Josh Kerr shattered the 27-year-old world mile record at London Stadium on Saturday in extraordinary scenes.
The 28-year-old Briton, roared on by a capacity 60,000 crowd at the London Diamond League meeting, ran a time of three minutes 42.68 seconds to break Hicham El Guerrouj’s long-standing mark by 0.45 seconds.
He had targeted a 222-second race, and he pulled it off to become the sixth British athlete in history to hold the record for the distance.
El Guerrouj set his world record in 1999 when British record holder Kerr was only one year old.
The 2023 world 1500m champion announced in March that his intention was to break the Moroccan’s record on home soil and he framed a training regime which included 222-second-long recovery ice baths to help make it a reality.
Kerr, who was presented with a check for £38,000 for breaking the record, shaved almost three seconds off his own personal best.
Kerr was a silver medalist in the 1500 meters at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Josh Kerr celebrates after he shattered the 27-year-old world mile record in Stratford
