BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — They have been bickering among themselves for three years now. The best part of it is, nobody really knows who's right, who's wrong and, most importantly, who's going to win whenever they step onto the track to let their running do the talking.
The latest chapter in the most intriguing show in track and field — the men's 1,500 meters — takes place Sunday at the Ultimate Championship, with the winner getting a check for $150,000.
Will it be Josh Kerr, the new mile world-record holder from Scotland?
Or Cole Hocker, the American who barged his way into this conversation with a shocker of a win two years ago at the Paris Olympics?
Or Jakob Ingebrigtsen, the Norwegian who seems to have an opinion about everything?
Another possible answer is “none of the above,” which, as eighth-ranked Isaac Nader’s win at world championships last year proved, is completely possible in this unpredictable event.
But back to the fighting.
“We have to have an open dialogue and communication on things we feel are right or wrong,” Ingebrigtsen explained Friday night after beating Hocker in the 5,000 meter race that seems like an undercard, even though those two square off there frequently, as well. “And if opening your mouth is creating a war or creating a fight, then that's not my problem.”
Here's a brief timeline of track's best soap opera, starting with the most recent development.
Up until this year, Hocker had mostly been a silent bystander in a feud between Ingebrigtsen and Kerr. That tension was the entire story heading into Paris, and when Hocker barged through on the inside to win the gold medal, everyone was stunned.
But Ingebrigtsen brought Hocker into the fray two weeks ago after a Diamond League race in Brussels, when he confronted him. He called the Americans “cowards,” accusing them of playing games with the pacemakers for the 1,500 meters, which resulted in a slower, more “tactical” race than Ingebrigtsen expected. Neither runner finished on the podium.
Hocker has been trying to move on. Asked after the 5,000 on Friday if he respected Ingebrigtsen or thought Ingebrigtsen respected him, Hocker said “I'm not going to try to guess what he thinks of us.”
“I think everyone on the start line for a global final deserves a lot of respect and you can have opinions on the race and how it goes,” Hocker said.
The disagreement with Hocker came just as Ingebrigtsen's latest flare-up involving Kerr seemed to be dying down.
Kerr passed on the 1,500 this season, which is the distance for most four-lap races in elite track, to pursue the world record in the slightly longer and more iconic mile.
Kerr ran 3 minutes, 42.66 seconds at a Diamond League meet in London in July to break Hicham El Guerrouj’s 27-year-old record. He also won the mile at the Commonwealth Games. He did not, however, compete at European Championships, which staged a 1,500-meter race. Ingebrigtsen was not pleased.
“I definitely think it is ruining the sport if we are not participating," he said. "We all have different plans, but I could never see myself in that position.”
Kerr received a special invitation to run the 1,500 this week and extended his season by six weeks to accept.
“Always under criticism,” Kerr said. “What's been fun for me about this process is this is still an individual sport. It's not a sport where we're forced into certain racing strategies. Every person's different and every athlete's different in the way they approach the season.”
Funny enough, a lot of the history between Ingebrigtsen and Kerr began on the very track they're set to run on Sunday night.
At the 2023 world championships in Budapest, much was made of Ingebrigtsen's gesturing to the fans as he hit the homestretch in a semifinal and then, almost casually, cruising past Kerr to finish first.
Kerr got the last laugh three nights later when he won the final. Ingebrigtsen blamed it on being sick, which annoyed some people who felt that took away from Kerr's breakthrough victory.
In the ensuing year, the two bickered back and forth about a handful of issues, but mostly over what Kerr said was Ingebrigtsen's need to use pacemakers, which are not allowed in major championships.
Ingebrigtsen insisted that wasn't the case and that, in most races, he was the pacemaker. Kerr suggested Ingebrigtsen's Olympic title at 1,500 meters in 2021 came courtesy of Timothy Cheruiyot, who was racing to win but served as a pacemaker of sorts, holding the lead for much of the race before dropping to second.
Lost somewhere was that Ingebrigtsen's win Friday night in the 5,000 — his better race over the years — was nothing short of remarkable. It came with limited training in the aftermath of surgery in February to remove built-up scar tissue on his left Achilles. A World Athletics pre-race statistical analysis predicted he'd come in 12th.
“So much to prove,” Ingebrigtsen said. “What more can I do?”
