UK’s Josh Kerr smashes longstanding world mile record in London

Kerr ran a 3:42.66 mile at the London Diamond League, smashing Moroccan Hicham El Guerrouj’s 27-year-old world record by 0.47 seconds.Josh Kerr has shattered the 27-year-old world mile record at the London Diamond League, shaving almost three seconds off his own personal best in the process.The 28-year-old Briton, roared on by a capacity 60,000 crowd at London Stadium on Saturday, ran a time of three minutes 42.66 seconds to break Hicham El Guerrouj’s longstanding mark by 0.47 seconds.As part of his “Project 222”, Kerr had targeted a sub-223-second race, and with Saturday’s run he became the sixth Briton to hold the mile record. El Guerrouj set his world record in 1999 when Kerr was only one year old.Kerr said the race had been “very overwhelming. There was a lot of hype.”“I am surrounded by amazing people and was just able to stay consistent, put the work in, and I knew I had 3:42 in me,” he said.“I nearly lost it there at the end, but I got over the line.”The 2023 world 1,500-metre champion said in March he would target the Moroccan’s record, building 222-second ice-bath recoveries into his training.“I am lucky to be able to string the training together,” said Kerr, based at his high-altitude home in Albuquerque, New Mexico.“It felt like I had a kitchen full of incredible chefs, and they are like, ‘What the heck are we going to make?’ and this is the dish I want to make, so let’s go to work and get the world record.”A two-time world indoor 3,000-metre winner, Kerr was paced to perfection by his training partner Brannon Kidder and Slovenian Zan Rudolph.Olympic bronze medallist Yared Nuguse, the North American record holder and fourth in the all-time mile list, clung on to Kerr until the final 200 metres (656 feet).Britain’s Josh Kerr poses next to the world record time after winning the men’s one mile event during the IAAF Diamond League athletics competition at the London Stadium in London on July 18, 2026. [Glyn Kirk/AFP]‘Incredible’ last lapThe Scot then put on the afterburners in front of a near 60,000-capacity crowd at a raucous stadium built for the 2012 London Olympics.