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Marrakech – Britain’s Josh Kerr clocked 3 minutes 42.66 seconds in the mile (approximately 1,609 meters) at Saturday’s London Diamond League meeting, shattering the world record Hicham El Guerrouj had held since 1999.
The 28-year-old Scot erased the Moroccan legend’s mark of 3:43.13, set on July 7, 1999, at the Golden Gala in Rome’s Olympic Stadium. The record had stood for 27 years. Several of the world’s top middle-distance runners had attempted to break it over nearly three decades. None came close – until Saturday.
Kerr, the 2023 world champion in the 1,500m, the 2024 Olympic silver medalist in Paris over the same distance, and a two-time world indoor champion in the 3,000m in 2024 and 2026, had publicly declared for months that he intended to take down the record at the London meeting. He dubbed his quest “Project 222” – a reference to the 222 seconds in 3:42.
The preparation bordered on obsessive. In a series published in The Telegraph, Kerr revealed he kept a notebook at his home in New Mexico in which, with the same blue pencil, he wrote the same sentence daily across dozens of pages: “I ran the mile in 3:42 at the Diamond League in London, July 18, 2026.” During ice baths, he stayed in for exactly 3 minutes and 42 seconds.
On the track, Kerr was guided by two pacemakers and a wavelight system indicating the target pace along the rail. He wore a new pair of spikes and a suit designed specifically for the attempt. He stayed locked on rhythm through four laps before accelerating over the final 200 meters.
“That last lap was insane – I went deaf at 110 meters out, I couldn’t hear anything,” Kerr told reporters afterward. He added that he “knew I had 3:42 in me” and even thought he could go faster. “If I want to leave my mark on this sport, I know I have to produce this kind of performance.”
American Yared Nuguse finished second in 3:45.69. Britain’s Jake Heyward placed third in 3:46.73.
The result returns the mile world record to the United Kingdom – the only imperial-unit event still recognized as an official world record by World Athletics.
El Guerrouj, a four-time world champion, still holds the outdoor world record in the 1,500m at 3:26.00, a time he posted on July 14, 1998, also at the Golden Gala in Rome.
