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Kerr’s record in London
Josh Kerr broke the men’s mile world record at the London Diamond League, running 3 minutes 42.66 seconds to smash Hicham El Guerrouj’s 27-year mark of 3 minutes 43.13 seconds set in Rome in 1999.
The race at London Stadium drew a sell-out crowd of 60,000, and Kerr crossed the line after being initially assisted by two pacemakers who were both gone by the 1,000m mark.
Kerr, who had announced his intention back in March to break El Guerrouj’s record on home soil, became the seventh British athlete to claim the mile record and the first since Steve Cram in 1985.
In the end, Kerr’s time was nearly half a second faster than El Guerrouj’s, and he finished with the emotion evident on his face as he raised his arms aloft in celebration.
After the run, Kerr told BBC Sport, "It's very overwhelming with the amount of hype [I created]."
Quotes and context
Kerr’s bid was branded "Project 222" by his sponsor Brooks, and he framed the record attempt as something he had to deliver on in London Diamond League competition.
In an interview with the BBC, Kerr said the crowd support as he closed in on the record was "just incredible," and he added, "I didn’t take my foot off the gas."
AP also described how Kerr broke El Guerrouj’s mark of 3 minutes, 43.13 seconds set in Rome in 1999, then celebrated with a lap of honor at London Stadium.
NPR reported that Kerr publicly announced his bid to break the mile world record in late March, in a track season without either Olympic games or world championships.
Kerr’s coach Danny Mackey said in an Instagram video before the race that the team watched "out for whether anyone else had broken the world record before the July meet."
What comes next
With the mile record now in his hands, Kerr is set to reset and focus on recovery before a one mile race at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow next month, according to the BBC.
The BBC also said Kerr would seek to replicate his success at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow next month after his record-breaking promise in London.
AP’s account placed the record at a Diamond League meet in London, where Kerr ran 3 minutes, 42.66 seconds and finished more than three seconds clear of American Yared Nuguse’s 3:45.69.
The Independent reported that Kerr’s 1,500m split confirmed a new British 1,500m record, topping his previous mark of 3:27.79 by almost three hundredths of a second in 3:27.51.
Kerr’s own framing of the moment included his insistence that it was "just incredible" and that he was "absolutely deaf in that last 110 meters," as he described the final stretch to the BBC.
