LONDON (AP) — Josh Kerr, the British runner who helped stoke a revival in middle-distance drama on the track, added a new chapter Saturday by running the mile in 3 minutes, 42.66 seconds to break the 27-year-old world record for the distance.
At a Diamond League meet in London, Kerr broke Moroccan great Hicham El Guerrouj’s mark of 3 minutes, 43.13 seconds, set in Rome in 1999. The 28-year-old native of Edinburgh celebrated with a lap of honor at London Stadium.
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Britain's Josh Kerr celebrates after winning and breaking a world record in the Men's 1 Mile final during the Novuna London Athletics Meet at the London Stadium, Saturday July 18, 2026. (Adam Davy/PA via AP)
Britain's Josh Kerr wins and breaks a world record in the Men's 1 Mile final during the Novuna London Athletics Meet at the London Stadium, Saturday July 18, 2026. (Adam Davy/PA via AP)
Britain's Josh Kerr celebrates after winning and breaking a world record in the Men's 1 Mile final during the Novuna London Athletics Meet at the London Stadium, Saturday July 18, 2026. (Adam Davy/PA via AP)
Britain's Josh Kerr celebrates after winning and breaking a world record in the Men's 1 Mile final during the Novuna London Athletics Meet at the London Stadium, Saturday July 18, 2026. (Adam Davy/PA via AP)
“It was just me, my shoes and the track,” he said. “I was absolutely deaf in that last 110 meters."
Kerr finished more than three seconds clear of American Yared Nuguse's second-place time of 3:45.69.
In an interview with the BBC, Kerr said the crowd support as he closed in on the record was “just incredible.”
“I didn't take my foot off the gas," he continued, “but ... I started to glide and I was like ‘oh wow this feels incredible.’ It's incredible because I'm slowing down. So, I was like ‘I better get to the line.’ So, crossing the finish line, seeing 42-something — anything — was my goal, so it was great.”
The 28-year-old Kerr’s previous best time was 3:45.34 in 2024.
Kerr, the 2023 world champion, and Jakob Ingebrigtsen, the 2021 Olympic champion, put a charge in the slightly shorter but more widely contested 1,500-meter race in the leadup to the Paris Olympics. They went back and forth online and on the track over a number of issues, including Kerr's suggestion that his rival could only run his top times with the help of pacesetters, the likes of which aren't allowed at major championships.
When the Paris Games rolled around, Ingebrigtsen faded to fourth while American Cole Hocker pulled a huge upset, with Kerr finishing second.
Last year at world championships, Ingebrigtsen faltered in a preliminary heat while Kerr pulled up lame and limped into the finish in a final won by Issac Nader of Portugal.
This year, with no worlds or Olympics on the schedule, Kerr made the mile his key target. It's a distance that isn't run as much in big events but that still has major historical significance, most of it surrounding Roger Bannister's breaking of the once-intimidating four-minute barrier in 1954.
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Britain's Josh Kerr celebrates after winning and breaking a world record in the Men's 1 Mile final during the Novuna London Athletics Meet at the London Stadium, Saturday July 18, 2026. (Adam Davy/PA via AP)
Britain's Josh Kerr wins and breaks a world record in the Men's 1 Mile final during the Novuna London Athletics Meet at the London Stadium, Saturday July 18, 2026. (Adam Davy/PA via AP)
Britain's Josh Kerr celebrates after winning and breaking a world record in the Men's 1 Mile final during the Novuna London Athletics Meet at the London Stadium, Saturday July 18, 2026. (Adam Davy/PA via AP)
Britain's Josh Kerr celebrates after winning and breaking a world record in the Men's 1 Mile final during the Novuna London Athletics Meet at the London Stadium, Saturday July 18, 2026. (Adam Davy/PA via AP)
BERLIN (AP) — A van slammed into people gathered for Berlin’s famed LGBTQ+ event on Saturday night, killing one person, injuring at least 16 others and prompting police to call off the celebrations and a concert in the German capital hours after they had begun.
Police said some of the victims had life-threatening injuries. In a post on X, police called on everyone to leave the site of the event immediately as ambulances and firefighters attended to the victims.
“We are conducting an intensive search for possible suspects,” police officer Florian Nath said on a short video released on the Berlin police account on X.