His brother, Henrik, also marveled at Jakob's ability to bounce back and get to the point where he could win against the best field of the year.
Yet, as Jakob left the track Friday, it was no sure thing he'd be on the starting line for Sunday and the 1,500, which he insists is his favorite race, even if it has caused its share of heartache over the years.
Ingebrigtsen hasn't won a 1,500 in a major outdoor championship since the Tokyo Games.
“He's nowhere near the shape of Josh Kerr and those other guys, they're in the shape of their life,” Henrik said. "It would be really fun to see how close he could get with his limited shape.”
Kerr thinks it would be fun, too.
“He’s one of the best 1500-meter, 5K runners of all time and I’m excited to go out and race him,” Kerr said. “I’m not going to lose, but I’m excited to go out there and race.”
See AP’s full sports coverage here
Josh Kerr of Britain poses on the red carpet during the formal opening of the World Athletics Ultimate Championship in Budapest, Hungary, Thursday, Sept. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Denes Erdos)
Jakob Ingebrigtsen, of Norway, celebrates winning the men's 5,000 meters final during the World Athletics Ultimate Championship in Budapest, Hungary, Friday, Sept. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Armin Durgut)
DUBLIN (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump said Saturday that a unified Ireland would be “fantastic,” wading into a complex and politically charged subject during a weekend visit to a major tournament at his Irish golf course.
At a meeting with Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin in Dublin, Trump said he would love to see the reunification of the Republic of Ireland with the U.K.’s Northern Ireland.
“I don’t want to cause any problems but I’d love to see it unified," Trump offered when asked for his opinion on the issue by a reporter. "It’s going to happen eventually. It may as well happen now.
“I think it would be a fantastic thing," he said, adding that "the U.K. will have something to say about it, obviously.”
Competing visions of Northern Ireland — whether it's Irish or British — drove decades of violence in Northern Ireland that left some 3,600 people dead. Previous American presidents have avoided commenting directly on the subject, even those, like Joe Biden, with strong emotional ties to Ireland.
When Ireland, long dominated by its bigger neighbor Britain, became a self-governing Roman Catholic-majority country a century ago, a six-county region in the north with a Protestant majority remained part of the United Kingdom.
Northern Ireland was split between two main communities: nationalists — most of them Catholic — who desired union with the rest of Ireland, and largely Protestant unionists, who wanted to stay British. Tensions eventually exploded in the Troubles: three decades of violence involving paramilitary groups on both sides and British troops.
A 1998 peace accord that the U.S. was instrumental in striking largely ended the violence, but left Northern Ireland’s ultimate status unresolved.
The peace accord allows for a vote on unification if it appears likely a majority of people would vote for it. U.K. Prime Minister Andy Burnham said Wednesday that “I am not aware that there is majority public support for another referendum, and until that changes, there will not be one.”
Trump again raised the prospect of conflict between the U.K. and Argentina over the Falkland Islands. Argentina’s President Javier Milei, a Trump ally, has recently restated Argentina’s claim to the islands, a British overseas territory that Argentina calls Las Malvinas.
Trump has previously said Washington could reconsider its neutral stance on the islands’ sovereignty. On Saturday he expressed skepticism that Britain would be able to retake the South Atlantic islands as they did after Argentina invaded in 1982.
“I’m sure I’ll be called into that potential disaster, but if they do, I’ll probably be able to settle, settle it out,” he said.
Trump also held talks Saturday in Dublin with his Irish counterpart Catherine Connolly and will address U.S. and Irish business leaders at the U.S. ambassador's official residence in Dublin, before traveling to his oceanfront golf club in Doonbeg, on the other side of the country, to watch the Irish Open.
Connolly is a left-wing politician who was among those who protested when Trump visited Ireland in 2019, during his first term in office. She is now Ireland's elected, largely ceremonial head of state. A supporter of the Palestinian cause, she in the past has criticized U.S. policy in the Middle East and called Trump a “bully.”
The Irish president met Trump at the end of a red carpet at her official residence. They shook hands and chatted before going inside. He emerged alone a few minutes later and saluted as an Irish Defence Forces band played the U.S. national anthem and inspected an Irish Army honor guard.
Police put up a cordon around Dublin’s 1,750-acre (700-hectare) Phoenix Park, where he met Connolly at her residence, Áras an Uachtaráin. He met Martin, the taoiseach, at the government’s Farmleigh state guesthouse and stopped by Deerfield, the U.S. ambassador's residence.
