Josh Kerr lowers men's mile record in London Diamond League run
The British 1,500-meter Olympic silver medalist ran 3:42.66 in London, beating Hicham El Guerrouj’s 1999 mile mark.
By Georgia Hale · Staff Writer
2 min read
Josh Kerr took one of track’s longest-lasting mile marks off the board Saturday, running 3 minutes, 42.66 seconds at a Diamond League meeting in London, according to the Associated Press.
The 28-year-old British runner beat the men’s mile record of 3:43.13 set by Morocco’s Hicham El Guerrouj in Rome in 1999, the AP reported. After the run, Kerr celebrated with a lap of honor at London Stadium.
The performance was a sharp drop from Kerr’s previous best in the event. According to the AP, his earlier top mile time was 3:45.34, recorded in 2024.
A rare target in a quiet championship year
Kerr had made the mile at the London Diamond League meet a major focus of his season, according to the AP. The timing gave the race extra room on his calendar, with no Olympics or world championships on the track schedule this year.
The mile does not feature as a championship event, the AP noted, but its pull in athletics runs deep. Its place in the sport’s mythology was sealed in 1954, when Roger Bannister, another British runner, became the first athlete to break the four-minute barrier.
Kerr’s record run adds another British chapter to that history. The mark he beat had stood since 1999, when El Guerrouj ran 3:43.13 in Rome.
Kerr adds to Olympic medal profile
The mile breakthrough comes after Kerr won silver in the 1,500 meters at the 2024 Paris Olympics, according to the AP.
The 1,500 meters remains Kerr’s championship event, while the mile carries a different kind of prestige. Saturday’s run linked his name to one of the sport’s most recognizable distances, even without a global medal attached to it.
For London Stadium, the moment came with a clean set of numbers: 3:42.66 for Kerr, 3:43.13 for the old mark, and 27 years between El Guerrouj’s Rome run and the record falling in London.
According to the AP, Kerr had pointed to this race as a central goal for the season. On Saturday, he delivered the time that made it more than a target.
This story draws on original reporting from ESPN.com.