soil record, which had been held for 37 years by none other than Coe.

He lived up to the lofty expectations he set for himself, clocking 3 minutes 31.55 seconds, which bodes well for Tokyo.

“I think getting that record shows how I cope with pressure. After telling everyone I was going to run that US soil record, I went out there and did it,” says Kerr, who hails from Edinburgh but is now based in Albuquerque.

“I never really go after records but I was getting bored because the Americans aren’t the best at 1500m running at the moment so it was really just to keep myself entertained.  But it was definitely nice to break a 30 plus-year-old record.

“I like being brave enough to say right, I’m going for this. There’s no fun in going for something that’s easy so I think putting a bit of pressure on yourself and putting yourself under a magnifying glass is something that I find fun and others find interesting to watch.”

That run left Kerr ranked second in the world, although a handful of runners have since surpassed him on the season’s rankings, and while he admits having records is all well and good, his main interest is in
silverware.

His family is not short of athletics success, primarily on the rugby field; his dad represented Scotland 7s and made the A-squad, while his brother has been capped by Scotland in the Six Nations.

So it is perhaps unsurprising that while Kerr admits his younger self did glean some inspiration from watching the Olympics Games, it is primarily his internal drive that has pushed him to this point.

“Since I was a very young kid, I wanted to be a sportsman or an athlete and really the only thing I enjoyed at school was sport and getting out and exercising,” he says.

“My biggest Olympic memories are of things like the Brownlee brothers, they were very inspiring. And watching Usain Bolt, I remember thinking he was very cool. 

“But really, for me, it’s been about striving for excellence for so long.  I want my career to be filled with medals.”

Kerr knows that to be on the Olympic podium it will likely require him to execute the best race of his life. 

He is confident he is in the shape to go below 3 minutes 30 seconds. But it is his mindfulness coach, with whom he has been working with for the past two years, who will, he believes, help him deliver that extra edge that can be the difference between departing Tokyo with a medal or leaving empty handed.

“The 1500m is hard and it’s going to be very stressful, it’s going to be a very intense environment but I’m ready for that,” he says. “I think it’s all about mentality. 

“I do a lot of work on my mind and I’m probably one of the most mentally strong athletes out there when it comes to turning up and doing a job on the day.”

Kerr is not the only Scot who is able to compete with the best middle-distance runners.

His fellow Edinburgh native, Jake Wightman, has also proven he has what it takes to challenge for medals on the big stage and Kerr is delighted
at the prospect of battling his countryman on the home straight in the Olympic Stadium.

Surely though, we could not be about to see a repeat of the GB one-two by Coe and Steve Cram in the 1984 Olympic final.

Could we?

“It’s very exciting. You don’t have many opportunities to go out there and do things as huge as win Olympic medals,” Kerr says. “Wightman has been running very well too and so the dream would be for it to be a Scottish one-two. But there’s a lot of work to be done before then.”