World records in the marathon are ratified by World Athletics, the international governing body for the sport of athletics.
Catherina McKiernan is a former long-distance runner from Ireland, who competed in the marathon, 10,000 metres and cross country running.
Naoko Takahashi is a retired Japanese long-distance runner and Olympic gold medal-winning marathoner. She won the gold medal in the marathon at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, and at the 2001 Berlin Marathon she became the first woman to complete a marathon in under 2 hours and 20 minutes.
Deena Michelle Kastor is an American long-distance runner. She was a holder of American records in the marathon (2006-2022) and numerous road distances. She won the bronze medal in the women's marathon at the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Greece. She is also an eight-time national champion in cross country.
Jeļena Prokopčuka is a retired Latvian long-distance runner, best known for winning the New York City Marathon in 2005 and 2006.
Liliya Bulatovna Shobukhova, née Shagbalova, Divorced name Volkova, is a Russian long-distance runner who competed in marathon races. She previously specialized in the 3000 and 5000 metres track events. She served a doping ban until 23 August 2015.
Valentina Mikhailovna Yegorova is a long-distance runner from Russia. She was born in Cheboksary. Her first medal in the marathon came at the 1990 European Athletics Championships, where she was the silver medallist.
Nebiat Habtemariam Measho is an Eritrean long-distance runner who specializes in the marathon. She was the first woman to represent Eritrea at the Olympics. Earlier in her career, she ran the 5000 metres and cross-country running. She is a three-time participant at the Summer Olympics. She has a marathon best of 2:32:04 hours set at the 2008 Hamburg Marathon, where she was seventh.
Alisa Harvey is a middle distance runner from the United States. She set her personal best in the women's 1,500 meters 4:08.32 on June 26, 1992, at the US Olympic Trials in New Orleans and in the 800 meters 1:59.72 in 1995. She was ranked in the U.S. top ten in the 1500 meters 8 years in a row from 1986 to 1993, achieving number 1 in 1993. After taking 1994 off for maternity, she returned to the list in 1998 and 1999. She also made the U.S. list in the 800 metres six times between 1988 and 1996. In 1998 she became the 24th American woman to break 4:30 for a mile. She is still an active masters competitor, holding several world records and pursuing more as she moves into a new age division.
Constantina Diță, is a Romanian long-distance runner, who specializes mainly in the half marathon and marathon. She was the marathon gold medallist at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, having previously won a bronze medal at the 2005 World Championships in Athletics. She also represented her country at the Olympics in 2000 and 2004.
Elsa Marisa Branco BarrosComM, known as Marisa Barros, is a Portuguese long-distance runner who specialises in marathon running. Her personal best for the distance is 2:25:04 hours.
Silvana Cruciata is a former Italian middle- and long-distance runner. She represented Italy at the 1976 Montreal Olympics and shared medals with the Italian women's teams at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships. Her best of 18.084 km for the one hour run set in 1981 was a world record for over seventeen years.
Adriana Aparecida da Silva is a Brazilian long-distance runner who competes in half marathons and marathons. She has represented her country at World Championship-level both on the roads and in cross country. She won two gold medals in the marathon at the 2011 Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico and 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Nina Kathy Rillstone is a New Zealand long-distance and marathon runner. She is a national champion in both middle and long-distance running, and a national record holder for the half-marathon.
Sifan Hassan is a Dutch middle- and long-distance runner. She is most recognized for her versatility in running championship and world-leading performances in widely disparate distances. She completed an unprecedented triple at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, winning gold medals in both the 5,000 metres and 10,000 metres and a bronze medal for the 1,500 metres. Hassan is the only athlete in Olympic history to win medals across a middle-distance event and both long-distance races in a single Games. She is only the second of three women to complete an Olympic distance double. At the Paris 2024 Olympics, Hassan secured a bronze medal in both the women's 5,000 m and 10,000 m events and gold in the women's marathon, becoming the only woman to win the Olympic gold medal in the 5,000 metres, 10,000 metres and Marathon races.
The marathon at the Summer Olympics is the only road running event held at the multi-sport event. The men's marathon has been present on the Olympic athletics programme since the first modern Olympics in 1896. Nearly ninety years later, the women's event was added to the programme at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles.
Racewalking events at the Summer Olympics have been contested over a variety of distances at the multi-sport event. There were three race walking events in the 2020 Summer Olympics: a men's and a women's 20 kilometres race walk, and a men's 50 kilometres race walk. The races were held in a final-only format.
Ahn Seul-ki is a South Korean long-distance runner who competes in the marathon. She represented her country at the 2016 Summer Olympics. Her personal best for the distance is 2:32:15 hours.
Cornelia Marina "Lia" Melis is a long-distance runner who competed for Aruba at the 1988 Summer Olympics and the 1992 Summer Olympics, and at the 1987 World Championships in Athletics and 1991 World Championships in Athletics.
The National Black Marathoners' Association (NBMA) is a not-for-profit runners' organization. The executive director and co-founder is Anthony (Tony) Reed, the first Black person in the world to run marathons on all seven continents in 2007. It was formed in 2004 and held its first Annual Summit at the 2005 Lewis and Clark Marathon in St. Charles, Missouri. The organization offers college scholarships to high school distance runners. In 2013, it recognized the accomplishments of African American distance runners through its National Black Distance Running Hall of Fame and Achievement Awards Events. The organization is open to everyone, regardless of their running or walking ability or distance.
