High in the stands at the National Athletics Centre in Budapest in August 2023, sat John and Jill Kerr.

Surrounded by people wearing t-shirts and paraphernalia supporting their son in the world 1500m final, they sat anonymously. They knew his plan, but that did not stop the nerves.

They stayed in their seats to start with, watching as their boy stayed off the front. That was not in the script.

It was not until the last 400m that they got to their feet as Josh battled to the front, kicked, and strained for gold.

There were backslaps from strangers and sunglasses went flying, as they were practically carried down to the side of the track.

Kerr, now the world's best, jogged over and embraced his mum, then dad. A life's work had just come to fruition.

They would never have envisaged such a moment when they took both sons along to athletics as boys.

John, who was a professional rugby player, and Jill, who played tennis and became a physiotherapist, knew the value of sport.

Josh and his older brother Jake - who would represent Scotland at rugby - were taken to all sorts across Edinburgh.

"They tried everything, and enjoyed everything. It was very much a case of any sport is better than homework probably," John says.

"We were just trying to tire them out," Jill adds.

As well as rugby, both boys found a home at Edinburgh Athletics Club.

Jake swept up national titles in his early teens. Josh, 18 months younger, had his own successes but was less outwardly confident.

Some mistook that for a lack of passion or effort at times, but his parents knew how competitive he was and what he put in to every session, race, or match.

After leaving rugby behind at 15, athletics became Kerr's primary focus. Under the guidance of David Campbell and others at Edinburgh AC the results kept coming.

With that came more conviction and single-mindedness about what came next.

"As he got older, if we said 'do you really want to go to athletics tonight?' he’d say 'if you don't want to take me, I know which bus to get - or I'll run there'," Jill recalls.

With that focus, Kerr was able to shut out the usual pressures on teenagers.

He once turned up to a party with a non-alcoholic cider, with the zero part of the label covered just to keep up appearances.

"If he ever did have a beer he would just run back," John laughs.

"We wouldn't have to go and collect him. He would just pitch up sweating. 'I thought you were out having a beer?’ 'Yeah, I'm back now.' And he would jog all the time."

Kerr knew he wanted to go to university in the US and emulate former European medallist and fellow Edinburgh boy Chris O'Hare, seven years his senior.

His parents laid down the gauntlet. If you want this, you've got to put the work in. So he did.

With a list of universities provided by O'Hare, Kerr started cold calling.

The fact he was 17 and did not have a stellar academic record meant plenty of rejection until the University of New Mexico said 'yes'.

Kerr travelled over with his parents, who stayed for a few days to help him settle in.

He met Larimar Rodriguez, now his fiancee, in that first week on a campus bus that his parents had blagged on to posing as professors.

Moving thousands of miles away to become just another fish in a big pond would have daunted many young athletes. But Kerr never looked back.

"He really, deeply, wanted to do it," John said. "He had a plan."

Danny Mackey remembers the first time he saw Kerr. It was six years ago by the side of a university track in Albuquerque.

Kerr was in the middle of a workout. Mackey's expert eye was drawn to the young Scot with a powerful stride, eating up the ground.

"I just watched him and said: ‘What was that, a 40-second 300m?’

"It didn't even look like he was really running that fast. He has this deceptive speed."

At that point, Kerr had not yet competed on the American college circuit.

A year later, in 2017, he won his first NCAA title, beating the seemingly indomitable Edward Cheserek in the indoor mile. He won the outdoor 1500m title as well.

By 2018, despite having the option of another year at college, Kerr turned pro. And Mackey, who leads Brooks Beast runners in Seattle, was waiting.

"He just seemed like a team player and the staff really spoke highly of him as a human being, which is really important," he says of Kerr.

"He was also mature for his age. He asked good questions, and was thoughtful about the brand he wanted to partner with and the team he wanted to join."

That was the start of a fruitful relationship between Mackey and Kerr which goes beyond a straightforward athlete-coach one. The pair are friends.

He describes Kerr as a leader in the group, but humble.

