Josh Kerr crossed the line in three minutes 42.66 seconds, raised his arms and let the roar of 60,000 people wash over him. The 28-year-old Scot had just done what he said he would do four months ago: break the oldest world record in middle-distance running.
Hicham El Guerrouj’s 3:43.13 had stood since 1999, when Kerr was one year old. For 27 years no one had touched it. On Saturday, in front of a sell-out crowd at London Stadium, Kerr sliced nearly half a second off the Moroccan’s mark.
“Josh Kerr broke the 27-year-old mile world record in 3:42.66 at London Stadium.”
He had announced his intention back in March, unapologetically bold as always. “It’s silly to call [the attempt] that early because there’s a lot of things which can go wrong,” Kerr told BBC Sport. “But I am surrounded by amazing people and was able to stay consistent and put the work in.”
Two pacemakers led the field but were gone by the 1,000m mark. From there Kerr pressed alone, chasing the wavelights on the curb. He went through 1,500m faster than his own British record over that distance and never wavered. The crowd rose to its feet.
Kerr became the seventh British athlete to hold the mile world record, and the first since Steve Cram in 1985. He lined up as the sixth-fastest man in history over the mile with a personal best of 3:45.34. American Yared Nuguse, fourth on the all-time list, was a genuine threat but in the end it was only ever going to be Kerr.
The performance came less than a year after a calf injury ended his bid for gold at the World Championships in Tokyo last September. His coach, Danny Mackey, confirmed Kerr had targeted the mile record ever since returning from that setback.
“If I am to leave my mark on this sport as a British legend, following in the footsteps of the legends behind me, I have to put in those performances,” Kerr said. “Those performances take every single part of you, every single part of your team. Today it was a performance I was able to bring out – I just hoped it would be a little bit faster!”