British runner Josh Kerr reacts after winning the men’s one-mile event with a new world record of 3 minutes, 42.66 seconds in London. Photo by Neil Hall/EPA
July 18 (UPI) — British runner Josh Kerr broke the men’s mile world record on Saturday, crossing the finish line in 3 minutes, 42.77 seconds.
Kerr, 28, accomplished the feat during a Diamond League meet in London, surpassing by less than half a second the previous record set by Moroccan Hicham El Guerrouj in Rome in 1999.
The runner had set a goal to break the 27-year record four months ago, after returning to training from a calf injury he suffered during the World Championships in Tokyo last last year.
After breaking the record in his home turf Saturday, he said it was “just incredible.”
“It was just me, my shoes and the track,” Kerr told the BBC. “I was absolutely deaf in that last 110 meters. I didn’t take my foot off the gas.”
Kerr was a silver medalist in the 2024 Olympics and received bronze in the 2020 championship.
“It is very overwhelming. There was a lot of hype,” Kerr told The New York Times. “I am surrounded by amazing people, so I have continued to put the work in, so I knew I had a 3:42 in me. I nearly lost it there at the end, but I got over the line.”
