Josh Kerr ran the mile in 3:42.66 and erased a 27-year-old world record
Josh Kerr broke the mile world record with 3:42.66 in London, taking 0.47 seconds off the mark El Guerrouj had held since 1999. He is the first man ever under 3:43.
Some records become furniture: they have been around so long nobody can picture the room without them. The mile was one of them — 3:43.13, Hicham El Guerrouj, Rome, 1999. On Saturday night in London, Scotland’s Josh Kerr took 27 years of history and ran straight over it: 3:42.66, a new world record, in the Emsley Carr Mile at the Diamond League’s London meet. He is the first man ever to break 3:43.
What was the previous mile world record?
El Guerrouj’s 3:43.13, standing since 7 July 1999 — the oldest of the great middle-distance marks. Kerr sliced 0.47 seconds off it, an enormous chunk at this distance, and did it at home in front of a British crowd, with America’s Yared Nuguse trying to hang on until the bell before finishing second nearly three seconds back in 3:45.69.
The 28-year-old Scot, world 1500m champion in 2023, had given the attempt a code name — “Project 222”, for the 222 seconds he wanted to spend on the distance. He missed the round number by less than half a second and nobody complained: the official report went up on the World Athletics site while the sport was still rubbing its eyes.
Why was this weekend already historic?
Because the records decided to fall together. Hours earlier in Miami, Mbappé had broken the all-time World Cup goals record in England’s 6-4 win over France — and tonight a World Cup final closes out the weekend. Between track and grass, July 2026 is heading straight for the books.
By Vasco Almada
Image: Andrewnward / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
