Josh Kerr breaks mile world record but Keely Hodgkinson fails in 800m record bid at London Diamond League athletics
Former world 1500m world champion Josh Kerr takes almost half a second off the mile world record which has stood since 1999, but Keely Hodgkinson isn't able to break the women's 800m world record which has stood since 1983
Saturday 18 July 2026 16:36, UK
Josh Kerr broke the world record for the mile at the Diamond League event in London on Saturday, but Keely Hodgkinson failed in her bid to break the oldest world record in athletics.
Great Britain's Kerr ran a remarkable time of 3.42.66, which saw him take 0.47 seconds off Moroccan Hicham El Guerrouj's mark of 3.43.13 set in 1999.
The mile is an event which is not typically run at World Championships or Olympic Games, but in March the former world 1500 metres champion announced his intention to try to break the record which had stood for 27 years.
Kerr took almost half a second off the time and the feat earned him a cheque for $50,000 (£37,000) in front of a rapturous crowd at the London Stadium.
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"It's very overwhelming with the amount of hype," he told the BBC.
"I nearly lost it there at the end, but I got over the line.
"I think if I'm going to leave my mark on this sport as a British athlete with the legends I have behind me and following in their footsteps, I have to be able to do those performances.
"Those performances take every single part of you, every single part of your team. I was just a body running, but the amount of work going on behind the scenes for me is incredible.
"Today that was the performance I was able to bring out. I was hoping it was going to be a little bit faster, but that's alright."
Olympic champion Hodgkinson was also looking for history at Saturday's event in London, but suffered a bizarre injury in training prior to the race and had to settle for a time of 1.56.21 as she won the women's 800m.
That was almost three tenths of a second slower than the world record set by Jarmila Kratochvilova - then running for Czechoslovakia - at a race meeting in Munich in July 1983.
The 43-year record continues with Hodgkinson's hopes hampered while cooling down after a session in Wigan when she tripped over and landed on a metal grate, which shredded her knees.
Hodgkinson will have another attempt at the record on home soil at the European Championships in Birmingham next month - which may turn into a showdown with Swiss runner Audrey Werro who has recorded the third and fourth fastest 800m times recently.
"It's mixed emotions," she told the BBC.
"I'm going to take the positives that it's been a tough couple weeks. Not everything always goes your way and goes to plan, but I'm proud of how I dealt with it.
"Literally, the only reason I came today is because I wanted to run in front of the home crowd, so I'm happy to just get that out the way.
"I've got the Europeans next and we just build from there."
She added: "Life is sometimes unfair and doesn't go your way or how you imagined it, and it's how you deal with that.
"I still dream big, but sometimes you've just got to stay in the present, have some good perspective and get yourself back to where you want to be."
