London (AFP) – Josh Kerr is confident he is in the kind of form that could see him break the 27-year-old world record for the mile to add his name to a storied list of previous British athletes.
Issued on: 17/07/2026 - 13:56
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But Keely Hodgkinson said thoughts of going after Jarmila Kratochvilova's 800m record dating back to 1983 was not the overiding factor going into Saturday's Diamond League meet in London.Kerr has built his season around going after Hicham El Guerrouj's best of 3min 43.13sec, which the Moroccan set in Rome in 1999."My body is capable of the mark," Kerr said Friday.British record holder Kerr, the Olympic 1,500m silver medallist, has a personal best of 3:45.34, sixth on the all-time list."It was a dream for a long time, but I knew it could be reality for a long time," remarked Kerr, who defended his world indoor 3,000m title in Poland in March."It's about convincing yourself, but that didn't take too long," he said, adding it had been more about establishing a supportive team around him to allow him to go after the record "as fiercely as I wanted to".Kerr, who will be paced by his training partner Brannon Kidder, added: "Every race has a moment where you can see an athlete go from 'This is really hard' to 'I'm going to get this', and those are the moments I'm looking for."What's going to transpire tomorrow is my moment."I've had belief in myself for a long time. It's not something that is difficult for me."While a record attempt is on the cards, Kerr acknowledged that there is also a race, with Olympic bronze medallist Yared Nuguse, the North American record holder and fourth in the all-time mile list, in the field."In the 1,500m we have so many great athletes," the 28-year-old US-based Scot said."The clock is not something I've chased. I just have to turn up and be consistent, like in training."It's an open race. I know what my focused plan is."Biggest momentBefore El Guerrouj installed himself as world record holder, British milers were an institution on the track.Roger Bannister was the first man to run a sub-4min mile in 1954.Then came middle-distance legends Steve Ovett, Sebastian Coe and Steve Cram, who dominated the event from 1979-93.Kerr argued that having his name mentioned with that trio "would be the biggest moment of my career".
