Josh Kerr had called his shot months in advance, and on Saturday he delivered. The 28-year-old Briton ran 3:42.66 in the Emsley Carr Mile at the Novuna London Athletics Meet, erasing Hicham El Guerrouj's world record of 3:43.13 — a mark the Moroccan set in Rome in 1999 — and becoming the first athlete in history to run the mile in under 3 minutes 43 seconds. A crowd of 60,000 at London's Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park were there to witness it.
Kerr had framed the attempt as 'Project 222', a reference to the number of seconds he needed to eclipse the record. According to World Athletics, he was paced through the early laps by training partner Brannon Kidder and Žan Rudolf before pulling away in the final 400 metres. American Yared Nuguse, who had tracked Kerr through much of the race, could not match the closing pace and finished second in 3:45.69. Britain's Jake Heyward was third in a personal best of 3:46.73.
“"I am surrounded by amazing people, so I have continued to put the work in and I knew I had a 3:42 in me. I nearly lost it there at the end, but I got over the line." — Josh Kerr, speaking to World Athletics after the race”
The mile is rarely run at major championships — the Olympics and World Championships programme the 1500m instead — making the world record a standalone prize that attracts dedicated record attempts. Kerr joins a lineage of British mile world record holders that includes Roger Bannister, who first broke four minutes in 1954, and Sebastian Coe and Steve Ovett, who traded the record three times across ten days in 1981. NPR noted that Kerr is the seventh British holder of the record.
A day of records beyond the mile
Kerr's run was the headline, but the London programme delivered records across multiple events. Norway's Karsten Warholm, who had suffered three straight Diamond League defeats in the 400m hurdles this season, emphatically ended that run. He posted a world-leading, meeting-record 46.61 seconds, with Germany's Emil Agyekum a distant second in a national record of 47.45. In the women's 200m, St Lucia's Julien Alfred clocked 21.66 — a meeting record — to beat American Gabrielle Thomas (21.81) and Shaunae Miller-Uibo of the Bahamas (22.24). FloTrack reported that Alfred controlled the race from the curve and was never seriously challenged.
The men's 800m produced its own surprise. American Brandon Miller timed his finishing kick to perfection, improving his personal best by nearly a second to 1:42.19 and defeating Kenya's world and Olympic champion Emmanuel Wanyonyi, who finished fourth. Wanyonyi had set a 1000m world record in Monaco just eight days earlier. Ireland's Mark English, who finished second in 1:42.97, also broke 1:43 for the first time.
Ajayi beats Seville again as women's 800m closes with a home victory
Nigeria's Kayinsola Ajayi, 21, continued his remarkable sprint season by winning the men's 100m in 9.84 seconds, equalling the Nigerian national record for the third time this year. He beat Jamaica's reigning world champion Oblique Seville — who finished in 9.87 — for the second consecutive Diamond League meeting. Britain's Romell Glave completed the podium in a personal best of 9.97, while Cameroon's Emmanuel Eseme matched that time in fourth. Ajayi told Olympics.com: "I just came out here and did what I had to do… I got out of the blocks like 'Boom!'". The result gives the Nigerian a 3-1 head-to-head advantage over Seville in 2026.
“"I just came out here and did what I had to do… I'm happy; I got the job done." — Kayinsola Ajayi, to Olympics.com after the 100m”
The meet closed with Keely Hodgkinson winning the women's 800m in 1:56.21, moments after Kerr's world record had already sent the stadium into a frenzy. The Olympic champion held off the Netherlands' Femke Broeders-Bol, who clocked 1:56.46 in what World Athletics confirmed was their first-ever head-to-head over the distance. Ethiopia's Tsige Duguma was third in 1:56.92. Elsewhere in the field events, American Cierra Jackson set a Diamond League discus record of 71.72m with her final throw, overturning a deficit against world champion Valarie Sion. The meet was the 11th stop of the 2026 Wanda Diamond League, which concludes with a two-day final in Brussels in September.
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