Records 1951–1976
| Time | Wind | Auto | Athlete | Nationality | Location of race | Date |
|---|
| 20.6y | | | Andy Stanfield |  United States | Philadelphia, United States | May 26, 1951 [2] |
| 20.6 | | | Andy Stanfield | United States | Los Angeles, United States | June 28, 1952 [2] |
| 20.6 | 0.0 | | Thane Baker | United States | Bakersfield, United States | June 23, 1956 [2] |
| 20.6 | | 20.75 | Bobby Morrow | United States | Melbourne, Australia | November 27, 1956 [2] |
| 20.6 | | | Manfred Germar |  West Germany | Wuppertal, Germany | October 1, 1958 [2] |
| 20.6y | −1.6 | | Ray Norton |  United States | Berkeley, United States | March 19, 1960 [2] |
| 20.6 | | | Ray Norton | United States | Philadelphia, United States | April 30, 1960 [2] |
| 20.5y | | | Peter Radford |  United Kingdom | Wolverhampton, United Kingdom | May 28, 1960 [2] |
| 20.5 | 0.0 | 20.75 | Stone Johnson | United States | Stanford, United States | July 2, 1960 [2] |
| 20.5 | 0.0 | | Ray Norton | United States | Stanford, United States | July 2, 1960 [2] |
| 20.5 | | 20.65 | Livio Berruti |  Italy | Rome, Italy | September 3, 1960 [2] |
| 20.5 | 0.0 | 20.62 | Livio Berruti | Italy | Rome, Italy | September 3, 1960 [2] |
| 20.5y | −1.1 | 20.67 | Paul Drayton | United States | Walnut, United States | June 23, 1962 [2] |
| 20.3y | −0.1 | | Henry Carr | United States | Tempe, United States | March 23, 1963 [2] |
| 20.2y | 0.5 | | Henry Carr | United States | Tempe, United States | April 4, 1964 [2] |
| 20.0y | 0.0 | | Tommie Smith | United States | Sacramento, United States | June 11, 1966 [3] [2] |
| 19.8 A | 0.9 | 19.83 A | Tommie Smith | United States | Mexico City, Mexico | October 16, 1968 [2] |
| 19.8 A | 0.9 | 19.86 A | Don Quarrie |  Jamaica | Cali, Colombia | August 3, 1971 [2] |
| 19.8y | 1.3 | | Don Quarrie | Jamaica | Eugene, United States | June 7, 1975 [2] |
The "Time" column indicates the ratified mark; the "Wind" column indicates the wind assistance in metres per second, 2.0 m/s the current maximum allowable, a negative indicates the mark was set running into a wind; the "Auto" column indicates a fully automatic time that was also recorded in the event when hand-timed marks were used for official records, or which was the basis for the official mark, rounded to the 10th or 100th of a second, depending on the rules then in place.
John Carlos ran 19.7A seconds (19.92A auto) (1.9 ms wind), at altitude, at the 1968 US Olympic Trials in Echo Summit. The run was not ratified as a world record because Carlos was wearing shoes with 'brush' spikes which did not have sanction as official footwear.
Henry Carr's winning time at the 1964 Olympics (17 October) was a hand timed 20.3 seconds. The electronic time was 20.36 seconds, which was the fastest auto time to that date. Tommie Smith ran 20.26 for 220 yards at Provo in 1967. By deducting .12 seconds for the 200 metre equivalent, he is estimated to have run 20.14 for that distance. [4] : 45
Records post-1977
Beginning in 1975, the IAAF accepted separate automatically electronically timed records for events up to 400 metres. Starting on January 1, 1977, the IAAF required fully automatic timing to the hundredth of a second for these events. [2]
Tommie Smith's 1968 Olympic gold medal victory was the fastest recorded fully electronic 200 metre sprint up to that time.
| Time | Wind | Auto | Athlete | Nationality | Location of race | Date |
|---|
| 19.83 A | 0.9 | | Tommie Smith | United States | Mexico City, Mexico | October 16, 1968 [2] |
| 19.72 A | 1.8 | | Pietro Mennea | Italy | Mexico City, Mexico | September 12, 1979 [2] |
| 19.66 | 1.7 | | Michael Johnson | United States | Atlanta, United States | June 23, 1996 [2] |
| 19.32 | 0.4 | 19.313 | Michael Johnson | United States | Atlanta, United States | August 1, 1996 [2] |
| 19.30 | −0.9 | 19.296 | Usain Bolt | Jamaica | Beijing, China | August 20, 2008 [2] |
| 19.19 | −0.3 | 19.190 | Usain Bolt | Jamaica | Berlin, Germany | August 20, 2009 [1] [5] [6] |
The record progressions for automatic times at low altitude (after Carr's 20.36 in 1964) were 20.30 seconds by Valeriy Borzov at Helsinki in 1971, then Larry Black 20.28, 1972 at Munich, 20.00 (Borzov, 1972 also at Munich), 19.96 (Mennea, 1980), 19.75 (Carl Lewis, 1983), 19.75 (Joe DeLoach, 1988) and 19.73 (Michael Marsh, 1992), before Michael Johnson ran 19.66 in 1996. [4] : 46–47
The first record in the 100 metres for men (athletics) was recognised by the International Amateur Athletics Federation, now known as World Athletics, in 1912.
