Josh Kerr shattered the 27-year-old world mile record at London Stadium on Saturday in extraordinary scenes.
The 28-year-old Brit, 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.
Josh Kerr celebrates after he shattered the 27-year-old world mile record in Stratford
‘It’s very overwhelming with the amount of hype [I created].
‘It’s silly to call [the attempt] that early because there’s a lot of things which can go wrong, but I am surrounded by amazing people and was able to stay consistent and put the work in,’ Kerr told BBC Sport.
‘If I am to leave my mark on this sport as a British legend, following in the footsteps of the legends behind me, I have to put in those performances.
‘Those performances take every single part of you, every single part of your team.
‘The amount of work behind the scenes is incredible. Today, it was a performance I was able to bring out – I just hoped it would be a little bit faster!’
Kerr, who was presented with a cheque for £38,000 for breaking the record, shaved almost three seconds off his own personal best.