Police spokesperson Alexander Klute told The Associated Press later that “at this point, we don’t know anything about possible motives, the identity of the perpetrator or the perpetrators, or anything of that nature.”
According to police, a white van had driven into the Tiergarten park around 10 p.m., which is next to the route that the pride march had passed along earlier, and hit several people before colliding with a tree. Police could not say how many officers had been deployed to the scene but that it was “definitely a lot of police.”
Overall, more than 2,200 police officers have been on duty in Berlin since Saturday morning to protect the pride parade and other LGBTQ+ events in the city.
Police were conducting witness interrogations at the park during the night and were investigating accounts that in addition to the crash some victims appeared to have suffered stab wounds — but that it was too early to draw any conclusion from those accounts.
Berlin Mayor Kai Wegner expressed shock, saying that “following a peaceful and vibrant pride parade, the rally for a tolerant and peaceful Berlin was attacked in the most brutal manner.”
“This is an attack on our free and cosmopolitan society,” Wegner said. “I have confidence in the police and security authorities, who will be working around the clock to investigate.”
Meanwhile, authorities called on possible witnesses to come forward and share with police any video or photos they might have taken at the scene of the attack.
The city also activated a crisis hotline for people missing friends or family members.
Hundreds of thousands of people had come to Berlin on Saturday to celebrate at Berlin’s pride parade, known in Germany as Christopher Street Day. It’s one of Europe’s largest LGBTQ+ celebrations.
The pride event in front of the city’s Brandenburg Gate, near Tiergarten, was called off around 10:15 p.m. and a band’s performance on stage was interrupted. People were urged to go home and to avoid taking the route through the park.
Before the incident, people had celebrated peacefully, marching through the city for hours, dancing to loud music, and cheering the around 80 floats that participated in the parade.
Julian Miethig, who had attended the LGBTQ+ party at the Brandenburg Gate earlier, said he had just wanted to go to an afterparty when he heard from a friend that “something bad happened there and there are a lot of fire trucks, a lot of emergency vehicles, ambulances.”
He said he went to Tiergarten and was shocked that something like this could have happened at Berlin’s pride celebrations.
“It’s a dark day for the community,” he said.
Mayor Kai Wegner speaks to the media in Berlin, early Sunday, July 26, 2026, following the cancellation of Christopher Street Day festivities. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
Emergency personnel gather at an intersection following the cancellation of Christopher Street Day activities in Berlin, on Saturday, July 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Fanny Brodersen)
Emergency personnel use flashlights following the cancellation of Christopher Street Day in the Tiergarten area of Berlin on Saturday, July 25, 2026. (Fabian Sommer/dpa via AP)
Emergency personnel gather following the cancellation of Christopher Street Day festivities in Berlin, on Saturday, July 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
A person wrapped in a thermal blanket stands near emergency personnel following the cancellation of Christopher Street Day festivities in Berlin, on Saturday, July 25, 2026. (Fabian Sommer/dpa/dpa via AP)
The crowd celebrate during the Pride March in Berlin, Germany, Saturday, July 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
Emergency personnel tend to a person on a stretcher following the cancellation of Christopher Street Day in Berlin on Saturday, July 25, 2026. (Andreas Rabenstein/dpa via AP)
People march with a rainbow flag during the Christopher Street Day parade in Berlin, on Saturday, July 25, 2026. (Fabian Sommer/dpa via AP)
People wave during the Christopher Street Day parade in Berlin, on Saturday, July 25, 2026. (Fabian Sommer/dpa via AP)
People stand on 17 June Street following the cancellation of Christopher Street Day in Berlin, on Saturday, July 25, 2026. (Fabian Sommer/dpa via AP)
Participants with dog masks attend the Pride March in Berlin, Germany, Saturday, July 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
People march with a rainbow flag during the Christopher Street Day parade in Berlin, on Saturday, July 25, 2026. (Fabian Sommer/dpa via AP)
People carry a "Leather Pride Flag" during the Christopher Street Day parade in Berlin, on Saturday, July 25, 2026. (Fabian Sommer/dpa via AP)
People wave during the Christopher Street Day parade in Berlin, on Saturday, July 25, 2026. (Fabian Sommer/dpa via AP)
Police officers are on the scene following the cancellation of Christopher Street Day in Berlin, on Saturday, July 25, 2026. (Fabian Sommer/dpa/dpa via AP)
