What a run by Josh Kerr!

It’s a new British record in the men’s mile race.#BBCAthletics #EugeneDL pic.twitter.com/lDnHddRWEe

What a run by Josh Kerr!

It’s a new British record in the men’s mile race.#BBCAthletics #EugeneDL pic.twitter.com/lDnHddRWEe

— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) May 25, 2024

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It was Ingebrigtsen’s second consecutive loss to his fellow elites. So you just know his A-game is coming. The reigning Olympic gold medalist in the 1,500-meter will respond as champions do.

He ran 3:45.60, in Saturday’s mile, his first action since an Achilles tendon injury forced him to skip the indoor season.

“I tried to fight him,” said Ingebrigtsen, whose last race was the 3,000-meter at the 2023 Prefontaine Classic in September. “But to me, today was all about time trial. Of course, we’re racing but it’s definitely some difference in terms of approach to this race. For some people, this is their final test even before the Olympics in Paris. But this is not my final test. So it’s definitely a big difference the way that we all kind of see this race. But it’s a good fight.”

This race was so stacked with talent it was being dubbed the “Mile of the Century.” Amazon is following Ingebrigtsen around with cameras, documenting the Norwegian star’s run-up to Paris. This was the most hyped showdown of the year. The eyes of a global sport were on them. And it was Kerr’s Prefontaine debut.

He made it abundantly clear Friday that he came to the University of Oregon looking for some Norwegian smoke.

“I’m not here to settle tension,” Kerr said. Sitting to his left when he said it: Ingebrigtsen. Kerr’s stern expression, the absence of reconciliation in his tone, revealed his level of fed up.

“I’m here to run a fantastic mile that will hopefully go down in the century. I’m here trying to be the best in the world. … And if that annoys people or ruffles up competitors, I’m sure it will because the whole world is trying to do what I’m doing.”

Settle tension? Nah. This is the hottest beef since Kendrick Lamar and Drake.

And, yes, Kerr listens to Kendrick.

“Yeah, of course,” he said, smiling to affirm he understood the reference.

Kerr had every intention of turning the tension all the way up. He is convinced of his superiority in the discipline. Going out front so early was the kind of flex that fuels this juicy soap opera.

He usually plays the role of the kicker. It’s Ingebrigtsen who takes off early and dares the rest to keep up with him. It’s a power move. If his competitors get to conserve energy while he bears the brunt of pace-setting, and they still can’t catch him, it only proves his dominance. But Kerr didn’t hang back this time. He was trying to strike a chord, and it would likely be major.

“I’m having fun with it,” Kerr said. “At this point in your career, you’re always going to look back and think, ‘Those were the glory days.’ And I know they are right now. So I’m just enjoying it as much as possible.”

It was a stacked field. The world-leading time — the best in the calendar year — entering Prefontaine was 3:47.83 by Nuguse at the Millrose Games in New York in February. Saturday at Hayward Field, Wightman matched that time and finished fifth. Seven runners posted sub-3:49.

But after three of the four laps, Kerr, Ingebrigtsen and Nuguse had moved out ahead. It was underscored how this trio, heading into Paris, is the Big Three of middle distance.

Nuguse, the American record holder, finished third at 3:46.22. He is for sure the J. Cole in this. Easily the most delighted of the trio, Nuguse has stayed out of the animosity. He keeps a smile worthy of an amusement park, as if it were painted by a caricature artist. Fitting for a future orthodontist. He consumes positive vibes only. He’d much rather break down Pokemon or vibe out to Taylor Swift than get into the competitive banter.

Getting to run in the shadows as an underestimated threat is, Nuguse said, one of the benefits of all the attention focused on the tension between Kerr and Ingebrigtsen. He believes it makes him dangerous in Paris.

“I’ve always believed that happiness is such a stronger emotion than anger,” Nuguse said Friday. “Especially when you race. Anger is something that kind of comes and goes and peters out really fast. But I think if you’re really enjoying what you’re doing, having fun, I think that’s what propels you on to keep moving and what really helps those last 200 meters. I’ve always thought that, and it’s always worked out for me.”

