LONDON — Britain’s Josh Kerr etched his name into the pantheon of milers when he set a new world record in the men’s mile at the London Diamond League.
The 28-year-old US-based Scot clocked 3min 42.66sec at London Stadium to smash the previous best of 3:43.13 set by Morocco’s Hicham El Guerrouj in Rome in 1999.
Kerr said the race had been “very overwhelming. There was a lot of hype”.
“I am surrounded by amazing people and was just able to stay consistent, put the work in, and I knew I had 3:42 in me,” he said according to AFP.
“I nearly lost it there at the end, but I got over the line.”
Kerr has built his season around going after El Guerrouj’s previous best mark.
The Scot had threatened pre-race that his body was “capable of the mark” and has spent the last eight months in dedicated training.
“I am lucky to be able to string the training together,” said Kerr, based at his high-altitude home in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
“It felt like I had a kitchen full of incredible chefs, and they are like, ‘What the heck are we going to make?’, and this is the dish I want to make, so let’s go to work and get the world record.”
British record holder Kerr, the Olympic 1,500m silver medallist, went into the race with a personal best of 3:45.34, sixth on the all-time list.
A two-time world indoor 3,000m winner, Kerr was paced to perfection by his training partner Brannon Kidder and Slovenian Zan Rudolph.
Olympic bronze medallist Yared Nuguse, the North American record holder and fourth in the all-time mile list, clung on to Kerr until the final 200 metres.
