He promised and he duly delivered. Josh Kerr is the new one-mile world record-holder. The former 1500m world champion and double Olymospects of making history at the London Diamond League on Saturday, boldly announcing his bid in March, before the outdoor season had even begun.
Having geared his entire year around this one race, he stepped up and consigned to history the great Hicham El Guerrouj’s mark of three minutes 43.13 seconds that had stood since 1999, clocking a quite phenomenal time of 3:42.66.
The Scot sat behind the two pacemakers from the outset and looked to be slightly off world record pace until that duo stepped off the track with around 600m remaining and Kerr was unleashed.
From that point on, there was no looking back. America’s Yared Nuguse fell off his heel and Kerr headed for home to the total delirium of a capacity London Stadium crowd.
It marked the culmination of a project Kerr has fixated on for some time, writing the words: “I ran 3.42 at the London Diamond League. July 18th, 2026” in his notebook every day for the past few months and ensuring his ice bath sessions lasted precisely three minutes and 42 seconds.
Aided by custom spikes and a special aerodynamic race kit from his Brooks sponsor, he took his place in the record books, becoming the seventh British man to hold the one-mile world record, following such greats as Roger Bannister, Seb Coe and Steve Ovett.
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