Newly crowned World Indoor 3000m Champion, Josh Kerr, has confirmed that he will attempt to break the men’s mile world record at the Novuna London Athletics Meet, part of the Wanda Diamond League series, on Saturday 18 July.
Kerr, who holds the British mile record with a time of 3:45.34 set in May 2024, currently sits sixth on the world all-time list. The longstanding world record of 3:43.13, held by Morocco’s Hicham El Guerrouj since July 1999, is the mark the 28‑year‑old will aim to surpass as he lines up in the prestigious Emsley Carr Mile at the London Stadium.
Speaking about his ambitions, dubbed ‘Project 222’, the double Olympic medallist said: “This record deserves to be done at home, this record needs to be brought home, and this is a British record.
“This is a British distance; it would be doing a disservice to the UK not to be doing it at home.” He added: “I am really excited. There are no guarantees in this; it is a record that deserves a lot of respect.
“I believe I am respecting it by coming out and talking about it. I want to do it with the people I have behind me, I have an amazing team.”
The Emsley Carr Mile returns to the Novuna London Athletics Meet for only the third time in the last decade. First staged in 1953, the event was created by Sir William Carr in memory of his father, Sir Emsley Carr, former editor of News of the World.
Touching on the heritage, Kerr said: “The Emsley Carr Mile has an incredible history and to have the opportunity to compete in that event in London is special.” The Novuna London Athletics Meet – the world’s biggest one-day athletics event – is the eleventh meeting of the 2026 Wanda Diamond League.
The series comprises 15 of the most prestigious events in global track and field across four different continents and begins in Doha on 8 May. It concludes with a single final across two days in Brussels (4-5 September).
