Josh Kerr has broken the men’s mile world record with a time of three minutes 42.66 seconds at the London Diamond League.
The British runner beat Hicham El Guerrouj’s long-standing mark of 3:43.13, set in 1999, by 0.47 seconds. The record had stood for 27 years before Kerr’s run at the London Stadium.
Kerr, 28, had announced in March that he intended to attack the record on home soil. He lined up as the sixth-fastest man in history over the mile, with a British record personal best of 3:45.34.
The race was staged in front of a sell-out crowd of 60,000. Kerr was initially helped by two pacemakers, who had both dropped out by the 1,000-metre mark, before he continued alone against the trackside wavelights measuring world-record pace.
BBC Sport reported that Kerr passed 1500 metres faster than his own British record for that distance. He then maintained his pace to the line, becoming the seventh British athlete to hold the mile record and the first since Steve Cram in 1985.
Sky Sports reported that the performance earned Kerr a cheque for $50,000, equivalent to about £37,000. American Yared Nuguse, who was fourth on the all-time mile list before the race, had been among the field in London.