Josh Kerr and Jakob Ingebrigtsen will face each other again in the 1,500 metres at the World Athletics Ultimate Championship, which will be held in Budapest from September 11 to 13. Both have received an exceptional invitation from World Athletics to compete in an event to which, under the rules, they would not have had access.
The move is particularly striking because World Athletics had established that only one exceptional invitation could be granted per discipline in this inaugural edition of the Ultimate Championship. However, the organization has decided to make an additional exception in the 1,500 to include both Kerr and Ingebrigtsen.
The decision is justified by World Athletics itself, arguing that the race could not be considered a competition with “the best athletes on the planet” without both of them. The regulation, therefore, is effectively amended to allow one of the sport’s greatest showdowns on the global stage.
Kerr, the 2023 world champion over 1,500 metres and the current world record holder in the mile, and Ingebrigtsen, the Olympic champion at 5,000 metres, will thus remeet in a distance in which they have not competed against each other since September 2024.
The race will also feature Cole Hocker, Olympic champion in the 1,500 metres, and Isaac Nader, world champion in 2025, elevating the 1,500 metres lineup to the most potent field currently possible. To make room for the two invitations, the number of participants increases from 11 to 13.
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Dylan Holloway
I’ve always been fascinated by the stories hidden behind a stopwatch, a finish line or a record-breaking performance. At Athletics News, I cover athletes, competitions and the moments shaping track and field, with a particular interest in the people and journeys behind the results.