Jakob Ingebrigtsen says he could beat Josh Kerr’s two-mile world record blindfolded

Last weekend, Great Britain’s Josh Kerr set a new indoor two-mile world record at the 2024 Millrose Games, shaving nearly three seconds off the previous record time. Kerr’s record-breaking return to the track since winning a world championship title in the 1,500m last summer in Budapest garnered widespread praise—except from Jakob Ingebrigtsen, who claimed he could have beaten Kerr “blindfolded.”

In an interview with Norway’s TV2, Ingebrigtsen was asked about Kerr’s new world record. “It is very positive for me that my competitors are getting better. Then I don’t have to run alone,” said Ingebrigtsen.

The Olympic 1,500m champion, who holds the two-mile world record [outdoors] of 7:54.10, isn’t giving Kerr’s performance much credence. “It is not certain that he runs any better now than last year at the same time; he did not run two miles then,” said Ingebrigtsen. “I would have beaten him in that race, blindfolded… But it’s good that people run better than they have done before.”

Ingebrigtsen has been unable to compete since the 2023 Diamond League Final in Eugene, Ore., in mid-September due to a nagging Achilles injury. According to Norway’s NRK, the injury began when he took time off from running for his wedding and honeymoon in the Maldives. Challenges arose when he resumed training, leading to months of sidelined recovery. This injury will keep him out of both the World Indoor Championships in Glasgow and the World XC in Belgrade in March.

Meanwhile, Kerr, the reigning world champion in the 1,500m, will race again at the Athletics U.K. Indoor Championships this weekend before embarking on his quest for world indoor gold in the men’s 1,500m or 3,000m in his home country of Scotland next month.

Ingebrigtsen is back in training and plans to make his season debut at the Prefontaine Classic in late May or at the Bislett Games in Oslo in early June. The potential showdown between these two titans of the sport may not happen until a Diamond League meet in July or at the Paris Olympic Games in August.