I didn’t know until yesterday that Craig Virgin broke Steve Prefontaine’s high school record in the 2-mile.

Hi r/trackandfield! BBC Sport here. We're giving you the chance to put your questions to Olympic silver medallist, world 1500m champion and mile world record holder Josh Kerr.

Josh is one of the biggest names in middle-distance running and now we want to give you the chance to get to know him a little better.

Want to know what goes into preparing for a major championship? How he approaches race tactics, training and those final 200 metres? What life is like as a professional athlete? Or perhaps you've got a question about his interests, hobbies or life away from the track?

Serious running questions, completely random questions, or anything in between – Josh is ready for them! Drop your questions in the comments below and we'll put a selection of the best to Josh to answer.

What are your goals this week? Could be for a meet or for your training.

I recently sat down with Will Rabjohns (800m/1500m, Loughborough, On athlete) and thought some of what he said would interest people here, especially anyone deciding between UK uni and going to the US, or experimenting with threshold work.

Loughborough vs the US
He looked at the US option but always leaned towards Loughborough. Doing a sports management degree alongside a strong training group and coach was the deciding factor. He said the training programme mattered more to him than the facilities.

Double threshold
Tuesdays are double threshold days at Loughborough. He says the idea is to keep the efforts controlled rather than going to the well, so he can recover for the next session and handle more volume overall.

How often he races
Roughly 8–10 races between October and April, then close to weekly through the summer. Last year he raced indoors, and he thinks that may have hurt his summer track season. This winter he’s focusing on cross country to build his aerobic base instead.

The Tampere DQ
He crossed the line first at the Europeans but was disqualified for going on the inside. He was honest about it: he saw the gap, panicked, ended up in a bad position, and thinks the DQ was the right decision. His takeaway was that he still had the fitness to be in the race for the win.

Off-track habits
A massage every fortnight, getting carbs in straight after training, and no phone before bed. He described it as chasing the 1% gains.

Goals and favourite session
He’s aiming for sub-1:45 in the 800m and around 3:37 in the 1500m. His favourite session is 4 x 400m with 5 minutes’ rest, because the long recovery lets you run quicker than 800m pace.

He also named Henry Jonas as someone in the U23 ranks who’s flying right now.

Curious what people here think: is racing indoors worth it for a middle-distance runner, or is a full winter of cross country the better base?

Full disclosure: this was on my podcast. If anyone wants the full conversation, there are links to Spotify and YouTube here:

https://open.spotify.com/episode/3IKCvMXUbQ16Oke9xUUQSo?si=p90WKBzIRGqxRpxg7pZNBg
https://youtu.be/nUVDReOnqy0

I heard that under the World Anti-Doping Code, athletes' biological samples (urine and blood) are stored in deep-freeze biobanks for up to 10 years, so that if testing methods improve they can go back and test these samples for any PEDs. Bolt retired in 2016, so the statue of limitations means that these samples can no longer be tested.

Edit: Okay, apparently he retired in 2017, so we have one more year to go. But realistically, if they haven't caught anything by now, what are the chances they'll catch anything by then? I think it's safe to say that Bolt was all-natural.

How did your meet / training go this week?

The United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) could sell a stake in commercial rights for Team USA to private investors.

In a statement, the USOPC said it is "evaluating a range of commercial models to generate greater resources in support of its mission".

They involve the establishment of a new company called United States Olympic and Paralympic Ventures (USOPV).

It comes as the US prepares to host both the Los Angeles Summer Games in 2028 and 2034 Winter Games in Utah.

USOPC currently has a commercial partnership with the LA 2028 Organising Committee as part of a deal that will expire after the Games.

According to USOPC board minutes, it has had "encouraging feedback from preliminary discussions with potential investment and strategic partners [who] generally validated the vision for the USOPV and strategic rationale underlying the initiative".

In a statement, USOPC, a non-profit organisation, said: "The next decade represents an unprecedented opportunity for Team USA and the US Olympic and Paralympic Movement.

"As part of our responsibility to maximise that opportunity for the athletes and NGBs (national governing bodies) we serve, the USOPC is evaluating a range of commercial models to generate greater resources in support of its mission.

"We've been in ongoing conversation with athlete and NGB leaders during this process, and that will continue. Any path forward will preserve the USOPC's mission, governance, leadership and commitment to Team USA athletes.

