List of world records in athletics
World records in athletics are ratified by World Athletics. Athletics records comprise the best performances in the sports of track and field, road running and racewalking.
Records are kept for all events contested at the Olympic Games and some others. Unofficial records for some other events are kept by track and field statisticians. The only non-metric track distance for which official records are kept is the mile run.
Criteria[edit]
The criteria which must be satisfied for ratification of a world record are defined by World Athletics in Part III of the Competition Rules.[1] These criteria also apply to national or other restricted records and also to performances submitted as qualifying marks for eligibility to compete in major events such as the Olympic Games.
The criteria include:
- The dimensions of the track and equipment used must conform to standards. In road events, the course must be accurately measured, by a certified measurer.
- Except in road events (road running and race walking), the performance must be set in a single-sex race,[2] with the sole exception of the mixed-sex 4 × 400 m relay, introduced by World Athletics in 2017.[3]
- All team members in a relay race must be of the same nationality.
- Pacemakers are allowed, provided they have not been lapped; lapped athletes must give way.
- Drug testing immediately after the performance is now required for ratification of a record. Existing records which predate this requirement are still extant. Athletes who pass the immediate test but are later found to have been using banned substances have their performances invalidated.
- In running events up to 200 m in distance and in horizontal jump events, wind assistance is permitted only up to 2.0 m/s. In decathlon or heptathlon, average wind assistance of less than 2.0 m/s is required across all applicable disciplines; and maximum of 4.0 m/s in any one event. As an exception, according to rule 36.2, specific event organizers may choose to ignore wind velocity readings exclusively for their specific event records (e.g. a performance in a 100 m race at a meeting with a wind reading of +2.4 m/s may be considered that specific meeting record, but will not be considered as a world record).[1]
- In running events up to 800 m in distance, photo finish fully automatic timing is required.
- There is no restriction on altitude; since the thinner atmosphere of higher altitude provides less air resistance, locations such as Mexico City and Sestriere have previously been the sites of records in the sprint and jump events. See effects of high altitude on humans. Records set at high altitude venues are often marked with an "A" though that does not disqualify it as a record. Under those circumstances, a "sea level" best is also tracked by statisticians. Long-distance races run at altitude, with less oxygen available to the athlete, have been shown to be to the athlete's disadvantage.
- In road events, the course is not required to be a circuit, but the overall decrease in elevation between the start and finish shall not exceed 1:1000, i.e. 1 m/km.
- In road events, the start and finish points of a course, measured along a theoretical straight line between them, shall not be further apart than 50% of the race distance.
Bonus payments[edit]
Witnessing a world record brings great pleasure for athletics fans, and athletes' personal sponsors and promoters of major meetings such as the Diamond League and its predecessor, the IAAF Golden League have offered bonuses to athletes breaking a record.
Some middle-distance runners have specialized in acting as pacemakers in longer races, receiving a fee without even finishing the race, and possibly a bonus if a record results. This is a useful occupation for athletes who are capable of running accurately to a specified pace, but not capable of the fastest times to become champions in their own right.
In the pole vault record bonuses create an incentive for an athlete capable of beating a record by a large margin to instead break it by the minimum amount (one centimetre), multiple times, at multiple meetings, in order to accumulate multiple bonuses. This has been done by Sergey Bubka in the men's pole vault, and Yelena Isinbayeva in the women's pole vault.[4] Some commentators have complained that neither athlete ever posted as high a mark as they were capable of.[5] In most other disciplines, this issue does not arise, since it is practically impossible to deliberately break a record by a small margin.
World records[edit]
World Athletics (then IAAF) commenced the recognition of world records in 1912, and indoor world records after 1987. In 2000, IAAF rule 260.18a (formerly 260.6a) was amended, so that "world records" (as opposed to "indoor world records") can be set in a facility "with or without roof." This rule was not applied retroactively,[6] and has, thus far, only affected the men's and women's pole vault, women's 2,000 m and women's triple jump. The women's vault record has been advanced 9 times indoors by three different women, each ratified as a world record. The last record to be set indoors was in 2004. Sergey Bubka's 1993 pole vault world indoor record of 6.15 m was not considered to be a world record, because it was set before the new rule came into effect. Bubka's world record of 6.14 m, set outdoors in 1994, has been surpassed by five consecutive records set indoors, most recently by Armand Duplantis in 2023 with a 6.22 m mark. In 2020, Duplantis surpassed Bubka's outdoor world best (the old 6.14 m record), with a 6.15 m vault.
