Kerr outkicked world leader and pre-race favourite Jakob Ingebrigtsen of Norway in a sprint finish, to claim the crown, won by compatriot Jake Wightman in Oregon last year.
Kerr needed to summon all his energies as he crossed the finish line in a season’s best time of 3:29.38 while Olympic champion Ingebrigtsen timed 3:29.65, clearly unimpressed, at second placed.
Meanwhile, fellow Norwegian Narve Nordas pipped Kipsang for bronze, powering a last ditch sprint to cross the line at third place in 3:29.68 while the Kenyan timed 3:29:89 in fourth place.
Another Kenyan, world junior champion Reynold Cheruiyot finished eighth in 3:30.78.
Heading to the bell, Ingebrigtsen who had decided to control the tempo right from the start seemed to have put his hands on the race, and was a few metres ahead of the rest of the pack.
But, as they approached the backstraight, Kerr started making inroads. Perched in the inside lane, Kenya’s Kipsang tried to unbox himself and he often glanced behind his shoulder to try get a snippet of space to move to the outside.
However, he could not take himself off the chokehold of the inside lane, and on the front, Kerr was running a race of his life.
The Brit powered home, and Ingebrigtsen could not land a response to his injection of pace, having to settle for silver once again, just like he did last year to Wightman in Eugene.
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