UK Athletics have confirmed Jakob Ingebrigtsen and Josh Kerr will race the 1,500m at the London Diamond League meet on July 19.

It is currently scheduled to be their second race against each other since the Paris Olympics, where Ingebrigtsen led for most of the 1,500m final, but was outkicked by Kerr who finished second, either side of US duo Yared Nuguse (bronze) and Cole Hocker (gold).

Their only meeting since the Games was in Zurich last September in what was nearly an identical field to the Olympic final. Ingebrigtsen finished second on that occasion, and Kerr fifth, though it was the Norwegian’s first Diamond League defeat for three years.

Their history dates back further, with Kerr beating Ingebrigtsen at the World Championship final in Budapest in 2023, part of a sequence of three global 1,500m finals in as many years (from 2022 to 2024) where Ingebrigtsen was beaten, having won Olympic gold in Tokyo in 2021 — that was the last time he beat Kerr in a major final, with the Brit taking bronze that day.

Ingebrigtsen has not raced in the UK since 2021, in Gateshead, and described the London meet as “a perfect fit” for his schedule. “I’ve recovered well from the indoors and training is going well.”

He set 1,500m and mile indoor world records earlier this year, and, in March, took four golds from four indoor finals to become double World and European indoor Champion over 1,500m and 3,000m.

There is every chance this could be an attempt at the world record (3:26.00 from Hicham El Guerrouj in 1998, a record set before Ingebrigtsen was born) at what is the biggest one-day athletics meet in the world. Kerr has the British-record over this distance and became the eighth-fastest man over 1,500m when he clocked 3:27.79 in Paris to take silver. Ingebrigtsen is the European-record holder (3:26.73) and only three men have ever gone quicker than him.

Kerr has stated his ambitions to “be the best 1500m runner of our era,” and, unlike Ingebrigtsen, is part of Michael Johnson’s Grand Slam Track League, meaning he is racing more this season than in previous years. The major goal for both is the World Championships in Tokyo in September, at the same track where Ingebrigtsen last won a global outdoor title, and a chance for Kerr to defend his World crown.

(David Ramos/Getty Images)