World Athletics ratifies Josh Kerr’s mile world record

World Athletics has ratified Josh Kerr’s mile world record, set with a time of 3:42.66 in London on Saturday 18 July 2026. The announcement came on Monday 9 November, 114 days after the race, alongside the ratification of three other records.

The Briton took 0.47 seconds off Hicham El Guerrouj’s previous record, which had stood for 27 years. The Moroccan had run 3:43.13 in Rome on 7 July 1999.

Splits from a record-breaking mile in London

Kerr set the mark at the Novuna London Athletics Meet, a Wanda Diamond League meeting attended by 60,000 spectators. He passed 400 metres in 55.3, accompanied by pacemakers Brannon Kidder and Zan Rudolf, and reached 800 metres in 1:51.1.

The Briton covered 1,200 metres in 2:46.39 and reached 1,500 metres in 3:27.62, under his own British record for the distance. His previous mark of 3:27.79 had earned him Olympic silver in Paris in 2024. Yared Nuguse followed Kerr until approximately 250 metres from the finish and came second in 3:45.69.

From Project 222 to British history

The attempt had been publicly announced in March under the name Project 222, after the number of seconds Kerr planned to run. The athlete had revealed his target, pacemakers and venue months in advance.

Kerr is the first Briton to hold the men’s mile record since Steve Cram in 1985. Cram, Sebastian Coe and Steve Ovett successively held the record from 1979 until Noureddine Morceli broke it in 1993. While El Guerrouj held the record, only Jakob Ingebrigtsen had come within a second of it, with 3:43.73 in 2023.

The 2023 world 1,500 metres champion, Kerr won the world indoor 3,000 metres title in Poland in March 2026. After his race in London, he added mile gold at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow and the 1,500 metres title at the Ultimate Championship in Budapest. He is also among the nominees for the World Athlete of the Year award.

Three other records ratified

World Athletics also ratified Yomif Kejelcha’s 56:51 at the Buenos Aires City Half Marathon on 23 August 2026. The athlete took 29 seconds off Jacob Kiplimo’s 57:20 in Lisbon on 8 March and regained a record he had set in Valencia in October 2024 with 57:30.

The other two marks came at the Weltklasse Diamond League meeting in Zurich on 27 August, less than 40 minutes apart. Alison dos Santos ran 45.80 in the 400 metres hurdles, 0.14 seconds faster than Karsten Warholm’s record at the Tokyo Olympic Games on 3 August 2021.

In the 100 metres hurdles, Masai Russell ran 12.09, taking 0.03 seconds off the 12.12 that Tobi Amusan had run in Oregon on 24 July 2022.