How Josh Kerr mastered the mile to join British royalty after astonishing world record

Josh Kerr never had any doubt that he could take down a legendary record and perhaps the rest of us should have believed him from the start.

A world champion, an Olympic medallist and now the owner of the mile world record, Kerr was cheered to the rafters at the London Stadium as he smashed Hicham El Guerrouj’s 27-year-old mark.

Back in March, Kerr announced that he would be going after one of the most prestigious records in the sport, and he came through on his promise with a stunning run to cross the line in 3:42.66, taking 0.47 seconds off the previous best.

His Project 222 – the number of seconds required to better El Guerrouj’s 1999 effort – involved ice baths lasting exactly three minutes and 42 seconds, an altitude room in his Albuquerque home and experts in biomechanics, aerodynamics and physiology to ensure he had the best spikes and speed suit for the attempt.

By the time he got to the line for the Wanda Diamond League event, Kerr knew that he was capable of breaking the record. And 400m in, he was sure he was going to do it.

He said: “I knew I had it in the first 400 because my pacemakers did an incredible job. There were variables that were going to set me back and that is if the pacemakers didn’t do a good job, if the wind was there. It was in the legs, it was always going to be in the legs.

“Everyone was asking whether it was chasing the current world record, that world record holder (El Guerrouj), some of the previous British world record holders, but it wasn’t.

“To be honest, it was Sir Roger Bannister (and the four-minute mile), being able to wrap your mind around a number that hasn’t ever been broken. It’s the reason it was Project 222, it wasn’t ‘can I break the world record?’

“The mantra in the first two months of this project was that we’re not chasing world records, we’re creating the conditions where world records become inevitable. That was my biggest goal, I came out today and it was ‘get out of your head and into your body’ and my body was capable.”

Not everyone thought the world record was inevitable, even Lord Coe, in attendance in his role as the President of World Athletics wondered if Kerr had raced enough to pull off such a feat.

He knows exactly what it takes to break this record, he did it three times, exchanging it with Steve Ovett in the golden period of British middle-distance running, while Steve Cram – the last Brit to hold the record – was on commentary.

Kerr had already started to approach those legends, and this performance puts him even closer to their remarkable legacies.

Lord Coe said: “I think this will have blown the wall away, he will go on to do incredible things. It’s just nice to see it back in the hands of a Brit. We’ve had a few but he’s as good as they get.”

Ironically, for a man who is always willing to talk the talk, Kerr apologised for doing so after making history, having also broken his own 1500m British record along the way with a split of 3:27.62.

He said: “I talk constantly and I know I annoy people with that and I really apologise. But to be able to be remembered alongside the legends we have in the sport, especially in the UK, I have to run those records to be even up against those guys.

“I’m following in the footsteps of the giants and to be able to bring that back here in London, with the likes of Lord Coe and Crammy here, that is all I can do for the sport.”

Kerr’s world record was obviously the highlight of an afternoon of high drama at the London Stadium.

Mondo Duplantis, arguably the biggest star in the sport, was forced to withdraw with an adductor issue in the men’s pole vault, continuing one of the more unlikely records in the sport.

The man who has broken the world record 15 times has still never won at the London Stadium, finishing ninth on World Championship debut there in 2017 before coming third at the Anniversary Games a year later.

He will hope to be fit for the European Championships in Birmingham next month after settling for second behind Sam Kendricks.

Keely Hodgkinson claimed her first outdoor win of the season in the women’s 800m, the final race of the competition. While her time of 1:56.21 was not what she had hoped for, it was still a welcome success after a challenging few months since claiming a world indoor title in March.

World 100m champion Oblique Seville also suffered a second defeat to Nigeria’s Kayinsola Ajayi, who ran a national record of 9.84 to back up his Prefontaine Classic win over the Jamaican.

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