The track and field magazine Citius has a full timeline of the Kerr-Ingebrigtsen beef, which began in earnest in August 2023.

But for the sake of a crash course, it began at the Tokoyo Olympics in 2021. Ingebrigtsen became a global star when he blew away the field to win gold in the 1,500 meters in 3:28.32, besting Kenya’s Timothy Cheruiyot. Kerr used a late surge to capture the bronze.

Then at the 2022 world championships in Eugene, with Ingebrigtsen still sparkling from golden glory, Wightman stunned him in the 1,500, pulling away in the final 300 meters to snatch the gold from Ingebrigtsen.

This made the 2023 world championships in Budapest the next massive stage for Ingebrigtsen to reclaim his status as superior. But a late surge by Kerr, similar to Wightman’s, pushed Ingebrigtsen to silver again. After he lost, Ingebrigtsen said he wasn’t 100 percent, taking a bit of luster from Kerr’s breakout victory.

When asked later if he looked forward to the rematch with Kerr, Ingebrigtsen revealed he wasn’t fully healthy and dismissed the notion of Kerr being on his level by calling him “just the next guy.”

In November, Kerr fired back. He said Ingebrigtsen’s ego is pretty high and he had major weaknesses he’d better address or he wouldn’t win gold in Paris.

In February, Ingebrigtsen told a Norwegian-language publication he’d win “98 out of 100 times” against Kerr and Wightman.

Then two weeks later, after Kerr set a new world record in the two-mile in the Millrose Games, Ingebrigtsen — out with an injury at the time — declared he would’ve beaten Kerr blindfolded.

In March, Ingebrigtsen declared his rivals irrelevant and said to The Times UK, “The biggest issue is giving people like Kerr attention. That’s what he is seeking. He is missing something in himself that he is searching for in others.”

Yeah, the tension has been building for nearly a year now. Saturday was not the time to tone it down. But let feet do the talking. The packed house of savvy race fans at Hayward Field all but salivated over the palpable tension. Olympic-level drama at a Diamond League meet. What went down at Prefontaine on Saturday only makes it more captivating when they meet again in August.

“Some of my competitors,” Ingebrigtsen said, “have clearly taken a step in the right direction. But not as big of a step that maybe is needed to be a favorite in Paris.”

(Top photo of Josh Kerr beating Jakob Ingebrigtsen Saturday in the Bowerman Mile: Steph Chambers / Getty Images)

Rudy Gobert made the decision to miss a playoff game in order to be there for the birth of his first child.

The now four-time Defensive Player of the Year missed his Minnesota Timberwolves second-round game against the Denver Nuggets (Minnesota won), and it drew controversy.

Much of the controversy came from ex-NBA star Gilbert Arenas, who said that the baby is “going to be asleep.”

Gobert heard all the noise, and he brushed it off without much effort, saying he had made this decision long ago.

“This is one thing I decided I was never going to miss in my life,” Gobert told FOX Sports. “I love this game. I dedicated my whole life to this game. But this is one thing that is above that. And that’s being there for the birth of my child. I think everyone in this locker room understands that.”

Rough timing almost caught Scottie Scheffler during the Masters, who said he wouldn’t even think twice about leaving Augusta National if his wife were to give birth during the tournament.

Rudy Gobert #27 of the Minnesota Timberwolves during the second half of the NBA game at Footprint Center on March 29, 2023 in Phoenix, Arizona. The Suns defeated the Timberwolves 107-100.   (Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

BILL WALTON’S FORMER COLLEAGUE, JIM GRAY, ‘HEARTBROKEN’ OVER DEATH OF ‘BEST FRIEND’: ‘A NATIONAL TREASURE’

Thankfully, Scheffler’s wife held on, and he was able to win his second green jacket, both of which came within the last three years. 

Their first child was born just a couple weeks before the PGA Championship, where he was then famously arrested.

Gobert’s T-Wolves, though, are now in trouble, as they face getting swept by the Dallas Mavericks in the Western Conference Finals. The Boston Celtics completed the sweep of the Indiana Pacers on Monday night to make it back to the NBA Finals.

