Vermont Native, One Year After Giving Birth, Becomes First American Woman To Win World Indoor 3,000 Meters In 8:20.87; Josh Kerr Basks In Golden Light On Home Turf

By David Woods for DyeStat

Kim Spir PHOTOS

INTERVIEWS

GLASGOW, Scotland – There have been few global golden moments to equal this one in American women’s distance running.

There was Madeline Manning at Mexico City 1968, Mary Decker’s double at Helsinki 1983, Joan Benoit’s marathon at Los Angeles 1984, Jenny Simpson at Daegu 2011, a 1-2 steeplechase sweep by Emma Coburn and Courtney Frerichs at London 2017.

None of them were new mothers, though. Add a category for Elle St. Pierre at Glasgow 2024.

She outkicked two world record-holders to win the gold medal in the 3,000 meters Saturday night, raising her arms at the finish in shock and awe. Her time was 8:20.87, breaking championship and American records and making her third-fastest woman ever at this indoor distance.

“This really is a dream, and with the Olympics ahead, it is a big confidence booster,” she said. “I could have been intimidated with the names on the board tonight, but you have to believe in yourself, and I went and gave it my best shot.”

Boy, did she ever – and 364 days after giving birth to a boy, Ivan. She actually raced while pregnant in the World Championships at Eugene, Ore., in July 2022.

“Having a baby has only made me stronger,” she said.

Although there is another day of competition here, it will be hard to top the back-to-back drama of the 3,000-meter races.

Soon after St. Pierre’s victory, Josh Kerr climbed from fourth place in the closing 300 meters and sprinted to gold in 7:42.98 on home Scottish soil. He said he had not raced here since 2015, running a 3,000 in 9:11 on this oval.

“I’ve put nine years of work to come back on this track and show them what I was capable of,” Kerr said.

While Kerr was building toward a 1,500-meter world title last summer, St. Pierre was in no condition to race.  She used all those months to increase mileage and restore fitness.

St. Pierre, 29, once an NCAA mile champion for New Hampshire, set one American record with a 4:16.41 mile Feb. 11 at New York, and 20 days later she set another – which comes with $40,000 in prize money and a medal to accompany her indoor Worlds silver from 2022.

The women’s 3,000 was as deep as any event on the track at Glasgow. Best indoor times for place were set for second through at least eighth.

Ethiopia’s Gudaf Tsegay, the 1,500 gold medalist in 2022 and world record-holder at 5,000, took silver in 8:21.13. Beatrice Chepkoech, the steeplechase world record-holder, earned bronze in a Kenyan record of 8:22.68.

Jessica Hull was fourth in 8:24.39, an Australian record, and Scotland’s Laura Muir fifth in 8:29.78. Josette Andrews, the other American, was 11th in 8:41.93.

Hull, twice an NCAA champion at Oregon, said it was “phenomenal” for St. Pierre to do what she did. “It’s hard not to be inspired,” Hull said.

St. Pierre broke the meet record of 8:33.81 by the Netherlands’ Elly Van Hulst in 1989 and American record of 8:25.05 by Alicia Monson in 2023.

St. Pierre expected a fast tempo, and ran with it. She said she was not thinking about the pace, but the race.

“I feel that’s the way you run your best races,” she said.

She waited for it all to become too much – “it never quite did,” she said -- and ran the closing 400 in 60.69 seconds to overtake Tsegay in the last 20 meters. Soon afterward, Mom just wanted to see her son.

“I feel like a new person, a new athlete,” she said.

The same might be said of Kerr, 26, who has added to his resume since capturing 1,500 bronze at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. He concentrated on the 3,000 here, so a rematch with Norway’s Jakob Ingebrigtsen can wait until the Paris Olympics.

This field expanded and contracted like an accordion, and Kerr stayed out of trouble and in contact with leaders. He was 10th at 1,600 meters but threaded his way to first with a lap to go.

His 25.19 last 200 meters put away the silver and bronze medalists, Yared Nuguse (7:43.59) and Ethiopia’s Selemon Barega (7:43.64). 

Nuguse leaned at the line to beat Barega, the Olympic champion at 10,000 meters. Barega now has a complete set of World indoor medals in the 3,000.

“This is my first major medal, and it means a lot to me,” Nuguse said. “I have been expecting it for some time.”

Ethiopia’s Getnet Wale, who mostly led until the last 400 meters, was fourth in 7:44.77. American Olin Hacker, after running up on Barega’s heels in second place with 300 left, was a surprising fifth in 7:45.40. 

Kerr said the arena was “the loudest I’ve ever heard” and felt compelled to deliver. He wrapped himself in a Scottish Saltire flag afterward, explaining he was given it by a child and had to return it. 

“This was so important to me because I've come to championships before not ready to take a real swing at it, and I feel like I've let the U.K. audience down a bit the way I've performed in front of them,” he said. “So to come here fit and ready to go and to do it here means everything. 

“I had to really keep a patient head and let it come together out there. I'm so glad I could do that. It wasn't the cleanest race, but I got it done and to have another world title feels amazing." 

Contact David Woods at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter: @DavidWoods007