Josh Kerr has set his sights on the long-standing 1,500m world record after demolishing the mile world record at this Saturday’s London Diamond League.
The Scot ran a staggering 3:42.66 to beat Moroccan Hicham El Guerrouj’s record of 3:43.13, which had stood since 1999, in front of a delighted crowd at the London Stadium.
He had announced his intention to break the record in March, capitalising on a rare year without a major championships to target a personal goal.
He won the race from Yared Nuguse and Jake Heyward, with Nuguse second in a distant 3:45.69.
Now Kerr, the 2023 world champion over 1,500m, has announced his intention to target the world record at that distance too – which is also held by El Guerrouj and has stood since 1998.
In a column in The Telegraph, Kerr wrote that after his triumph on Saturday, “I was soon in a spot of trouble with my wife, Larimar, when she woke up and I said ‘It’s on’ in reference to Hicham El Guerrouj’s world 1,500m record of 3min 26.00sec.”
Two-time Olympic medallist Kerr is seventh on the all-time list of athletes over 1,500m.
In promising news for his tilt at the record his 1,500m split in Saturday’s mile was a new British record, shaving three-hundredths of a second off his own previous mark of 3:27.79 to complete the split in 3:27.51.
Kerr continued: “She said: ‘Can you just give us 12 hours before you set another goal?’ I was like: ‘I could, but the iron’s hot.’ And I do think that the moment you stop dreaming about new goals is the time when you are slowing down. This sport moves quickly; the world is always turning.”
He suggested he would most likely target one of the remaining Diamond League races, and added: “We have not made any decisions yet – and things would have to be put in place with the right 1500m race – but I do think that it is in the legs.”
The 28-year-old will first target the Commonwealth Games, held on home soil in Glasgow this week, before considering whether a tilt at the 1,500m record is feasible.
