Josh Kerr breaks 39-year-old national record in Diamond League mile race win

Josh Kerr smashed Steve Cram’s 39-year-old national record to claim victory in the mile race at the Diamond League meet in Eugene, Oregon.

The Scottish runner won a highly-anticipated showdown with Norwegian rival Jakob Ingebrigtsen thanks to a remarkable, world-leading run of three minutes 45.34 seconds.

Cram had held the British record since 1985 with a time of three minutes 46.32 seconds.

This man is SPECIAL 💫@joshk97 sets a new British record in the mile with a time of 3:45.34 🤯

He's beaten Steve Cram’s record (3:46.32) which stood for 39 years, WOW! #EugeneDL pic.twitter.com/YsaZ4YP2Ar
— British Athletics (@BritAthletics) May 25, 2024

Olympic 1500m champion Ingebrigtsen, who was stunned by Kerr in that event at last year’s World Championships in Budapest, finished second, with Britons Neil Gourley and Jake Wightman in fourth and fifth respectively.

Earlier, Keely Hodgkinson produced a dominant display to win the women’s 800m.

The 22-year-old clocked a world-leading time of one minute 55.78 secs, while compatriot Jemma Reekie was third – behind Kenyan Mary Moraa – in a time of one minute 57.45 secs.

Sprinter Dina Asher-Smith came third in the women’s 100m in a season’s best time of 10.98secs.

Compatriot Daryll Neita finished fourth in 11 secs, with American Sha’Carri Richardson (10.83secs) claiming victory ahead of St Lucia’s Julien Alfred (10.93secs).

Laura Muir continued preparations for this summer’s Olympics in Paris with fourth place in the women’s 1500m in a season’s best three minutes 56.35secs.

The Tokyo 2020 silver medallist said: “I want to be in the best shape I can for August, so it’s a step towards that to run 56 (seconds) in May. It’s very promising.”

Elsewhere, Kenya’s Beatrice Chebet set a new world record of 28 minutes 54.14 secs to win the women’s 10,000m.