Arabic version: كير يكسر رقم الميل العالمي الذي دام طويلاً في لندن
Scotland’s Josh Kerr shattered a 27-year-old world mile record at the London Diamond League, delivering a headline performance in front of a packed house at London Stadium.
According to ABC News, the 28-year-old Kerr clocked 3 minutes, 42.66 seconds to eclipse Hicham El Guerrouj’s 1999 mark of 3:43.13. The Edinburgh middle-distance specialist received a lap of honour from a 60,000-strong crowd after breaking the long-standing record, having entered the season with a previous best of 3:45.34.
Kerr, the 2023 world 1500m champion, had pursued the milestone through what his team called “Project 222”, targeting a 222-second mile. He bettered El Guerrouj’s time by nearly half a second to join the list of Britons who have held the mile record.
The meet also provided encouraging signs for Australian athletes bound for Glasgow. Jessica Hull dominated the 3000m, winning in 8:24.69 after a powerful kick off the penultimate bend, with compatriot Rose Davies second in 8:25.38. “It was a very competitive field and I really wanted to win today,” Hull said. “I have tried really hard to win here over the last few years, so getting the chance to come into the race as one of the favourites and then to go on and win is very special. I am focusing my energy into winning races, so to start well here, it puts me in a good position for the Commonwealth Games.”
High jump world champion Nicola Olyslagers secured a countback victory over Olympic champion Yaroslava Mahuchikh after both cleared 2.01m; Olyslagers prevailed because she had six failures to the Ukrainian’s eight, while Eleanor Patterson placed third with 1.96m. “This was my first time competing in the London Diamond League. It was a great atmosphere,” Olyslagers said, noting she had trialled new approaches in her technique.
The Australian relay quartets used the meet as a Games dress rehearsal, with the men’s team finishing second in 38.00 seconds to Great Britain (37.95) and the women’s quartet coming home in 43.08 behind a British team. What happens next: the Commonwealth Games gets underway on Thursday, July 23, with ABC Sport live blogging the full tournament.
Related sections: General | Australia/استراليا | Victoria | World/العالم
