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

SaveSharefacebookxwhatsapp-strokecopylinkAs part of 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. [Glyn Kirk/AFP]By AFP and ReutersPublished On 18 Jul 202618 Jul 2026Josh 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.He roared through the line, punching the air in ecstasy, the exultant crowd on their feet in a deafening welcome for their new hero.“The last lap was incredible,” Kerr said. “I was deaf in the last 110 metres [360 feet]!”Before El Guerrouj installed himself as world record holder, British milers were an institution on the track.Roger Bannister was the first man to run a sub-four-minute mile in 1954.Then came middle-distance legends Steve Ovett, Sebastian Coe and Steve Cram, who dominated the event from 1979-93.“If I’m to leave my mark on this sport as a British legend, with the legends behind me and following in their footsteps, I have to put in those performances,” Kerr said.“Those performances take every single part of you, every single part of your team, and the amount of work behind the scenes for me is incredible.“Today, it was a performance I was able to bring out – I just hoped it would be a little bit faster!”World Athletics President Sebastian Coe was on hand to present Kerr with a cheque for $50,000 and a book on winning milers.The UK’s Josh Kerr receives a giant cheque for breaking the World Record in the men’s one-mile final at the Diamond League at London Stadium, UK on July 18, 2026 [Isabel Infantes/Reuters]Duplantis pulls out due to injuryThe United Kingdom’s Keely Hodgkinson won her first outdoor race of the season, taking the women’s 800-metre in 1:56.21.The United States’s Brandon Miller produced a surprise win in the men’s 800-metre in a personal best of 1:42.19, with Kenya’s Olympic champion Emmanuel Wanyonyi back in fourth.The Kenyan had been targeting David Rudisha’s 800-metre world record set in the same stadium at the 2012 Olympics after setting a new 1,000-metre mark in Monaco a week ago, but he faded badly and was well beaten by the 24-year-old Miller.Armand Duplantis was forced to withdraw from the men’s pole vault competition at the London Diamond League meeting on Saturday.Duplantis, the double Olympic champion, suffered a first-time failure at 5.85 metres but, after clearing 5.95 metres, had strapping applied to his left thigh. He then chose to pull out with the European Championships on the horizon next month.The US’s Sam Kendricks took first place in his absence.Saint Lucia’s Julien Alfred capitalised on a great start to win the women’s 200-metre in 21.66, edging out American Gabby Thomas — who denied her a sprint double at the Paris Olympics — by 0.15 seconds.Kanyinsola Ajayi beat world champion Oblique Seville of Jamaica into second in the men’s 100-metre, equalling his own Nigerian national record of 9.84 seconds.World record holder Karsten Warholm ran the fastest 400-metre hurdles this year — 46.61 — to dominate the field in the absence of Alison dos Santos.American Rai Benjamin, a specialist 400-metre hurdler, won the men’s 400-metre flat in a personal best of 44.05, with Ja’kobe Tharp, 20, who set a world record last month, taking the 110-metre hurdles in 12.89.Australia’s Nicola Olyslagers set a new world lead of 2.01 metres to shade Ukraine’s Yaroslava Mahuchikh in the women’s high jump.There was a shock in the women’s discus, with the US’s Cierra Jackson improving her personal best by almost four metres (13 feet) with her final throw to set a Diamond League record of 71.72 metres and finished ahead of double Olympic champion Valarie Sion.