Britain's Kerr breaks 27-year mile world record in London

Great Britain's Josh Kerr smashed the long-standing men's mile world record with a spectacular performance at the London Diamond League.

Having announced his intention back in March to break Hicham El Guerrouj's 27-year mark on home soil, Kerr delivered in emphatic fashion as he crossed the line in three minutes 42.66 seconds.

Roared on by a sell-out crowd of 60,000 at London Stadium, the five-time global medallist bettered the Moroccan's mark - untouched since 1999, when Kerr was aged one - by nearly half a second.

The 28-year-old became the seventh British athlete to claim the mile record, and first since Steve Cram in 1985.

Kerr had lined up as the sixth-fastest man in history over the mile with a British record personal best of 3:45.34.

He was joined on the start line in London by American Yared Nuguse, fourth on that all-time list and a genuine threat to the Olympic silver medallist's challenge.

But, in the end, it was only ever going to be Kerr.

Initially assisted by two pacemakers, who were both gone by the 1,000m mark, the Scot was peerless as he pressed on in pursuit of the wavelights on the curb of the track measuring his progress.

Bringing the crowd to their feet, Kerr went through 1500m faster than his British record over that distance and never wavered, with the emotion evident on his face as he raised his arms aloft in celebration.

"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, always unapologetically bold in declaring his ambitions, announced he would target the world record in London four months before this historic run - and has worked relentlessly towards backing that up since.

His coach, Danny Mackey, confirmed the Briton had set his sights on that goal since returning from the calf injury which ended his bid for gold at the World Championships in Tokyo last September.

The 28-year-old documented his preparations in the lead-up to Saturday's record attempt, titling his endeavours 'Project 222' in reference to the total number of seconds standing between him and history.

That culminated in a 1,200m time trial which suggested he was in the shape to achieve it, clocking 2:42.45 to leave him with more than one minute to cover the remaining 400m.

One caveat to that time is that Kerr did have a running start. However, he also recorded the time more than 5,000 feet above sea level in Albuquerque, and would not have the limiting effects of altitude to contend with on home soil.

In London, Kerr was kitted out in a bespoke speed suit and spikes created by sponsors Brooks, with the former designed to both enhance his aerodynamics and improve breathability in the warm temperatures through laser-cut perforations.

The spikes, designed to maximise his biomechanics, featured a carbon plate and aggressive rocker for propulsion, and titanium pins to keep the shoe light.

Having passed the 1,200m mark in 2:46.5, Kerr maintained his pace - clocking 13.7 seconds for each of the final three 100m splits - to once again back up his belief he could surpass El Guerrouj's time.

Kerr, whose training is based in the United States, decided to target the record this season as it was the first in six years not to culminate in a major global championship.

Over the preceding five years, he has established himself as one of the sport's biggest draws.

The Scot has twice made the Olympic podium and claimed three world titles - including a stunning 1500m triumph in Budapest in 2023 which ignited his heated rivalry with Norway's Jakob Ingebrigtsen, who is currently recovering from an Achilles injury.

Throughout that period, Kerr has remained vocal about his goals and self-belief - although even he admitted he may have gone slightly early in sharing hope of his latest target.

He will now seek to replicate his success at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow next month.

"It felt like I had a kitchen full of amazing incredible chefs and I was like, 'what the hell are we going to make?' - and I was like, 'this is the dish I want to make, let's get to work!'," added Edinburgh-born Kerr.

"That's what it felt like. There was no point in going through this year thinking it was an off year, and we can wait until next year.

"It's about doubling down, building a performance to bring British athletics back to the mile to this stadium."

While not a distance contested at the Olympics or World Championships, the mile remains a revered event.

It has long stood as the ultimate benchmark of athletic performance, with a sub-four-minute mile considered impossible until Sir Roger Bannister famously became the first person to break that barrier in Oxford in 1954.

That returned the world record to British hands after Sydney Wooderson's mark was surpassed in 1942.

But Bannister would only hold the record for 46 days, before Derek Ibbotson reclaimed it for Britain in 1957, and Sebastian Coe, Steve Ovett and Cram ensured the world's best time remained in British hands between July 1979 and September 1993.

Algeria's Noureddine Morceli held the record for four years before his time was beaten byEl Guerrouj in Rome.

Now, it is Kerr's.

"Josh is a world champion, he's won gold medals, run records but the world mile record perhaps surpasses everything," Cram said on BBC Sport.

"Just for what it means in the sport - it's an event the whole world knows and understands. Roger Bannister is partly responsible for that.

"To join that list of great names - I know when I did it, I so wanted to be in that club of world mile record holders. Welcome to the club, Josh!"