The world record in the mile run is the fastest time set by a runner in the middle-distance track and field event. World Athletics is the official body which oversees the records. Hicham El Guerrouj is the current men's record holder with his time of 3:43.13, while Sifan Hassan has the women's record of 4:12.33. Since 1976, the mile has been the only non-metric distance recognized by the IAAF for record purposes. However, in international competitions such as the Olympics the term "mile" almost always refers to a distance of 1,500 meters, which is 109.344 meters shorter than an Imperial mile, even though four "full" laps of a 400 meter track is equal to 1,600 meters.
The first world record in the 100 metres sprint for women was recognised by the Fédération Sportive Féminine Internationale (FSFI) in 1922. The FSFI was absorbed by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) in 1936. The current record is 10.49 seconds set by Florence Griffith-Joyner in 1988.
The 4 × 100 metres relay or sprint relay is an athletics track event run in lanes over one lap of the track with four runners completing 100 metres each. The first runners must begin in the same stagger as for the individual 400 m race. Each runner carries a relay baton. Before 2018, the baton had to be passed within a 20 m changeover box, preceded by a 10-metre acceleration zone. With a rule change effective November 1, 2017, that zone was modified to include the acceleration zone as part of the passing zone, making the entire zone 30 metres in length. The outgoing runner cannot touch the baton until it has entered the zone, and the incoming runner cannot touch it after it has left the zone. The zone is usually marked in yellow, frequently using lines, triangles or chevrons. While the rule book specifies the exact positioning of the marks, the colours and style are only "recommended". While most legacy tracks will still have the older markings, the rule change still uses existing marks. Not all governing body jurisdictions have adopted the rule change.
The following tables shows the world record progression in the Men's 3000 metres. The International Amateur Athletics Federation, now known as the International Association of Athletics Federations, ratified its first world record in the event in 1912.
The following table shows the world record progression in the Women's 3,000 metres. The first record officially recognised by the IAAF was set on 6 July 1974 by Lyudmila Bragina from the Soviet Union.
The following table shows the world record progression in the men's and women's 800 metres, officially ratified by the IAAF.
The 1500-metre run became a standard racing distance in Europe in the late 19th century, perhaps as a metric version of the mile, a popular running distance since at least the 1850s in English-speaking countries.
The first world record in the 400 m for men (athletics) was recognized by the International Amateur Athletics Federation, now known as World Athletics, in 1912. The IAAF ratified Charles Reidpath's 48.2 performance set at that year's Stockholm Olympics as a world record, but it also recognized the superior mark over 440 yards run by Maxie Long in 1900 as a world record.
The first World Record in the 200 m for women (athletics) was recognised by the Fédération Sportive Féminine Internationale (FSFI) in 1922. The FSFI was absorbed by the International Association of Athletics Federations in 1936. However, the IAAF did not maintain a record category for 200 m (bend) as opposed to 200 m (straight) until after 1951. The IAAF eliminated the 200 m (straight) record after 1976. "y" denotes times set at 220 yards which were ratified as world records.
The first world record in the 4 x 100 metres relay for men (athletics) was recognized by the International Amateur Athletics Federation, now known as World Athletics, in 1912.
The 10-second barrier is the physical and psychological barrier of completing the 100 metres sprint in under ten seconds. The achievement is traditionally regarded as the hallmark of a world-class male sprinter. Its significance has become less important since the late 1990s, as an increasing number of runners have surpassed the ten seconds mark. The current men's world record holder is Usain Bolt, who ran a 9.58 at the 2009 IAAF World Championship competition.
The following table shows the world record progression in the Men's 110 metres hurdles.
The first world record in the 400 m for women (athletics) was recognized by the International Amateur Athletics Federation, now known as the World Athletics, in 1957.
The first world record in the men's 400 metres hurdles was recognised by the International Association of Athletics Federations in 1912. That inaugural record was the performance by Charles Bacon at the 1908 Olympics.
The first world record in the women's 4 x 100 metres relay was recognised by the International Association of Athletics Federations in 1922. 45 world records have been ratified by the IAAF in the event. The following table shows the world record progression in the women's 4 × 100 metre relay, as ratified by the IAAF. "y" denotes time for 4 × 110 yards (402.34 m), ratified as a record for this event.
The following table shows the world record progression in the women's 100 metres hurdles. The first world record in the event was recognised by the International Association of Athletics Federations in 1969. 22 world records have been ratified by the IAAF in the event.
The sports under the umbrella of athletics, particularly track and field, use a variety of statistics. In order to report that information efficiently, numerous abbreviations have grown to be common in the sport. Starting in 1948 by Bert Nelson and Cordner Nelson, Track & Field News became the leader in creating and defining abbreviations in this field. These abbreviations have also been adopted by, among others, World Athletics; the world governing body, various domestic governing bodies, the Association of Track and Field Statisticians, the Association of Road Racing Statisticians, the Associated Press, and the individual media outlets who receive their reports. These abbreviations also appear in Wikipedia.
The official world records in the 10,000 metres are held by Ugandan Joshua Cheptegei with 26:11.00 minutes for men and Ethiopian Letesenbet Gidey with 29:01.03 for women.
The 200 metres at the Summer Olympics has been contested since the second edition of the multi-sport event. The men's 200 m has been present on the Olympic athletics programme since 1900 and the women's 200 m has been held continuously since its introduction at the 1948 Games. It is the most prestigious 200 m race at elite level. The competition format typically has three or four qualifying rounds leading to a final race between eight athletes.