A new IAAF-sanctioned event, the women's 50,000 m walk, does not yet have any recognised world record.
Key to tables[edit]
Awaiting ratification not ratified or later rescinded by World Athletics
h = hand timing
+ = en route to a longer distance
A = affected by altitude
OT = oversized track
X = annulled due to doping violations
# = not officially ratified by World Athletics
a = aided road course according to IAAF rule 260.28
est = estimate
i = set indoors (overall world record tables only)
Men[edit]
Women[edit]
Mixed[edit]
Event | Perf. | N | Athlete(s) | Nat. | Date | Meeting | Location | Ctry. | R | V | P |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
4 × 400 m relay | 3:08.80
|
Justin Robinson 44.47 Rosey Effiong 50.38 Matthew Boling 45.13 Alexis Holmes 48.82 |
USA | 19 August 2023
|
World Championships | Budapest | HUN | [91] | [54] | P |
Indoor world records[edit]
In 2023 World Athletics decided to introduce the new term 'short track' to replace the current term 'indoor' to describe events and performances that are set on a 200m track.[92] For track and combined events the term "indoor world records" were changed to "world records short track". In some field events, including long jump, triple jump, high jump, pole vault and shot put indoor world records were eliminated. These changes coming into effect since 1 November 2023.
Men[edit]
Women[edit]
Best performances in non-WA World Record events[edit]
Events which do not qualify for World Athletics-ratified world records are typically referred to as world bests.
While races over imperial measured distances were very common in the first half of the 20th century, only the mile remains common today due to its historical prominence in track and field: all other imperial measured distance races became increasingly rare, and the IAAF deleted these events from the world record books in 1976.
In November 2019, World Athletics (WA; formerly IAAF) also deleted several long-distance events (track distances of 20,000 metres, 25,000 metres and 30,000 metres and road distances of 15 km, 20 km, 25 km and 30 km) from the world record books.
Some road racing distances and indoor variations of outdoor events fall outside of WA's lists, and records set in uncommon events usually do not adhere to the strict criteria found in WA-ratifiable events: one example is the 150 metres record, which was set by Usain Bolt on a specially-made straight track, while previous performances (such as the Bailey–Johnson 150-metre race) were completed on a traditional circuit which included a partial bend in the track.
The 40-yard dash, a standard acceleration evaluation for American football players, does not fall within the usual criteria of athletics racing events. In most 40-yard dashes, reaction times are not recorded as timing starts only once the player is in motion, and the standards for timing a "football 40" are so lax and inconsistent that a real world record cannot be claimed.
Performances are also hand-timed and calculated to 1/100th of a second, although studies have shown human beings simply cannot react consistently or accurately enough for this to be a valid method, and even those using light beams are timed by the motion of the athlete, removing the normal factor of reaction time; further, football 40-yard dashes are usually run on a turf surface as opposed to an all weather track. All of these factors make track and "football 40" performances essentially impossible to compare.
The world best time for a "football 40" is 4.17 by Deion Sanders, while the extrapolated best for an Olympic-level athlete (including reacting to a starting gun) is 4.24 by Maurice Greene at the 2001 World Championships in Athletics.[131]
Outdoor events[edit]
Men[edit]
Women[edit]
Indoor events[edit]
Men[edit]
Women[edit]
Running records by race distance[edit]
Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. There is more info on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org. |
Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. There is more info on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org. |
Notes[edit]
Javelin specifications[edit]
The men's javelin specification was changed with effect from 1986, and the women's from 2000. The purpose was to reduce the number of illegal flat landings, but a side-effect was to reduce the distance travelled. The prior world records in individual men's and women's javelin were invalidated, but the prior records in decathlon and heptathlon were not.[276]
The old specification records for men's and women's javelin were as follows:
Event | Record | Athlete | Nat. | Date | Meeting | Location | Ctry. | Ref(s) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Men's | 104.80 m
|
Uwe Hohn | GDR | 20 Jul 1984
|
East Berlin | GDR | ||
Women's | 80.00 m
|
Petra Felke | GDR | 9 Sep 1988
|
Potsdam | GDR |
The current decathlon world record was set with the current javelin specification. The best performance in heptathlon using the new specification javelin is:
Performance | Athlete | Nat. | Date | Meeting | Location | Ctry. | Ref(s) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
7032
|
Carolina Klüft | SWE | 26 Aug 2007
|
World Championships | Osaka | JPN | [277] |
13.15 (+0.1 m/s) (100 m hurdles), 1.95 m (high jump), 14.81 m (shot put), 23.38 (+0.3 m/s) (200 m) / 6.85 m (+1.0 m/s) (long jump), 47.98 m[bl] (javelin), 2:12.56 (800 m) |
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ a b World Athletics (2021). Book C – C1.1 Competition Rules (PDF). Archived from the original on 29 August 2022. Retrieved 29 August 2022.
