Made by us: 2 mile indoor world record shattered!

Josh Kerr Shatters 2-Mile World Indoor Record At Millrose

The World Champion made a World Record move with 400 meters to go. 

That shouldn't be surprising. 

What might shock you, though, is just how fast Josh Kerr went on Sunday in the men's Dr. Sander 2-mile at the Millrose Games, shattering the previous world indoor (short rack) record by three seconds en route to his win in 8:00.67 inside the Armory in New York City. 

The British athlete tracked leader Grant Fisher from lap one until the last 400 meters on Sunday, eventually eclipsing Mo Farah's former mark of 8:03.40 from 2015. Kerr's second mile, in fact, was faster than his first, as he split 4:03 and 3:57 over the distance. 

"That was so hard," Kerr told FloTrack later. "I think Grant was always going to be so much stronger than I am and I was hopefully going to have a little bit more legs in that last 600m." 

The reigning World Champion at 1,500 meters then made his move with two laps left, surging on Fisher and finishing with a 56.97 kick. 

Fisher wasn't left without some reward for his efforts, though. 

His time of 8:03.62 is now No. 3 in history -- behind Kerr and Farah -- but also now importantly an overall American record, surpassing both Galen Rupp's indoor mark of 8:07.41 from 2014 and Matt Tegenkamp's outdoor mark of 8:07.07 from 2007.

Cole Hocker was left in no man's land for the second half the race, but he held off OAC's George Beamish to finish third in 8:05.70. The New Zealander Beamish was fourth in 8:05.73.

This article first appeared on flotrack.org on 12 Feb 2024 written by Cory Mull

Image taken from trackandfieldnews.com