The men’s mile final has long been slated as one of the defining moments of these Commonwealth Games. Josh Kerr and Jake Wightman just had to complete the formalites.
Saturday night will the big-ticket event of these 11 days in Glasgow. Wednesday morning was the pre-show. Both in the blue of Scotland. Two big men who have raced since they were wee boys in Edinburgh.
A bigger crowd than both expected turned up at Scotstoun in the west end of the city on a bright morning to watch the heats, which also included another world-class Scot in Neil Gourley.
Injury wrecked Gourley’s chances of qualifying for the final in his home town, but double Olympic medallist Kerr, who has just set an astonishing new world record over this distance, and fellow former world champion Wightman did their bit in fine style.
Kerr cruised to victory in the first heat, surging and dropping for the first half of the race before pulling himself away from any danger to cross first. And Wightman eased to second spot in the following heat to set up Saturday’s showdown.
One was showier than the other – Kerr beseeched the crowd to lift the volume at a couple of points in the final 200m – but both looked in fine fettle for what’s to come.
“I had some time to pull in the crowd and work off their energy,” Kerr told BBC Sport Scotland.
“How many times in my career am I going to be running to the line in front of a world-class pack feeling as good as I am in front of a home crowd?
“People have spent their hard-earned money to come along here on a Wednesday morning and brought their kids along, so I just want to give them that bit of interaction and show that we’re not robots.
“Many times I’ve come here and been third or fourth best to guys who really taught me how to run.
“I grew up dreaming of these championship and there’s a nostalgia of my parents driving me down here at 12 years old and me getting well beaten and then driving home eating a sandwich.”
Like Kerr, Wightman recalls his many races here from his youth and was overwhelmed by how much support there was for him, Kerr and Gourley.
“It was class,” he said. “Wednesday morning felt like it had the potential to be one of the quieter sessions but it was electric.
“I’ve thought for a long time about what it would be like to win in front of a home crowd. Now I just have to go and do it.”
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