Emil Agyekum shattered a long-standing German record in the 400 metres hurdles at the Diamond League meeting in London on Saturday. The athlete recorded a time of 47.45 seconds, surpassing the previous mark of 47.48 seconds set by Harald Schmid nearly 44 years ago. Schmid, a five-time European champion and multiple Olympic and world championship medalist, established the record initially in Athens in 1982 and matched it again in Rome in 1987.

Agyekum had come close to breaking the record earlier in the week during the Budapest meet, where he finished with a time of 47.58 seconds. In London, he finished second behind Norway’s Karsten Warholm, the world record holder and reigning Olympic and triple world champion, who won with a meet record of 46.61 seconds.

In the same London event, British middle-distance runner Josh Kerr set a new world record in the mile, completing the race in 3 minutes 42.66 seconds. Kerr’s time eclipsed the previous record of 3:43.13, set by Moroccan Hicham El Guerrouj in Rome in 1999. Kerr, the Olympic 1500m silver medalist and 2023 world champion, had announced his ambitious goal earlier this year and confirmed his capability by shaving nearly half a second off the longstanding mark.

Following Kerr, Yared Nuguse, the bronze medalist in the 1500m at Paris 2024, finished second with a time of 3:45.69, while British athlete Jake Heyward took third place with a personal best of 3:46.73.

These performances underline a competitive season in track athletics, with records from previous generations now being challenged and surpassed at major international meets.