By David Monti, @d9monti
(c) 2026 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved
(18-Jul) — Like Babe Ruth calling his home run against the Chicago Cubs in the 1932 World Series, Josh Kerr delivered on his bold attempt to break Hicham El Guerrouj’s 1999 world mile record of 3:43.13 today at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in London. Kerr, 28, dressed in a black Brooks Beasts speed suit and wearing his signature Oakley sunglasses, clocked 3:42.66 in front of nearly 60,000 screaming fans at London Stadium, the site of the 2012 Olympics. He is now the seventh British man to hold the mile world record; the last was Steve Cram in 1985.
“It is very overwhelming,” Kerr told the meeting’s media team after the race. “There was a lot of hype. I am surrounded by amazing people, so I have continued to put the work in, so I knew I had a 3:42 in me. I nearly lost it there at the end, but I got over the line.”
Kerr had pacemaking help from American Brannon Kidder, one of Kerr’s Beasts teammates, and Slovenian Zan Rudolph, the leading middle-distance pacemaker on the Diamond League circuit this year. Kidder cut to the rail first with Rudolph, Kerr, and Americans Yared Nuguse and Simeon Birnbaum neatly on his heels. Single file, Kidder went through 400 meters in 54.75, right on schedule. Kidder did the second lap in 55.88 (1:50.83 at 800m), and then dropped out.
The third lap is always the most critical in a mile or 1500m record attempt, and Rudolph was able to complete half of the circuit before dropping out. From there it was all on Kerr to deliver. Nuguse was already falling back.
“I gave it my all but I could not maintain the contact,” Nuguse said later.
Kerr clocked 55.76 for the third circuit (1200m at 2:46.39). His form still looked clean: body upright, chin up and eyes forward. The crowd roared, bringing back memories of the 2012 Olympics when Mo Farah won both the 5000m and 10,000m gold medals.
“The last lap was incredible,” said Kerr. “I was deaf in the last 110 meters.”
Kerr swept around the final bend alone, and it wasn’t until the last ten meters or so that his form broke, but only slightly. It didn’t matter, as he took nearly half a second off of El Guerrouj’s mark. His 1500m en route time was 3:27.62, a British record.
“If I am to leave my mark on the sport, as a British athlete with the legends I have behind me, to follow in those footsteps I have to deliver those performances,” said Kerr, the 2023 world 1500m champion. “Those performances take every part of you, every part of your team (like Beasts head coach Danny Mackey). Out there, I am just the body, but there is an incredible amount of work behind the scenes. Today is a result of all that hard work.”
Behind Kerr, Nuguse finished second in a season’s best 3:45.69.
“That race was an amazing race to be a part of,” said Nuguse, the 2024 Olympic 1500m bronze medalist. “What Josh did was so impressive. I am sure he was confident. I was feeling pretty good, but for that last 300m, he pulled away.”
Another Briton, Jake Heyward, took third in a personal best 3:46.73, and Germany’s Robert Farken ran a national record 3:46.82 in fourth place. American Nathan Green finished fifth in a personal best 3:48.05, and reigning British 1500m champion Arlo Ludewick took sixth in 3:48.17. He improved his personal best by nine seconds.
Meeting organizers rewarded Kerr with a USD 50,000 bonus for breaking the record, in addition to the meeting’s regular prize money.
Elsewhere in the distance events, Kerr’s Beasts teammate Brandon Miller ran away from the field in the final 100 meters of the 800m. The American, who won the 800m at the Prefontaine Classic two weeks ago, clocked a personal best 1:42.19. Irishman Mark English, 33, had a terrific close to finish second in a personal best 1:42.97. Reigning world and Olympic champion Emmanuel Wanyonyi of Kenya faded in the final 120 meters and finished fourth in 1:43.31.
“I was racing against the best of the best, so to come out here and have the opportunity to race and win against these guys, I am blessed,” said Miller, who will race at the USA Championships next weekend in New York City. “I was just focusing on running my race.”
In the women’s two-lap event, the British crowd got another lift from seeing Olympic champion Keely Hodgkinson out-leg Dutchwoman Femke Broeders-Bol in the homestretch, 1:56.21 to 1:56.46. Hodgkinson was grateful for the win after a disappointing performance at the Prefontaine Classic on July 4, where she struggled to finish second after suffering a bad fall in practice which had badly scraped and bruised her knees.
“There are mixed emotions today,” said Hodgkinson, whose kit sponsor Nike just released a clothing line and shoes bearing her name. “I am going to take the positives because it has been a tough couple of weeks. Not everything always goes to plan, but I am proud with how I have dealt with it.”
In the women’s 3000m, the longest event on today’s program, an attempt at Sonia O’Sullivan’s 32 year-old meeting record may have been unsuccessful, but it was nonetheless a good win for 2024 Olympic 1500m silver medalist Jessica Hull of Australia. The 29 year-old ran a sound tactical race, running the final circuit in 60.1 seconds to win in 8:24.69. Compatriot Rose Davies took second in personal best 8:25.38, and Irishwoman Sarah Healy –who trains with Hodgkinson in the M11 Track Club in Manchester– got a personal best of 8:25.63 in third. Scotswoman Megan Keith, who made a bold move mid-race and led from 1600 to 2500 meters, faded to 14th at the finish.
“I have tried really hard to win here over the last few years, so getting the chance to come into the race as one of the favorites and then to go on and win is very special,” said Hull. “I am focusing my energy into winning races, so to start well here, it puts me in a good position for the Commonwealth Games.”
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Action in the Wanda Diamond League will take a pause for upcoming national athletics championships, the Commonwealth Games, and the European Athletics Championships before resuming in Lausanne on August 21. The series will conclude in Brussels on September 4 and 5.
PHOTO: Josh Kerr on his way to breaking the world record in the mile at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in London on July 18 (photo courtesy of the Wanda Diamond League)
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