3:43 has been engrained in many of our heads as the world record to beat for 27 years. A generational race result run in the mile by Hicham El Guerrouj in 1999 seemed like an invincible time to beat. Finally, just over a month ago on July 18th, El Guerrouj’s Mile World Record of 3:43.13 was broken by Josh Kerr of Great Britain at the 2026 London Diamond League meet.

Following the pacers until the 1000m mark, Kerr led from start to finish with the home crowd in London cheering him on and running a speedy time of 3:42.66, a nearly 3 second personal record. American Yared Nuguse got dropped with about 300m to go but had a season best of 3:45.69. 3rd place was Great Britain's Jake Heyward in 3:46.73. Including Kerr and Heyward, 7 of the top 10 set PRs. 

Kerr’s mile mark was the first under 3:44 since 2023, when both Kerr’s longtime rival Jakob Ingebrigtsen and Yared Nuguse did it in Eugene. Kerr appears to be getting the last laugh, or at least the latest laugh, over his rival Ingebrigtsen, along with fulfilling his manifesting of the WR Kerr had been teasing all year. Earlier this year, Kerr and his sponsor, Brooks, published Project 222—simply the number of seconds in a 3:42 mile, and his goal to run that time. The WR is expected to be ratified in coming months.

Another tantalizing WR awaits Kerr—the less famous but more often run 1500m. Though the 1500m WR also held by El Guerrouj of 3:26.00 is arguably slightly faster than his mile record was, so it could be tougher. Optimizing one’s fitness more than once in a single season is often challenging to accomplish as well. But with the always high likelihood of injuries to professional athletes pushing their bodies to the limit—no one wants to risk waiting another season to give the attempt a go.

Edit: Kerr won a his biggest 1500m race of the year in Budapest on September 13th under championship race conditions—not allowing for pacers. Consequently, El Guerrouj’s 1500m record remains… for now.