LONDON — British runner Josh Kerr ran 3 minutes, 42.66 seconds to break the long-standing world record for the men’s mile at the Diamond League meet in London on Saturday.
Kerr broke Moroccan Hicham El Guerrouj’s record of 3 minutes 43.13 seconds, set in Rome in 1999, and then the Edinburgh native took a victory lap at the London Stadium.
Josh Kerr celebrates setting a new world record in the men’s mile during Saturday’s Diamond League meet in London, England. Harry Murphy/Getty Images
Kerr, 28, was so dominant on Saturday that he finished just over three seconds ahead of American Yared Nugus in 3:45.69.
The public’s support as he approached recording was “just incredible”, Kerr told the BBC.
“It was just me, my shoes and the track,” he said. “I was completely deaf for the last 110 metres.
“I didn’t take my foot off the gas,” he continued, “but… I started sliding and I thought, ‘Wow, this is incredible.’ It’s incredible because I’m slowing down. So I thought, “I better get to the line.” So, to cross the finish line and see 42-something — whatever — was my goal, so that was great.”
Kerr’s previous best time was 3:45.34 in 2024.
He made the mile race at the Diamond League meet the main goal of an athletics season that included no Olympics or world championships.
The mile is not a championship event, but it has iconic status in athletics history: the four-minute barrier was broken in 1954 by another British runner, Roger Bannister.
Kerr was a silver medalist in the 1500 meters at the 2024 Paris Olympics.