Josh Kerr Speaks About Chasing The Mile World Record At London Diamond League

Josh Kerr will attempt to break the mile world record on Saturday, July 18 at the Novuna London Athletics Meet — a 27-year-old mark of 3:43.13 set by Hicham El Guerrouj in Rome in 1999. It is the first genuine attempt on the world record since El Guerrouj ran it. In the 27 years since, only three men have broken 3:45 in the mile: El Guerrouj himself, Jakob Ingebrigtsen (3:43.73 in 2023), and Yared Nuguse (3:43.97 in 2023). None of them were specifically targeting the record. Kerr has been. He announced Project 222 — a reference to 222 seconds, or 3:42, the time it would take to comfortably break the mark — back in March. His entire 2026 season has been built around this race. He's peaked for global championships four consecutive years and taken home three medals (a gold, silver, bronze), running his season's best in the final each time. His coach Danny Mackey believes he's fitter now than at any of those global championships.