Josh Kerr takes Olympic bronze for Team GB in 1500m final

Scotland’s Josh Kerr has won bronze in the men’s 1500m final at the Tokyo Olympics.

The 23-year-old ran the distance in 3 minutes 29.05 seconds to finish behind Norway’s Jakob Ingebrigtsen, who took gold with a new Olympic record of 3.28.32, and Kenya’s Tomothy Cheruiyot, who won silver.

He becomes the first British man to win a medal in the middle distance event since since Peter Elliott in Seoul in 1988.

Kerr’s fellow Scot Jake Wightman finished ninth.

“I’m blown away,” Kerr told the BBC. “This has been a hard championship for me with the first round not going great.

“You can have one of those days. Had to go home, recalibrate and come out fighting for every step.

“I had this weird confidence in myself – some may call it cockiness – when you put the effort and work in and you’re surrounded by a team, like myself, you can go all the way.

“It’s testament to the way I was raised from my coaches when I was nine years old. My support system is endless – I just think anything was going to be possible and I’m so pleased I can give back to them.”

Stewart Harris, chief executive of sportscotland said: “A phenomenal run from Josh Kerr in the 1500m to take bronze, and so close to taking silver.

“Josh came into these Games to win a medal and that’s exactly what he’s done. Focused and fantastic! A great result for Josh and his whole support team.”