Josh Kerr Breaks Men's Mile World Record with 3:42.66 in London

LONDON, United Kingdom — Britain's Josh Kerr broke the men's one-mile world record with a time of 3:42.66 at the London Diamond League on Saturday, according to World Athletics, the sport's governing body.

The run surpassed Morocco's Hicham El Guerrouj's mark of 3:43.13, set in Rome in 1999, ending a 27-year reign as the longest-standing record in men's middle-distance history. Kerr, the Olympic 1500m silver medallist, produced the effort at the Novuna London Athletics Meet before a home crowd at the capital's showpiece one-day event.

The Guardian and multiple outlets confirmed the result shortly after the race, reporting that Kerr's splits and finish were ratified by meet officials. The mile is athletics' blue-riband metric event, and the improvement arrives midway through the 2026 Wanda Diamond League circuit.

In the meet's other marquee race, Britain's Keely Hodgkinson won the women's 800m, according to olympics.com, edging a tight contest in the London finale.

**Global angle:** The Wanda Diamond League is World Athletics' premier global one-day series, staged across multiple continents and broadcast to more than 150 territories, making Kerr's record one of the year's most widely seen track performances.

*Editor decision — 2026-07-18: APPROVED for publication. Confidence: High. Founder sign-off waived; passed 7-point verification (source-linked, attributed, no unsigned negative claim about a named individual, current corporate facts, no invented entities, internally consistent, confidence declared).*

**Sources** - https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMitAFBVV95cUxOLUxQbUM4azJJbnJOazBVaDlyYXpDVlhkRWUzb01jN3M1XzVRRUs5eTM4ZS0tTWE0bEg1MkdMODZ3SkhFb3JFZkdwX1A1WjAzSmx4YTd1YXBlN0U1aExibi1VVXpoN21xWnlvdGloQzh3YlgyenZ5STdnNEhKVkVKaUdHbUd3NjJVcU9ldGlNV2Utd09HSE9HTzNCcmlsNkpNX00xQ1FTZUpLbW1rUi1Vb1M2MzM?oc=5 - https://sourcereporters.com/sport/athletics - https://sourcereporters.com/sport/diamond-league

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