When Josh Kerr broke Mo Farah's two-mile indoor world record, his rival Jakob Ingebrigtsen suggested he would have beaten that time "blindfolded".
It came after the Scot had suggested the Norwegian, whom he beat to the 1500metre world title in Budapest last year, had weaknesses "on the track and in the manners realm".
As Kerr prepares to compete at the World Indoors in Glasgow this week, fans are denied a further war of words with Ingebrigtsen, absent with an Achilles injury.
Kerr, who made a late decision to run at his home event late, downplayed the barbs as little more than fun and games.
He said: "Us 1500m runners are an interesting breed. We all have got quite big egos, we all want to win and we think we're the best ever.
"We're not in a contact sport, so it's this weird balance of all this s***-talking and going out and running fast. It's fun and hopefully it's interesting for people to watch.
"Some things have been said on both sides but there's no ill will. There's mutual respect and we're all looking to compete for an Olympic title. You're finding a real clash of personalities and hopefully people enjoy it."
Even without Ingebrigtsen, Kerr finds his work cut out running the 3,000m. He faces the world record-holder for that discipline — Lamecha Girma, of Ethiopia — as well as the highly-rated American middle-distance runner, Yared Nuguse.
Kerr is arguably the headline act of a home team which includes fellow middle-distance runners and fellow Scots, Laura Muir and Jemma Reekie.
The chance to be announced as a world champion in front of his home crowd proved too much of a lure for Kerr, who confirmed his participation on the eve of the team being announced.
I don't sign up for races just to sign up for them ... I wouldn't come into this without having the ability to win
"Having the opportunity to run with Scottish fans as well as British fans, there's not going to be many more times I can to do that," he said. "It was always on the radar, I just needed to make sure that I did everything right, where the body wasn't fighting the training."
For Kerr, like most elite athletes, the over-riding goal of 2024 is the Paris Olympics but, having found himself in better shape than anticipated this month, he has taken a punt to compete this week — and it is far more than merely a stepping stone to the Games.
"I don't sign up for races just to sign up for them," he said. "I don't race that much. I wouldn't come into this without having the ability to win."
His big target is the Games come August, when he will again clash with Ingebrigtsen and Jake Wightman, who he replaced as 1500m world champion.
Wightman has had an injury-ravaged time since that point, but Kerr is confident the Englishman will be back to his best come the summer.
"He's a world champion and didn't get there by mistake," he said. "He'll be back to his best and he'll always be a player come the Olympic final."
It brings the prospect of at least two high-profile Brits again trying to topple Ingebrigtsen. For now, the barbs between them have stopped. Do not expect that to last long.
