Kerr improved on his bronze medal from the Tokyo Games, but his highly anticipated match against Jakob Ingebrigtsen took an unexpected turn.
Jack Carlin, Ed Lowe, and Hamish Turnbull extended Great Britain’s medal-winning streak in the Olympic velodrome with silver in the men’s team sprint, following gold in the women’s team sprint on Monday.
Sky Brown, a skateboarding star, overcame a dislocated shoulder to win bronze in the women’s park final, while Lewis Richardson became the only British boxer to earn a medal at the Games in the men’s 71kg division.
On Tuesday, Britain’s competitors faced mixed luck, with medal aspirations in it.
It means Britain is fifth in the medal rankings, with 12 golds and 46 medals overall.
Kerr v Ingebrigtsen was billed as a race for the ages, given the trash talking and mutual enmity that had developed between the two legendary middle-distance runners.
With 100 metres to go, an anxious Stade de France and millions of television watchers worldwide awaited the pyrotechnics.
Ingebrigtsen, the Tokyo 2020 gold medalist, was ahead, but his adversary, world champion Kerr, was on his shoulder, ready to attack.