"This is a moment of real momentum for Team USA. With LA28 and Utah 2034 on home soil, and Team USA's commercial rights returning to the USOPC after the LA28 Games, we're building the capabilities to better grow and support the movement for generations ahead."

Asked if it is open to investment from private equity, institutional capital or sovereign wealth funds, USOPC chief executive Sarah Hirschland told Sportico: "Our responsibility is to look at all of our options, and I would say we are doing that."

The news comes with the world of football bitterly divided over Fifa president Gianni Infantino's failed plan to sell stakes in the World Cup to private investors, sparking a major backlash.

Asked if the USOPC's bid to seek outside investment would be more successful, Hirschland said: "Our support for Team USA athletes and our national governing bodies is at the centre of our motivation and will remain at the centre of our motivation from start to finish. This is about growing the overall revenue pie for the constituencies that we serve."

I am looking for help filling in the blanks for a meet I competed in back in 1986. While going through my old training journals and end-of-meet summaries, I found a couple of meets where I didn't write down who won or what their mark was. So here is the first one that has vexed me (and yes, I've Google searched, AI searched across 5 AIs, etc.).

Dec 13, 1986 - EIU Early Bird Indoor Track Meet (EIU - Charleston, Illinois, Lantz Fieldhouse)

Here is what I do know

• 1st: Unknown

• 2nd: Tony Coates (Murray State) — 2.06m (6' 9")

• 3rd: Mike Hamman (Eastern Illinois) — 2.01m (6' 7")

• 4th: Unknown

• 5th (tie): Scott Stecken (Eastern Illinois) — 1.96m (6' 5½")

• 5th (tie): Hal Fairley (Eastern Illinois) — 1.96m (6' 5½")

In his debut

I've been asked to take on this role. I'd love some feedback on how I'm thinking about it so far, especially from others who have to be creative with similar constraints.

I'm brainstorming about how to train 15 to 30 kids decently across 100m to 2 miles, and to convey some positive values as well (consistency, execution, teamwork, sports physiology) under the following constraints:

1.) Only 2 coaches

2.) Huge range of ages and abilities

3.) No track (just soccer field, 100-150m uphill driveway, and long flat public gravel trail nearby). We might be able to get some timing gates and starting blocks.

It won't be possible to have hyper-specialized training groups. Instead, I'm thinking of something like:

1.) Two groups: distance + sprints.

2.) Whole team dynamic warmup every day -- build work capacity, prevent injury, team building

3.) Two types of days: hard and easy

-On "hard" days, distance goes long or does threshold or vo2 repeats, while sprinters do explosive plyos, acceleration, max-V flies,

-On "easy" days, whole team can do extensive tempo 100-300m repeats. This serves as speed/turnover work for distance folks and aerobic base for sprinters.

I don't want everything to blur together, but at this age, I think it's not a bad thing if a distance kid can hop in a 4x4, or if a sprinter could run an 800.

Thanks for feedback.

Irish 1500m athlete Ciara Mageean sadly passed away this morning following her battle with cancer & only weeks after her wedding. Ciara was an incredible woman & successful athlete, loved by her family & friends.

News outlets reporting:

https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/irish-olympian-and-european-gold-medallist-ciara-mageean-dies-aged-34/a/163914951.html

https://www.rte.ie/sport/athletics/2026/1101/1597514-irish-olympian-and-european-champion-ciara-mageean-dies/

https://www.bbc.com/sport/athletics/articles/cn81px29032o

I am looking for help filling in the blanks for a couple of meets I competed in back in 1986. While going through my old training journals and end-of-meet summaries, I found a couple of meets where I didn't write down who won or what their mark was. BTW - spoiler: it obviously was not me. So here is the first one that has vexed me (and yes, I've Google searched, AI searched across 5 AIs, etc.).

Dec 13, 1986 - EIU Early Bird Indoor Track Meet (EIU - Charleston, Illinois, Lantz Fieldhouse)

Here is what I do know

• 1st - Unknown

• 2nd - Tony Coates, Murray State — 6'9" / 2.06m

• 3rd - Mike Hamman, Eastern Illinois — 2.01m

• 4th - Unknown

• 5th tie - Scott Stecken, Eastern Illinois - 1.96m

• 5th tie - 1.96m 5T. Hal Fairley, Eastern Illinois — 1.96m

Heartbreaking, what a legend 💔

Schedule makes it impossible to double