Rudy Gobert #27 of the Minnesota Timberwolves warms up before the game against the New Orleans Pelicans at Target Center on April 9, 2023 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)

If the Wolves come back and win, it would be the first 3-0 comeback in NBA history. Ironically, their part-owner Alex Rodriguez was on the losing side of the one time it happened in Major League Baseball, as he was on the 2004 New York Yankees.

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By every measure, Bill Walton was enormously successful, among the most decorated players in the history of college basketball and the NBA.

But Walton had a different definition for personal success, one derived from the teachings of John Wooden, his legendary coach at UCLA.

“The last lesson of life that John Wooden taught us was the measurement of success,” Walton said three years ago, “which he described — and now I comprehend and buy into — is success is the peace of mind that comes with the self-satisfaction of knowing that you’ve done your best.

“It’s really easy to say that, but incredibly hard to accept it, embrace it and believe it.”

Walton, the three-time national college player of the year who went on to win two NBA championships, died of complications from cancer Monday at his home in San Diego. He was 71.

I was interviewing Walton as part of a 2021 story about the San Diego Padres and their hopes in emerging from the long shadow of the Dodgers. I spoke to a lot of San Diegans, among them Walton and filmmaker Cameron Crowe, about their love of the city and its sports teams.

Walton spoke at length about the Padres, the Chargers and his memories of growing up in La Mesa. He had deep affection for Los Angeles too, having won two national championships — and three national college player-of-the-year awards — with the Bruins. What’s more, his son, Luke, played for and coached the Lakers.

“I don’t live in a qualitative, binary-decision-making world where you’re one or the other,” Walton said when asked which Southern California city he preferred. “I’m the luckiest guy in the world. I know all the Dodgers too.”

Then again, Walton didn’t mind sounding like a spokesman for the San Diego Chamber of Commerce.

“Don’t try to drive from Los Angeles to San Diego at any time because everybody from up there is trying to get down here,” he said with a laugh.

“We’re very proud of San Diego. Best beaches, best air, best bicycling, best water, fantastic airport. And everything you could possibly imagine. Incredible facilities, incredible nature, and bordered by the ocean, by Mexico, by Camp Pendleton, by the mountains, which lead to the desert. And it’s all so easily accessible to San Diego.”

Among his fondest childhood memories was watching the Padres, then of the Pacific Coast League, play their home games at Westgate Park, which is now Fashion Valley Mall. He was a pro at chasing down baseballs that left the park.

“When certain guys would come up, I’d say, well, this guy, he’s a left-handed, pull hitter, so I’m going to get in the right-field bleachers along the first baseline. But then when Tony Perez would come up, man, I’m going out into the outfield and I’m going to get that home run ball.”

Foreshadowing a career of sacrificing his body for loose basketballs, he said: “I was quick to that baseball and I was nine and 10 years old. I was not reluctant to jump over the chairs to get to the ball that was bouncing around in the bleachers.”

Walton was 9 when the Chargers relocated to San Diego after their inaugural season in Los Angeles.

“I used to go to the old Balboa Stadium, which is just a half-mile from our house where we live now, where the Chargers used to play on the weekends,” he said. “And I’d go to those games, and when you’re a little tiny boy with red hair and a buzz cut, man, the ushers and the ticket takers were always more than kind to little Billy.”

He said his parents weren’t sports fans, “but they were the greatest parents ever.” And although he didn’t grow up with a television in the home, he remembers tuning in to games on his transistor radio and listening under the covers.

“I listened to Padre games,” he said. “I listened to Dodger games with Vin Scully. I listened to Laker games with Chick Hearn. And then I was most fortunate to come to UCLA and get to know all these people personally.

“I found all these incredible sports heroes as a child. It’s one thing to have a hero. It’s another level to meet that hero, to get to know that hero, and to become friends with that hero and to discover that they’re even better people than you imagined and hope for. And that has been the story of my life.”

Many people might say the same about Walton.

“That’s their choice,” he said. “I try my best to be my best, and I understand the responsibility of the chosen hero to be kind, to be generous, to be open, to be willing. Because I was that guy who was looking. I was looking through that fence.”