Great Britain’s Josh Kerr and Czechia’s Linda Botková have been voted European Athletes of the Month for July 2026.
Josh Kerr broke Hicham El Guerrouj’s world mile record by a significant margin in the London Diamond League on 18 July.
In front of a crowd of 50,000, the Brit stopped the clock at 3:42.66 to take almost half-a-second off Hicham El Guerrouj’s mark of 3:43.13 which had remained largely untouched since 1999 and follow in the footsteps of the likes of fellow Brits Steve Cram and Sebastian Coe, both of whom were in the stadium to witness Kerr’s record-breaking feat.
Kerr’s 1500m split of 3:27.62 also eclipsed his previous British 1500m record. He went on to dominate the mile at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
What he said:
On breaking the world record…
"If I am to leave my mark on this sport as a British legend, following in the footsteps of the legends behind me, I have to put in those performances.
"Those performances take every single part of you, every single part of your team. The amount of work behind the scenes is incredible. Today it was a performance I was able to bring out - I just hoped it would be a little bit faster!"
Botková breaks new barriers in the 400m hurdles
Linda Botková produced one of the outstanding performances at the European Athletics U18 Championships in Rieti.
At 16, Botková smashed not just the European U18 best but also a 31-year-old European U20 record with a 55.19 clocking in the 400m hurdles final. The only athlete to have run faster at this age-group globally is two-time Olympic champion and world record-holder Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone.
Botková, who also set championship records in the heat (56.79) and semifinals (56.78) returned to the track later in the session to help Czechia to gold in the women’s sprint medley relay.
What she said:
On winning U18 gold in Rieti…
"These championships were amazing and I still cannot believe it. In those three days, every race was my PB and also a championship record, so it could not be better. To be the new European champion, it sounds incredible."