Josh would love to strike gold after bold New Mexico move

JOSH KERR reckons he can catch his rivals napping when he kicks off his 1500m world championship bid later this week after two years of painful alarm calls that have awoken his potential.

The Edinburgh AC prospect, 19, took a high stakes gamble on swapping on Old Meadowbank for New Mexico when he landed a university scholarship in the States.

The tough competition across the Pond – and the chance to train at altitude – means Kerr won’t be out of his depth and he proved his class by landing the American indoor and outdoor titles earlier this year.

And it’s all made him tougher, wiser and quicker because of the one massive change his new coaches demanded of him. He said: “The culture is great. But the one thing that is different over there is you have to get up early.

“We always train in the morning because it’s so hot and I was never one to get up at the crack of dawn. I’ve had to change that, knowing I need to get my sleep in so I can be up, do my run, and then maybe do another one at night.

“But I’ve got used to it. I adjusted quickly and now I love it over there. I’ve never got homesick. I miss my family but not much else.

“My mum sends me over Robinson’s Barley Water diluted juice. That’s about the only thing I really miss. You don’t get it there and it’s a nightmare.”

London’s a dream big-time debut for the teen who has spent the past month in the Pyrenees – meeting the likes of Sir Mo Farah, who has blazed a trail here already by bagging 10,000 metres gold.

And Kerr said: “He goes ‘Hi, I’m Mo.’ I’m thinking: ‘mate, I know who you are.’”

But the newest kid on the block has also been pulling an old pals act in getting ready for his event, training with capital club-mates Chris O’Hare and Jake Wightman who sandwiched him in a 1-2-3 at the trials in a marvellous moment made at Meadowbank.

Kerr said: “That was pretty awesome. Going in having the time already was great for me but it didn’t add any pressure because there were so many folk who had it.

“I knew I had have to race hard but I have been doing that all season so I was pretty confident going in that I could fight for position.

“Over the last couple of years I’ve been running times below my ability. I knew it would be tough but not impossible. We had to make sure training was suited to being fresh and fit in August but it’s working out well so far.”

All three could end up making their way through to Sunday’s final. Wightman stepped up a class when he won at the Diamond League meeting in Oslo.

While O’Hare – who went to college in Oklahoma – bagged a smashing victory at the London Anniversary Games and then followed it up by demolishing the Scottish record in Monaco the following week.

And Kerr said: “Watching him out in the States was a huge inspiration for me. Knowing he was doing it, made me want to go there as well and it made it seem possible.

“Plus seeing the success he had on the track was a big influence. I talk to him on a monthly basis and seeing his performances has pushed me to work hard and do some of the same things.”

Time is on his side. The Commonwealth Games are in his sights for 2018.

But Kerr will be skipping next March’s world indoor championships in Birmingham, meaning he plans to make the most of what could be his only world tilt on home soil this week.