"You wouldn't know he was the world champion at practice unless you saw the workout," Mackey says.

"I'm watching them right now. I mean some of the team has just showed up on their day off to jog with him and just chat."

A big part of Kerr's success has been identifying the right people to help him, and then putting faith in them to do their job.

Mackey describes coaching Kerr as fun and rewarding, but also intimidating.

"If I had a scientific reason to have him run backwards up a mountain, he would do it," Mackey laughs. "I'm like, oh, man I could mess this guy up. He's listening to everything I'm saying here.

"So he puts a little pressure on me but it makes it really a joy to work with because it feels like you're part of something."

Those who worked with Kerr have spoken about his racing instincts, which came to the fore when he sprinted past Olympic champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen to win the world title last year.

"He is just a very good racer," explains 2022 world champion Jake Wightman, who has known Kerr since he was 10, having also come through at Edinburgh AC.

"His racing brain to be able to make the right decisions at the right point is probably as good as anybody in the world."

Mackey feels Kerr has improved tactically and psychologically, too.

"Josh is definitely starting to be an athlete where he relishes the really high stakes situations," the coach adds.

"He is drawn to those. I think he's probably developed that over the years."

 

Josh Kerr and Jake Wightman are rivals on the track but friends off it having met at Edinburgh Athletics Club as kids

The brutal training blocks Kerr goes through at altitude in Albuquerque are now infamously known as 'Fight Camp'.

It's indicative of the intensity of the work, and the sacrifice Kerr makes. Distance from friends and family, no bad foods, no alcohol.

It is the same recipe for Paris that lead to gold in Budapest.

"I would say the description of him living like a monk is accurate," Mackey says.

Mark Pollard, performance director of Scottish Athletics, coached Kerr before he made the move to America.

"What Josh has always been really effective with is saying: 'That's my target. This is the minimum number of prep races that I need. This is the training.'

"And just pouring all that mental and physical energy into that key day, almost like a boxer or an MMA fighter."

Wightman witnessed which compatriot's attention to detail at close quarters when they shared a room at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, which Kerr left with a bronze medal.

"He brought a scented diffuser, his own mattress topper, a waffle maker so he could make the breakfast he normally would have," Wightman says.

"I thought at the time: 'Oh, a bit extra'. But I look at it now - he did everything possible to get the most out of himself and he got rewarded with a medal."

At times, Kerr's sacrifices have not been alone, with Mackey joining in and Jill also giving up alcohol for three months before the Olympics, as she did for the worlds - a form of solidarity to help him through.

That sums up much of Kerr's route to the top - focus and discipline while remaining emotionally close to his roots.

After his world gold, he returned to George Watson's - his old school - to give a talk as he had once watched Olympic gold medal-winning cyclist Chris Hoy do.

He also went back to Edinburgh AC to spend time with the kids there, as well as hand out his distinctive sunglasses.

Kerr still phones home nearly every day and likes to speak to his granny on race days. Despite nearly a decade living in the US, his parents say he has not changed, bar the odd reference to 'trash'.

"He'd do anything for you," John says when asked to describe his son. "He would help in any way he can."

Outwardly at least, Kerr appears more confident in sharing his views on themes affecting his sport such as doping and prize money.

It helps that people listen to a world champion. But Kerr certainly prides himself on having principles and is unabashed when defending them.

The war of words with rival Ingebrigtsen will help the hype around the Olympic 1500m final, but fundamentally Kerr does not much care about the noise.

"He's been locked in for quite a few months," John says.

Kerr and Mackey are all too aware of the fact lots of athletes step things up in an Olympic year, and the plan is to be fitter than a year ago in Budapest.

The aim is to be in good enough shape to be able to hit personal records from 800m to 5,000m.

Breaking Steve Cram's 39-year-old British mile record at the end of May was a good addition to his 3,000m world indoor triumph in Glasgow in March.

The training and waiting is almost over now, though. Kerr has built the skills, knowledge, and confidence to win at the highest level.

All that is left is to see if he can be triumph in Paris. For real, this time.