LONDON: Britain’s Josh Kerr etched his name into the pantheon of milers when he set a new world record in the men’s mile at the London Diamond League on Saturday.
The 28-year-old US-based Scot clocked 3 minutes 42.66 seconds at the London Stadium to smash the previous best of 3:43.13 set by Morocco’s Hicham El Guerrouj in Rome in 1999.
Kerr has built his season around going after El Guerrouj’s former best.
The Scot had threatened before the race that his body was “able to feel”.
British record holder Kerr, the Olympic 1,500m silver medallist, entered the race with a personal best of 3:45.34, sixth on the all-time list.
Kerr, a two-time world indoor 3,000m winner, was paced to perfection by his training partner Brannon Kidder and Slovenian Zan Rudolph.
Olympic bronze medalist Yared Nuguse, the North American record holder and fourth on the all-time mile list, clung to Kerr until the final 200 meters.
The Scot then put on the afterburners in front of a nearly 60,000 capacity crowd in a raucous stadium built for the 2012 London Olympics.
He roared through the line and punched the air in ecstasy, the cheering crowd on their feet in a deafening welcome for their new hero.
Before El Guerrouj established himself as the world record holder, British milers were an institution on the track.
Roger Bannister was the first man to run a mile under 4 minutes in 1954.
Then came middle distance legends Steve Ovett, Sebastian Coe and Steve Cram, who dominated the event from 1979-93.
World Athletics president Coe was on hand to present Kerr with a $50,000 check and a book on winning milers.
