Josh Kerr would like to see the transcript of the Spoty panel of judges who favored the six other 2023 shortlisters. Photo: Martin Rickett/PA Wire
Josh Kerr has expressed his huge disappointment at not being shortlisted for the BBC Sports Personality of the Year and “would like to see the minutes” of the judges' highly secretive meetings.
Viewers are encouraged Now to vote for fellow track and field world champion Katarina Johnson-Thompson, Kerr will still travel from her base in Seattle to attend Tuesday's ceremony and will use it as extra motivation in her quest to become the second post-war Olympic British men's 1500m champion. /p>
Seb Coe, who won Olympic 1500m gold in 1980 and 1984 and is now president of World Athletics, was among those to criticize Kerr's shock absence from the limited six-man field.
p>“Do you have anything to do? laughter, Spoty? World champion in the biggest global sporting event in 2023,” said Coe, who was himself a Spoty winner in 1979.
Indeed, when there used to be an open public vote, spectators chose the sequence World and European Athletics Champions. Now they have partly made their decision: the BBC has pre-selected only six possible winners for viewers to vote for.
“I'm obviously very disappointed,” said Kerr, who beat Jakob Ingebrigtzen, one of the greatest 1500m runners of all time. ran, finishing spectacularly side-by-side at the World Championships in Budapest.
Kerr also joked that he would now have to pay for airfares back to the UK, and admitted that the subjective vagaries of Spoti's pre-selection process were very different to the world, in which he works.
Speaking to a group of journalists, which actually included two of the 12-strong Spoty group, Kerr said: “I play a very limited sport. You're fast enough, you run the qualifying time, you get into the competition. Few things throughout my career depended on the opinions of others. I was always taught to leave without doubt, but obviously I left a little doubt.
“I'd really like to see the minutes of the meeting if they ever come out. Honestly, I was hoping my flights would be covered, but I don't think it will be completely covered this time! But no, whenever I can return to the UK, I will return. For me this is a great family vacation.
“This is such a prestigious event and award that I would love to be a part of. But I'm going anyway. I'll be there representing British Athletics and supporting KJT. I don't sit and cry about it. I walk out the door and turn in my work for next year.
“KJT made a stunning comeback in 2019. I was the one who was able to bring the team home a gold medal, and so did she. And many more days. I was only three and a half minutes old. I don't know if this was taken into account. I'm very happy, I hope I can support her in victory.”
BBC SPORTS PERSONALITY OF THE YEAR 2023 GUESTS ARE HERE! 🎉🏆
🌟 Stuart Broad
🌟 Frankie Dettori
🌟 Mary Earps
🌟 Alfie Hewitt
🌟 Katarina Johnson-Thompson
🌟 Rory McIlroy
Watch awards live on @BBCOne & @BBCiPlayer Tuesday 19 December 2023 19:00 GMT… pic.twitter.com/uattDEokbK
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) December 12, 2023
Asked whether the controversial snub would provide further motivation ahead of next summer's Paris Olympics, Kerr said: “I'm here to create chances for myself and Team GB. I'm here to get medals. When it's deemed good enough for Sports Personality of the Year, hopefully I'll be there representing athletics.
“Some fantastic people have honored me in different ways. But yes, you think about those you don’t understand. I wasn't shortlisted for Sports Personality of the Year, so I'm adding that to the list of things I'd like to do.
“It was one of the best 1500m finals we've had in the world.” I saw it a long time ago. In 2024 it will be more difficult to get on this short list. I hope next year my results will match everyone else's.”
Briton Josh Kerr celebrates gold in the final. Photo: Reuters/Dylan Martinez
Kerr, who said two years ago after his Olympic bronze: “I'm not here to eat yoghurt… I'm not here to get famous, I'm here to race,” could also laugh at the backlash these comments. from Andrew Pozzi, another British athlete and Johnson-Thompson's partner. In a broader context, Johnson-Thompson, who was forced to withdraw from the Tokyo Olympics with a calf injury, appeared in the Mueller advert.
“It was more of a roasting process because of the anonymous nature of it. An Olympic medalist, I just let people know that I came for the medals,” Kerr explained. “If such opportunities arise, then that’s fine, but it wasn’t always my childhood dream. He [Pozzi] was just trying to protect KJT, and that's fine. We are good friends. We report on this quite a bit. This is very ironic.”
Speaking about his dreams, Kerr also revealed that he has had his sights set on this particular Olympics since he was 14 years old and that his absolute focus on Paris could even mean missing out on his home World Indoor Championships in Glasgow in early March.
“Sometimes it’s hard to have an American coach (Danny McKee), but in other ways it helps,” he said. “If I had a British coach, I think it would be a 'let's do this' situation.” Let's be patriotic. Let's come to Glasgow and work.” And he: “You told me that everything should be aimed at achieving the goal of August 6th. So why do we get emotional when even if you win gold at the World Indoor Championships, if you don't qualify for the Olympics, then the year will be a failure?
“August 6 is my day. From now on everything will work again. I've been circling this Olympics for a long, long time – 12 years to be exact. I realized that I would be at the peak of my career.”
On his rivalry with Olympic champion Ingebrigtsen, as well as his close friend Jake Wightman, who was once a teammate at Edinburgh, he added: “Sometimes it's a little tongue-in-cheek and we have a little fun, just like he [Ingebrigtsen] has a little fun in interviews. We want the same thing, and we are not willing to sacrifice saying, “You can have it.” I stand behind everything I say.
“I want to win when everyone is at their best. You don't dream of “victory in the off-year period.” You dream of running to the finish line, diving in and getting it for the price of a vest, and hopefully running away with a gold medal.”
Recent Comments