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
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 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]
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 2.0m/s is required across all applicable disciplines; and maximum of 4.0m/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 +2.4m/s may be considered that specific meeting record, but will not be considered as a world record).[1]
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.
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 was done by Sergey Bubka and Yelena Isinbayeva in the men's and women's pole vault respectively,[4] and some commentators have complained that neither athlete ever posted as high a mark as they were capable of.[5] Since 2020, Armand Duplantis has been emulating the practice.[6] In most other disciplines, this issue does not arise, since it is practically impossible to deliberately break a record by a small margin.
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,[7] and has, thus far, only affected the men's and women's pole vault, women's 2000 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, was surpassed 7 times indoors by two different men since 2000, most recently by Armand Duplantis in 2025 with a 6.27 m mark.
In 2023, World Athletics decided to introduce the new term 'short track' to replace the previous term 'indoor' to describe events and performances that are set on a 200 m track.[8] For track and combined events, the term "indoor world records" were changed to "short track world records". In some field events, including long jump, triple jump, high jump, pole vault, and shot put, indoor world records were eliminated. These changes came into effect on 1 November 2023.
Key to tables
Awaiting ratificationnot 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 i = set indoors sh = short track, including "indoors" but also allowing for outdoor 200 metres tracks
Records in events without World Athletics-ratified world records are typically referred to as world best performances or 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[234] and road distances of 15km, 20km, 25km and 30km) 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 1/100 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.
World Athletics recognises world bests achieved in individual disciplines during a combined event.[452] The below list includes disciplines in the decathlon (men) and heptathlon (women). Athletes must score at least 7000 points in a decathlon in order to have their performance recognised.[453]
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.[462]
The old specification records for men's and women's javelin were as follows:
1 2 Up until 2004, the fastest time in the marathon was officially known as "world's best time" rather than "world record time", owing to the non-uniform nature of marathon courses. This older terminology is still sometimes encountered.[citation needed]
↑ Non-ratifiable as the athlete was the sole competitor, ran behind a car, received drinks from a bike, and was paced by rotating pacemakers
↑ 60 m:6.79, LJ:8.16 m, SP:14.56 m, HJ:2.03 m, 60 mH:7.68, PV:5.20 m, 1000 m:2:32.77
↑ 100 m:10.55(+0.3m/s), LJ:7.80 m(+1.2m/s), SP:16.00 m, HJ:2.05 m, 400 m:48.42, 110 mH:13.75(−1.1m/s), DT:50.54 m, PV:5.45 m, JT:71.90 m, 1500 m:4:36.11
↑ Actually 1:17:25.5 but ratified as 1:17:25.6. Hand timed.
↑ A time of 2:54.20 set by the United States at Uniondale on 22 July 1998 was rescinded by the IAAF on 12 August 2008 after relay team member Antonio Pettigrew admitted to using human growth hormone and EPO between 1997 and 2003.
↑ University of Houston team: Leg 1 Amere Lattin (46.33) Leg 2 Obi Igbowke (44.93) Leg 3 Jermaine Holt (45.80) Leg 4 Kahmari Montgomery (44.45)
↑ University of Southern California team: Leg 1 Zach Shinnick (46.24) Leg 2 Rai Benjamin (44.35) Leg 3 Ricky Morgan Jr. (45.67) Leg 4 Michael Norman (44.52)
↑ Time not eligible as a record as Benjamin was representing Antigua & Barbuda internationally at the time (silver medal at the 2015 CARIFTA Games), while Norman had represented the United States internationally (2 gold medals at the 2016 IAAF World U20 Championships)
↑ Texas A&M University team: Leg 1 Ilolo Izu (46.57) Leg 2 Robert Grant (44.83) Leg 3 Devin Dixon (45.48) Leg 4 Mylik Kerley (44.51)
↑ Time not eligible as a record as the team members are not of the same nationality
↑ It is widely believed that the anemometer was faulty for the race in which Florence Griffith Joyner set the official world record for the women's 100 m of 10.49 s.[118] A 1995 report commissioned by the IAAF estimated the true wind speed was between +5.0m/s and +7.0m/s, rather than the 0.0 recorded.[118] If this time were excluded, the world record would be 10.54 s, recorded by Elaine Thompson-Herah at the 2021 Diamond League event in Eugene, Oregon.[119]
↑ Non-ratifiable due to the use of multiple male pace-makers
↑ The Urban Trail de Lille is not considered a record-eligible race because it includes non-standard elements like running through buildings and navigating obstacles, which are not typical of standard road races.
