The Olympic Games before the start of athletics are a bit like a feast without a main course: the abundance of choice is tempting at first, but when the centrepiece is introduced, it can be difficult to look elsewhere.

And while the Stade de France and its brand new purple track played host to the spectacular, electrifying 100m final at the weekend, this is another event that World Athletics president Seb Coe has described as a “race for the ages”. The clash between reigning Olympic champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen and current British world champion Josh Kerr in the men’s 1500m final tonight is one of the most eagerly awaited events of Paris 2024.

Kerr and Ingebrigtsen have developed a fiery rivalry since the Scot beat the Olympic champion at last year’s World Championships in Budapest. With neither lacking in confidence and unafraid to attack each other in the media, Kerr and Ingebrigtsen regularly sparred ahead of their showdown in Paris, and the jibes continued even after the Olympics began.

Ingebrigtsen, a middle-distance prodigy from Norway, won gold in the 1500m in Tokyo three years ago at the age of just 20, setting an Olympic record. A star was born. Ingebrigtsen was predicted to achieve great things at the age of eight, as the youngest of three brothers, his father Gjert trained him as a professional from a young age.

However, over the next two years, Ingebrigtsen suffered two surprise losses to two British runners. The first loss came in the 2022 World Championships 1500m in Eugene to Jake Wightman, when Wightman went around the outside with 200m to go to take the gold medal. Then, last year in Budapest, Kerr pulled off the same trick, blasting past Ingebrigtsen to win the world title.

The win was a momentous achievement for Kerr, who hails from the same club as Wightman but moved to the US at the age of 17 to pursue a running career. Extremely confident and emboldened by his world title, Kerr was asked about Ingebrigtsen’s defeats in the world championship final on a podcast last November and responded with startling honesty, saying his rival had “major weaknesses”, a “pretty big ego” and was surrounded by “yes-men”.

In turn, Ingebrigtsen has doubled down on his bravado, claiming he beat Kerr “blindfolded” when the Scot broke the two-mile record in New York in February while the Norwegian was absent. Then, ahead of the Olympics, Ingebrigtsen said it was hard to see the Tokyo bronze medallist as a rival as he was “known as the Brit who never competes”.

Kerr, 26, dismissed the comment after running a 3:35.83 in the heats of his first 1500m race this year. He noted that the Norwegian had skipped their last meeting at the mile race in Eugene in May. “We’ve already run against each other this year and seen how it goes,” he said.

“He’s obviously a big personality and a big name in our sport and therefore attracts a lot of attention and those are the questions people sometimes want to ask me,” Kerr said The Independent.

“I give honest answers and assessments and I think he does too. I don’t think it really cuts too deep on either side. I don’t hold any grudges against him. I’m just a competitive guy and I want to win and sometimes that comes out in different ways.”

Fireworks were expected at the Olympics and that was done really well on the course on opening morning. Both raced in separate heats and enjoyed themselves until the final corner where they pulled around the outside and comfortably qualified for the semi-finals. On Sunday evening they raced in the same heat, which was a dress rehearsal for the main race, and exchanged glances at the finish line as Ingebrigtsen crossed the line first in 3:32.38 before Kerr crossed the line in 3:32.46.

Afterwards, Kerr explained: “You can expect one of the toughest, hardest 1500 metres this sport has seen in a long time. I’m ready to go for it. I think we all are. There’s been a lot of talk and hype about it over the last 12 months, two years even.”

It creates a fascinating rivalry between the characters and the competitors, driven by confidence. But what makes the battle between Kerr and Ingebrigtsen so eagerly awaited is the fact that the feud will continue long after the race is over.