- ^ IAAF (2008). "Rule 260.18". Competition Rules 2008 (PDF). pp. 202–203. Archived (PDF) from the original on 18 August 2017. Retrieved 27 July 2017.
- ^ IAAF Competition Rules 2018–2019, downloadable from World Athletics here Archived 2018-06-18 at the Wayback Machine.
- ^ "Is this why Usain Bolt slowed down?". The First Post. 18 August 2008. Archived from the original on 18 August 2016. Retrieved 14 October 2015.
- ^ Gibson, Paul (16 February 2015). "The strange evolution of the pole vault world record: from Bubka to Lavillenie". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 August 2021.
- ^ "12th IAAF World Championships In Athletics: IAAF Statistics Handbook. Berlin 2009" (PDF). Monte Carlo: IAAF Media & Public Relations Department. 2009. p. 546. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 June 2011. Retrieved 17 August 2009.
- ^ a b Mulkeen, Jon (20 August 2009). "Bolt again, and again! 19.19 World record in Berlin". World Athletics. Archived from the original on 21 August 2009. Retrieved 21 August 2009.
- ^ "Rio 2016 – Men's 400m – Results" (PDF). Rio 2016. 14 August 2016. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 September 2016. Retrieved 15 August 2016.
- ^ "The XXX Olympic Games – 800 Metres Men Final – Results". IAAF. 9 August 2012. Archived from the original on 11 October 2013. Retrieved 9 August 2012.
- ^ "Ratified: road mile world records for Kessler and Welteji". worldathletics.org. 7 December 2023. Retrieved 31 December 2023.
- ^ "2000m Result" (PDF). sportresult.com. 8 September 2023. Retrieved 8 September 2023.
- ^ "Cheptegei breaks world 5000m record in Monaco as Diamond League action returns". World Athletics. 14 August 2020. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
- ^ a b "Taye and Aregawi break world 5km records in Barcelona". World Athletics. 31 December 2021. Retrieved 1 January 2022.
- ^ "Cheptegei and Gidey break world records in Valencia". World Athletics. 7 October 2020. Retrieved 8 October 2020.
- ^ IAAF (13 May 2020). "Ratified: Kipruto's 10km road record". IAAF. Retrieved 13 May 2020.
- ^ "Kiplimo breaks world half marathon record in Lisbon | REPORTS | World Athletics". www.worldathletics.org. Retrieved 21 November 2021.
- ^ a b c "Hassan and Farah break one-hour world records in Brussels". World Athletics. 4 September 2020.
- ^ Kelvin Kiptum smashes men's marathon world record in Chicago CNN
- ^ Bob Ramsak (12 October 2019). "Kipchoge breaks two-hour barrier in Vienna". IAAF. Retrieved 19 October 2019.
- ^ "Albertson runs world 50km record in San Francisco | REPORT | World Athletics". worldathletics.org. Retrieved 10 October 2022.
- ^ "Sorokin breaks world 100km record". World Athletics. 14 May 2023. Retrieved 14 May 2023.
- ^ "Top lists – All time – 110 Metres Hurdles Men". IAAF. 7 September 2012. Archived from the original on 11 January 2013. Retrieved 7 September 2012.
- ^ "Men's 400m Hurdles Results" (PDF). olympics.com. 3 August 2021. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 August 2021. Retrieved 18 August 2021.
- ^ "3000m Steeplechase Result" (PDF). sportresult.com. 9 June 2023. Retrieved 12 June 2023.
- ^ Wanda Diamond League Final 2023 Hayward Field - Eugene, OR (USA) 17th September 2023 Results Pole Vault Men 2023 Diamond League
- ^ "World Championships – Results – Triple Jump Men Final". IAAF. 7 August 1995. Archived from the original on 29 June 2011. Retrieved 2 March 2011.
- ^ "FLASH: Crouser breaks world shot put record with 23.56m in Los Angeles | REPORT | World Athletics". worldathletics.org. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
- ^ "Alekna breaks discus world record with 74.35m in Oklahoma". World Athletics. 15 April 2024.