Over the past 18 months, we’ve become accustomed to seeing Josh Kerr battling for gold and glory in the world’s biggest 1500m races. But when the Scotsman put the pedal to the metal in the final 200m of the world-class race in Zurich on Thursday night, nothing was in the air.

Kerr was not the only one struggling to keep up with the rapid pace. Olympic champion Cole Hocker of the USA was also too far behind when pacemaker Elliot Giles dropped out with 400m to go and Norwegian Jakob Ingebrigtsen headed for the finish line.

In a race that had been announced as a rematch between the big four at the Paris Games, it suddenly came down to just two men: Ingebrigtsen and US star Yared Nuguse.

Ingebrigtsen was the fastest man in the field and broke the long-standing 3,000m world record last week. But he has been ill since then, meaning he lacked momentum and conviction in his final sprint. Gradually, Nuguse, who won bronze in Paris, passed him before pulling away to take a surprise win in 3min 29.21sec.

Ingebrigtsen finished second with a time of 3:29.52 seconds, with Hocker third almost a second behind. Kerr, who had performed well, slacked off and finished fifth with a time of 3:31.46 seconds.

“This race was highly anticipated and I knew it would be fast,” said Nuguse. “Anyone could have won this race. I’m happy I was able to win.”

Ingebrigtsen was not too disappointed with his performance. “My race yesterday was better than I expected,” he said. “I haven’t recovered yet. It was worth coming here and racing.”

It was so cold and wet in Zurich that the high jumpers wore blankets to keep warm between attempts and there was surface water on the track. But that didn’t stop Olympic 200m champion Letsile Tebogo from putting on the performance of the evening.

The 21-year-old from Botswana looked to be beaten by American Kenny Bednarek, but he pulled it together in the final 10 meters to win with a time of 19.55, less than a tenth of a second slower than his time in Paris. Bednarek finished second, setting a personal best of 19.57.

Dina Asher-Smith continued her good post-Olympic form, finishing third in a high-class 100m race. Asher-Smith had a dream start but slowed 15m from the finish and was overtaken by world champion Sha’Carri Richardson, who won in 10.84. Olympic champion Julien Alfred finished second in 10.88. Asher-Smith finished third, one hundredth of a second behind.

Britain’s Georgia Bell continued her good form to finish second in the 800m in 1:57.94, but she had no answer as Olympic silver medallist Mary Moraa won by about five metres in 1:57.08. Jemma Reekie faltered and finished fourth in 1:58.49.

Over 5,000 m, Olympic champion Beatrice Chebet was halfway to a world record, but fell eight seconds short of the time of 14:00.21 set by Gudaf Tsegay last year.