Some residents expressed annoyance over the disruption.
“He’s causing mayhem in this city because he wants to go down to Doonbeg and play golf,” said taxi driver Christopher Fox, emphatically not a fan of Trump. “The world’s in turmoil and this fella’s down playing golf.”
University student Mina Petrovski said Trump’s “attitudes toward women, toward immigrants, toward minority communities in general are abhorrent.” She said it’s “shameful that the Irish government is welcoming him with open arms.”
Separately, a collection of left-leaning opposition parties, anti-military groups, pro-Palestinian organizations, environmentalists and others plan to demonstrate against Trump in Dublin on Saturday.
Trump's son, Eric, says the family is loved in Ireland, despite the protests planned over his father's visit.
Speaking to Irish national broadcaster RTE on Friday in Doonbeg, home to the Trump International golf resort, Eric Trump said the course is the largest employer in the area.
“Go down to Morrissey’s tavern in Doonbeg and hear from a real Irish person as to whether or not they like President Trump and the Trump family, go have them attest to what we’ve done for the country and what we’ve invested in the country and the love and respect that our family has always shown them,” he said.
Trump’s visit is the latest example of blending his official duties and personal interests.
Trump plays golf just about every weekend at clubs he owns in Florida, New Jersey and Virginia. His attendance at the Irish Open continues his trend of appearing at high-profile sporting events — and having a hand in organizing some of them in ways that benefit his family business. His clubs in Doral, Florida, and Bedminster, New Jersey, have each hosted professional golf tournaments this year.
The Irish Open is the second European Tour event to be held at a Trump property this year. The Nexo Championship was held last month at Trump's golf course in Aberdeen, Scotland.
Last year, Trump went to Scotland for five days to play golf at his club in Turnberry and later inaugurated a new Trump golf course in Balmedie, Aberdeenshire. During that visit, he held talks with the British prime minister and the president of the European Commission.
U.S. President Donald Trump during a meeting with Ireland's Prime Minister Micheál Martin at Farmleigh House in Dublin, Saturday, Sept. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
Air Force One, carrying U.S. President Donald Trump, prepares to land at Dublin Airport in Dublin, Saturday, Sept. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
U.S. President Donald Trump arrives for a meeting Ireland's President Catherine Connolly at Áras an Uachtaráin in Dublin, Saturday, Sept. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
U.S. President Donald Trump gestures as he is welcomed by Ireland's President Catherine Connolly at Aras an Uachtarain in Dublin, Saturday, Sept. 12, 2026.(AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
U.S. President Donald Trump, center, during a review of soldiers from the Guard of Honor during a visit with Ireland's President Catherine Connolly at Áras an Uachtaráin in Dublin, Saturday, Sept. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
Ireland's President Catherine Connolly, center left, greets U.S. President Donald Trump, center right, during a meeting at Áras an Uachtaráin in Dublin, Saturday, Sept. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
U.S. President Donald Trump, right, salutes from the red carpet after disembarking Air Force One at Dublin Airport in Dublin, Saturday, Sept. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
Security and cars at Dublin Airport ahead of the arrival of U.S. President Donald Trump on Air Force One for the start of his trip to Ireland, Saturday, Sept. 12, 2026. (Clodagh Kilcoyne/PA via AP)
President Donald Trump talking with reporters before boarding Air Force One, Friday, Sept. 11, 2026, at Joint Base Andrews, Md. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
Caroline O'Brien sweeps up outside the Igoe Inn in Doonbeg Village, ahead of President Donald Trump's visit to the Irish Open, in Co Clare, Ireland, Friday, Sept. 11, 2026. (Damien Eagers/PA via AP)
Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland plays off the 6th tee on day two of the Irish Open at Trump International Golf Links Ireland in Doonbeg, Ireland, Friday Sept. 11, 2026. (Brian Lawless/PA via AP)
A sign welcomes visitors to Doonbeg, Ireland, Friday, Sept. 11, 2026, ahead of U.S. President Donald Trump's visit to the Irish Open Golf. (AP Photo/Peter Morrison)
A general view of Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland after putting on the 14th green on day two of the Irish Golf Open in Doonbeg, Ireland, Friday, Sept. 11, 2026. (Brian Lawless/PA via AP)
