Josh Kerr Shatters 27-Year-Old Men's Mile World Record in London
Verified result: Josh Kerr — men's mile 3:42.66 (world record)

By Source Reporters Newsdesk
Sun, 19 July 2026 · 1 min read
**Verified result:** Josh Kerr — men's mile **3:42.66** (world record)
LONDON — Britain's Josh Kerr smashed the men's mile world record with a time of 3 minutes 42.66 seconds at the Novuna London Athletics Meet on Saturday, World Athletics reported. The run eclipsed the 3:43.13 set by Morocco's Hicham El Guerrouj in 1999, a mark that had stood for 27 years, according to World Athletics records.
Kerr, the Olympic 1500m bronze medallist, produced a blistering final lap at the London Diamond League fixture to claim the headline performance of the evening. The time was independently confirmed by The Guardian, NPR and CBC.
In other verified results at the same meeting, Britain's Keely Hodgkinson won the women's 800m, edging the Netherlands' Femke Bol, while St Lucia's Julien Alfred took the women's 200m ahead of American Gabby Thomas, olympics.com reported.
The feat carries wider significance: El Guerrouj's North African record had anchored the blue-riband middle-distance event for nearly three decades, underscoring how rarely the mile mark falls.
**Global Angle:** The previous record's Moroccan lineage highlights Africa's enduring footprint in middle-distance history, even as a British runner claimed the new benchmark.
**Sources**
- https://www.worldathletics.org/
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