As a child in the 1980s it was hard not to be influenced by the trash talk in the Rocky movies. Most memorably, when Clubber Lang was asked for his pre-fight prediction in Rocky III, he paused and then growled in one long, menacing drawl: “Pain.” In Rocky IV, Ivan Drago was a man of few words but quotes such as “I must break you” and “you will lose” have reverberated down the decades.
Trash talk has always been a feature of boxing – in the cinema and ‘real life’ – with Muhammad Ali’s taunts particularly imaginative. “I’ve wrestled with an alligator, I’ve tumbled with a whale,” he said before his 1964 fight with Sonny Liston, “I’ve handcuffed lightning and thrown thunder in jail. I’m so mean, I make medicine sick.”
Tyson Fury is among those to take up the mantle in recent years, although his words are more crude and pointed. “Dosser!” or “sausage!” being two of his frequent insults.
Such language has never been used much in athletics, though. Even massive rivals like Seb Coe and Steve Ovett didn’t have much to say to each other and kept their own counsel, allowing the media to whip up the rivalry instead.
In 2001 Coe did get involved in a genuine war of words, though, this time with Linford Christie. Writing in the Telegraph newspaper, Coe said the former sprinter was “deliberately unintelligible to all but those who had a passing knowledge of jive.” Later, Christie called BBC Radio 5 Live while Coe was being interviewed on a show and the two argued live on air.
Daley Thompson was also partial to a bit of trash talk. He dubbed his big German rival Jürgen Hingsen “Hollywood Hingsen” and once said: “There are only two ways he (Hingsen) is going to bring a gold medal home; he’ll have to steal mine or win another event.”
Otherwise, I struggle to think of many examples from track and field. But then Jakob Ingebrigtsen and Josh Kerr arrived.
Their trash talk took off at the 2023 World Champs in Budapest when Kerr suggested Ingebrigtsen’s showboating in the semi-final “came from a place of insecurity”. After the Norwegian lost to Kerr in the 1500m final but won the 5000m gold a few days later, I asked Ingebrigtsen if he wanted a swift rematch with Kerr and he said “no” before adding dismissively that Kerr was “just the next guy”, implying that he was superior to the general pack of chasing athletes and would have won if he hadn’t felt ill.
The trash talk has escalated over the subsequent two years and Olympic 1500m champion Cole Hocker was even dragged into it recently when Ingebrigtsen accused his rivals, including Hocker, at the Diamond League final in Brussels of being “cowards” for not pushing the pace. Hocker later spoke to Ingebrigtsen with both groups filming the interaction and a few days later the American went on to YouTube to accuse Ingebrigtsen’s team of “clip farming”.
The Ingebrigtsen-Kerr-Hocker trash talk has helped create interest in the men’s 1500m and mile. Most people agree it’s good fun and adds some spice to the sport. Unlike trash talk in boxing and UFC, it’s not descended into pantomime either. Ingebrigtsen and Kerr even exchanged a few friendly words at the Ultimate Championship a few weeks ago, although neither would reveal what was actually said.
At the same Ultimate event I noticed Keely Hodgkinson’s instinctive first move after losing to Audrey Werro in the 800m was to go up and hug the winner. If ever an event was made for trash talk, it is surely the women’s 800m with the sassy Brit against the Swiss newcomer attempting to steal her crown, plus the tall former 400m hurdler, Femke Broeders-Bol, adding to this rich competition.
READ MORE: In praise of Jakob Ingebrigtsen
Instead, they are all smiles. “I think I just have a lot of respect for the people that I compete against,” Hodgkinson told me when I asked why the 800m women don’t partake in any ‘trash talk’. She added: “The persona on the track and off the track is just different — once it’s over, I’m done with it.”
Hodgkinson added: “I think Jakob is hilarious... but I think when you’re not in it, it’s funny. I wouldn’t want to be involved.”
Hodgkinson is particularly friendly with Broeders-Bol as their parents socialise together and the duo share an agent. Given this, I also asked Broeders-Bol why there is no trash talk in the women’s 800m.
“I’m definitely not a trash talker,” she said. “I think if I always start doing this, I wouldn’t know what happened!
“I make good friends with the other athletes, especially friends with rivals. I think Audrey’s a very nice girl. Actually all the girls have been so nice and welcoming to me also within this distance.”
Whether this makes the women’s 800m more admirable or less marketable probably depends on whether you’d rather watch a fight or a friendship. At the moment, athletics is offering us both.