What longstanding men’s mile record did Josh Kerr break at Diamond league

2 min readUpdated: Jul 18, 2026 09:26 PM IST

Britain's Josh Kerr celebrates after breaking a world record in the men's 1 mile final during the Ninth London Athletics Meet at the London Stadium on Saturday, July 18, 2026. (Adam Davy/PA via AP)

Britain’s Josh Kerr broke the longstanding men’s mile record on Saturday when he ran 3 minutes, 42.66 seconds at a Diamond League meeting in London on Saturday. The previous record holder was Moroccan Hicham El Guerrouj’s mark of 3 minutes, 43.13 seconds which was set in Rome in 1999 when Kerr was only 1 year old.

The 28-year-old Kerr’s previous best time was 3:45.34 in 2024. 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.

The mile is not a championships event yet has iconic status in track history, with the four-minute barrier finally broken in 1954 by another British runner, Roger Bannister. Kerr was a silver medalist in the 1,500 meters at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

“I’m not a bettor, but it’s in my favour for sure. My body is capable of the mark, so my job tomorrow is to have my mind available to let my body do it’s job. I’m very excited,” Kerr had said ahead of the event, as per Guardian.

“I’ve had belief in myself for a long time. It’s not something that is difficult for me. It was a dream for a long time, but I knew it could be reality for a long time. This isn’t the first year that I’ve felt in shape; this is the first moment I’ve felt like I have an opportunity to go for something as fiercely as I wanted to. I haven’t missed a day [of training]. What you will see out there tomorrow is all of me,” he had added.

The Briton had targeted ‌a 222-second race, and he pulled it off to become the sixth British athlete in history to hold the record for the distance.

The ​2023 world 1,500m champion ‌announced in March that his intention was to break ‌the Moroccan’s ​record and ​he ​framed a training regime which included 222-second-long recovery ​ice baths to help make ⁠it a reality.

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Kerr, who was presented with a cheque for $50,000 for ‌breaking ⁠the record, shaved almost three seconds off his own ​personal best.

(With agency inputs)