Josh Kerr v Jake Wightman but beware Aussie ready to wreck Commonwealth Games mile party

It is the estimable Wightman’s view that Cam Myers has the potential to be the greatest middle distance runner of all time and the 20-year-old from Canberra is certainly tracking in the right direction.

In 2023, he broke the world record for the fastest mile by a 16-year-old, and became the second youngest person in the world to ever run a sub-four minute mile. He has also been working his way through Jakob Ingebrigtsen's various age-group records.

Wightman and Kerr may be former world champions but Myers is the here and now.

“I got beaten by him in 2024 in Australia and when I saw that I was like, ‘man, he’s going to be good’,” said Wightman. “And he just kept getting better every year. He’s the future of the sport, we’re the hanger-onners and we’ve got a nice crossover at this point. But I feel like this year especially it’s going to be a real battle.”

An aura about Kerr

The mile has long been anticipated as the crowning moment of these Commonwealth Games, a race for the ages over a classic distance which is rarely run at major championships. Kerr’s world record-breaking feat in London a fortnight ago has added lustre and there is little doubt that he comes into Saturday as the main man.

There is an aura about Kerr. He’s good - very good - and he knows it. But he is also respectful, particularly towards Wightman whom he watched compete at the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games. The Edinburgh AC pair have seen their careers converge but high-profile duels have been rare. It’s what makes this weekend so fascinating.

Wightman, now 32, is closer to the end of his career but Kerr - three-and-a-bit years his junior - knows he poses a significant threat.

“Jake is in awesome shape, he’s an athlete that will always show up at these championships,” said Kerr. “I think it’ll be a great battle out there. All of the good guys got through and we’ll work from there.”

Kerr would love to see them both on the podium but he understandably covets the top spot and is relishing his new status as the mile world record holder.

“I kind of thrive in a pressure environment,” he said after winning his heat on Wednesday. “I want as much pressure on me as possible. I’m here to show up and get a gold medal for Scotland, and hopefully we can put more people on the podium than just me.”

Wightman won gold in the 1500 metres at the World Championships in 2022 and Kerr emulated him the following year. The two former Edinburgh schoolboys have done great things. But it is a stacked field on Saturday, with all 13 finalists having posted a sub-four minute mile in their careers. Only one has run the distance in 3min 42.66sec, however. Kerr’s lung-busting effort in London took down a world record that had stood for 27 years and he is wearing the same custom-made titanium spikes in Glasgow.

‘Driving an F1 car to get a cup of coffee’

After Wednesday’s rather slow heat - won in a time of 3:58.57 - Kerr likened wearing the Brooks Hyperion 222 shoes in such a pedestrian race to “driving a Formula One car along the street for a cup of coffee”. It will be different on Saturday.

“I’m not being biased but if you look on paper I think it’s probably going to be the race of the Games, which is great for spectators, pretty annoying if you’re in it because it’s as hard as it’s ever been,” said Wightman who described Kerr’s world record as “insane”. “But that’s what you want, you want to try and beat the best and there’s nobody missing from this field. It’s literally everybody from every nation that could have come.”

The European Championships will be held in Birmingham in a fortnight but Wightman reckons the Glasgow Games boast a better field. He believes the strength of the line-up will attract eyeballs from nations outwith the Commonwealth, with the presence of Kerr and Myers in particular attracting the middle-distance connoisseurs.

“There’s not one person you probably could have added into this to make it any stronger,” said Wightman. “The irony is that I think in every event you’d say that the European field would be harder than the Commonwealth; whereas in ours the Commonwealth is so much harder than the European one. But we’ve known that for a long time and the best thing about our [race] is that it will bring the whole world’s attention onto it.

“I think sometimes the Commonwealths get stuck in our bubble of nations that are competing and you speak to Americans sometimes and they haven’t even heard of it; whereas I feel like there’s enough interest in the mile, especially after what Josh did and how well Cam’s going and maybe I’ve been a little bit of help to people watching.

Race could impact the future of the Commonwealth Games

“I think there’s going to be a big, big audience around the world tuning in for this, which would be cool for the legacy of the Commonwealths and for an event that seemed like it might not keep happening just because of the funding and who’s going to pick it up.

“I think if we can put on a good show on Saturday it’s a real good thing for Commonwealth sport in the future. I am not blowing up the importance of our event but I do think that helps. If we can write headlines because it’s an amazing race and there’s something really good to see then maybe it will help keep pushing the Commonwealths to get to keep where it is or if not get back to where it should be.”

Most of the brouhaha around this race has centred on Kerr and you get the impression that Wightman quite likes it that way. Like his old Edinburgh AC buddy, Wightman is a keen student of athletics history and has likened the current protagonists to the golden era of British middle distance running. The only difference now is that one of the leading lights is an Australian who looks destined for greatness. But Wightman is quietly confident about his own chances.

“I know my strengths and the one thing I’ll always try and do is I’ll run to win,” he said. “How I’ll do that I actually don’t know myself yet and whatever you think’s going to happen might not. I feel like I’ve run well enough this year that I can give it a go. I’d say I’m in the best shape I’ve been, which is nice.

“I’m hoping I’ve got everything I need. It’s just a crazy era. You’re potentially racing against who’s going to be the best of all time – like that’s the way I look at [Myers]. Look at what he’s been doing this season and the one thing I was hanging on to is that he’s gone quite early in the season.

“But again I’m sure if you look back at the 80s with the Coe-Ovett-Cram era, they’d all say they wanted to beat each other when they’re at their best. You don’t want to be racing against somebody that’s peaked too early or say if Josh was tired or hurt after his world record; you want him to be in the best shape they’ve been. So it's a real grudge match which is what it’s shaping up to be.”