British runner Josh Kerr smashes 27-year-old men's mile record - ESPN

UK's Kerr smashes 27-year-old men's mile record

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Jul 18, 2026, 11:08 AM ET

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LONDON -- British runner Josh Kerr ran 3 minutes, 42.66 seconds to break the long-standing men's mile world record at a Diamond League meet in London on Saturday.<br>Kerr broke Moroccan Hicham El Guerrouj's mark of 3 minutes, 43.13 seconds, set in Rome in 1999, and the Edinburgh native then set off on a lap of honor at London Stadium.<br>Josh Kerr celebrates after setting a new world record in the men's mile during Saturday Diamond League meet in London, England. Harry Murphy/Getty ImagesKerr, 28, was so dominant Saturday that he finished just over three seconds clear of American Yared Nuguse in 3:45.69.<br>The crowd support as he closed in on the record was "just incredible," Kerr told the BBC.<br>"It was just me, my shoes and the track," he said. "I was absolutely deaf in that last 110 meters.<br>"I didn't take my foot off the gas," he continued, "but ... I started to glide and I was like 'Oh wow, this feels incredible.' It's incredible because I'm slowing down. So, I was like 'I better get to the line.' So, crossing the finish line, seeing 42-something -- anything -- was my goal, so it was great."<br>Kerr's previous best time was 3:45.34 in 2024.<br>He had targeted the mile race at the Diamond League meet as a main goal in a track season with neither Olympics nor world championships.<br>The mile is not a championship event, yet it has iconic status in track history, with the four-minute barrier broken in 1954 by another British runner, Roger Bannister.<br>Kerr was a silver medalist in the 1,500 meters at the 2024 Paris Olympics.