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 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 previous best mark.
The Scot had threatened pre-race that his body was “capable of the mark”.
British record holder Kerr, the Olympic 1,500m silver medallist, went into the race with a personal best of 3:45.34, sixth on the all-time list.
A two-time world indoor 3,000m winner, Kerr was paced to perfection by his training partner Brannon Kidder and Slovenian Zan Rudolph.
Olympic bronze medallist Yared Nuguse, the North American record holder and fourth in the all-time mile list, clung on to Kerr until the final 200 metres.
The Scot then put on the afterburners in front of a near 60,000-capacity crowd at a raucous stadium built for the 2012 London Olympics.
He roared through the line, punching the air in ecstasy, the exultant crowd on their feet in a deafening welcome for their new hero.
Before El Guerrouj installed himself as world record holder, British milers were an institution on the track.
Roger Bannister was the first man to run a sub-4min mile 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 cheque for $50,000 and a book on winning milers.