↑ Ngetich's women's-only record was not certified after it was found the course was found to be 25 metres too short by World Athletics.
↑ 60 mH:8.23, HJ:1.92 m, SP:15.54 m, LJ:6.59 m, 800 m:2:13.60
↑ 100 mH:12.69(+0.8m/s), HJ:1.86 m, SP:15.80 m, 200 m:22.56(+1.6m/s), LJ:7.27 m (+0.7m/s), JT:45.66 m, 800 m:2:08.51
↑ 100 m:12.49, LJ:6.12 m, SP:16.42 m, HJ:1.78 m, 400 m:57.19, 100 mH:14.22, DT:46.19 m, PV:3.10 m, JT:48.78 m, 1500 m:5:15.86
↑ Converted from respective Mile or Two Mile time. This is an equivalent time for 1600 m or 3200 m, not necessarily the precise time the athlete split for the lesser distance en route to the mile or two mile.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Converted from respective Mile or Two Mile time.
↑ The race was intended to be a 3000 metres steeplechase, but due to an error in lap counting, the competitors ran an extra lap in the final.
↑ World Athletics does not officially recognize records in the marathon mixed race walk relay. Listed is the fastest time recorded at the 2024 Summer Olympics.
↑ This performance was in a test comparable to ones commonly used in American football. Coleman's hands are clearly off the ground at a time of 0.04 and so if conducted under "athletics" rules it would have been a false start[360]
↑ Roddie Haley ran 59.82 at Oklahoma City on 15 Mar 1986 but the track was subsequently found to have been measured incorrectly
↑ Originally reported as 6.88 and subsequently corrected to 6.89
↑ Angela Issajenko equalled the time of 5.74 on 29 Jan 1988 in Toronto but the mark was rescinded following her subsequent admission of long-term drug use.
↑ This is 2.32 m farther than the distance thrown by Jackie Joyner-Kersee during her world record-setting heptathlon performance of 23–24 September 1988, despite Klüft using the new specification javelin.
"Mondo Duplantis breaks pole vault world record for 10th time". NBC Sports. 25 August 2024. Retrieved 25 August 2024. Duplantis adopted the same record-breaking strategy as Ukrainian Sergey Bubka, who maximized bonus money by raising the bar one centimeter at a time on many occasions in the 1980s and '90s.
Hutchison, Katelyn (6 August 2024). "Mondo Duplantis Breaks Pole Vault World Record For The 9th Time, Wins Second Olympic Gold Medal". Forbes. Retrieved 25 August 2024. When spectators watch him compete, they can see there is still a considerable amount of room between him and the bar when he jumps record heights. This begs the question, why doesn't Duplantis attempt the next world record height if he knows he can get it? The answer is money.
↑ "Facilities: Audrey J. Walton (T&F)". Missouri Tigers. Retrieved 5 July 2021. In 2005, the second annual Audrey Walton Combined Events played host to the first women's decathlon in North America. Former K-State [Kansas State] heptathlete Austra Skujytė broke the IAAF's newly-ratified World Record in the event, scoring 8,358 points.
↑ "Outdoor World Records". International Association for Ultra Multievents. Archived from the original on 27 December 2016. Retrieved 13 February 2017.
↑ Juck, Alfons; Mangan, Keven (18 May 2014). "EME News May 18th". American Track & Field. Archived from the original on 20 May 2014. Retrieved 22 May 2014.
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