Road to Tokyo – Hamish Kerr

In 2024, high jumper Hamish Kerr hit the heights – twice.

The 29-year-old from New Zealand scooped two global titles last year, first with the world indoor title and then Olympic gold followed five months later in Paris, both times winning with jumps of 2.36m.

Before heading to Tokyo, where he’s targeting the one global title missing from his medal collection, Kerr sat down with World Athletics+ to talk about his rise to the top.

View the full interview on World Athletics+

“I've always wanted to be the best high jumper,” he says. “I've always loved my event and my sport. I always had a sense that I would be as good as the energy that I put into it.

“Not making the final in Budapest was a real turning point for me as an athlete. In those darkest of times, those lowest of lows, you have to look at what you've done and your process and you have to be really brutally honest around where you're going in the sport.

“If I hadn't done that, I don't think 2024 would have been as successful as it was.

“For me to complete that set (of global titles) would give me that validation that I really was on that journey and really have done it.”