A NEW WORLD record for the men’s mile has been set by Britain’s Josh Kerr.  

The 28-year-old took 3 minutes 42.66 seconds to run a mile at London Stadium, surpassing the previous best of 3 minutes 43.13 seconds set by Morocco’s Hicham El Guerrouj in Rome in 1999.

Kerr has built his season around going after El Guerrouj’s previous best mark.

The Scot had threatened pre-race that his body was “capable of the mark”.

Kerr, an Olympic 1,500m silver medallist, went into the race with a personal best of 3 minutes 45.34 seconds – sixth on the all-time list.

During the race, Kerr was paced by his training partner Brannon Kidder and Slovenian Zan Rudolph.

Olympic bronze medallist Yared Nuguse, fourth in the all-time mile list, clung on to Kerr until the final 200 metres.

Kerr then accelerated through the line, punching the air in ecstasy.

Before 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-4 minute mile in 1954.

Then came middle-distance legends Steve Ovett, Sebastian Coe and Steve Cram, who dominated the event from 1979 to 1993.

World Athletics president Coe was on hand to present Kerr with a cheque for $50,000 and a book on winning milers.