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[]

The Criteria which must be satisfied for ratification 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,^[1] with the sole exception of the mixed-sex 4 × 400 m relay, introduced by World Athletics in 2017.^[2]
• 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.
• 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[]

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 very fastest times to become champions in their own right.

In the pole vault record bonuses create an incentive for an athlete capable of smashing a record 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.^[3] Some commentators have complained that neither athlete ever posted as high a mark as they were capable of.^[4] 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[]

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,^[5] and has, thus far, only affected the men's and women's pole vault, and women's 2,000 m. 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 four consecutive records set indoors, most recently by Armand Duplantis in 2020 with a 6.18 m mark. Also 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[]

  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[]

Event	Perf.	W	N	Average Speed		Athlete(s)	Nat.	Date	Meeting	Location	Ctry.	R	V	P
				mph	km/h
100 m	9.58	+0.9		23.35	37.58	Usain Bolt	JAM	16 Aug 2009	World Championships	Berlin	GER	[6]	​	P
200 m	19.19	−0.3		23.31	37.52	Usain Bolt	JAM	20 Aug 2009	World Championships	Berlin	GER	[6]	​	P
400 m	43.03			20.79	33.47	Wayde van Niekerk	RSA	14 Aug 2016	Olympic Games	Rio de Janeiro	BRA	[7]	​	P
800 m	1:40.91			17.734	28.540	David Rudisha	KEN	9 Aug 2012	Olympic Games	London	GBR	[8]	​	P
1000 m	2:11.96			16.952	27.281	Noah Ngeny	KEN	5 Sep 1999	Rieti Meeting	Rieti	ITA		​	P
1500 m	3:26.00			16.2884	26.2136	Hicham El Guerrouj	MAR	14 Jul 1998	Golden Gala	Rome	ITA		​	P
Mile	3:43.13			16.1341	25.9653	Hicham El Guerrouj	MAR	7 Jul 1999	Golden Gala	Rome	ITA		​	P
2000 m	4:44.79			15.7094	25.2818	Hicham El Guerrouj	MAR	7 Sep 1999	ISTAF	Berlin	GER		​
3000 m	7:20.67			15.2287	24.5081	Daniel Komen	KEN	1 Sep 1996	Rieti Meeting	Rieti	ITA		​	P
5000 m	12:35.36			14.8070	23.8296	Joshua Cheptegei	UGA	14 Aug 2020	Herculis	Monaco	MON	[9]	​	P
5 km (road)	12:51.00			14.51	23.35	Joshua Cheptegei	UGA	16 Feb 2020	Monaco Run 5 km	Monaco	MON	[10]	​	P
10,000 m	26:11.00			14.2389	22.9153	Joshua Cheptegei	UGA	7 Oct 2020		Valencia	ESP	[11]	​	P
10 km (road)	26:24.00			14.12	22.73	Rhonex Kipruto	KEN	12 Jan 2020	10K Valencia Ibercaja	Valencia	ESP	[12]	​	P
Half marathon	57:32.00			13.671	22.002	Kibiwott Kandie	KEN	6 Dec 2020	Valencia Marathon	Valencia	ESP	[13]	​	P
One hour (track)	21,330 m			13.254	21.330	Mo Farah	GBR	4 Sep 2020	Diamond League	Brussels	BEL	[14]	​	P
Marathon[a]	2:01:39			12.932	20.811	Eliud Kipchoge	KEN	16 Sep 2018	Berlin Marathon	Berlin	GER	[15]		P
	1:59:40.2		[b]	13.136	21.156	Eliud Kipchoge	KEN	12 Oct 2019	Ineos 1:59 Challenge	Vienna	AUT	[16]	​
100 km (road)	6:09:14.00			10.0972	16.2499		JPN	24 Jun 2018	Lake Saroma Ultramarathon	Yūbetsu	JPN	[17]
110 m hurdles	12.80	+0.3		19.22	30.94	Aries Merritt	USA	7 Sep 2012	Memorial Van Damme	Brussels	BEL	[18]	​	P
400 m hurdles	46.70			19.160	30.835	Karsten Warholm	NOR	1 Jul 2021	Bislett Games	Oslo	NOR	[19]		P
	45.94			19.477	31.345	Karsten Warholm	NOR	3 Aug 2021	Olympic Games	Tokyo	JPN	[20]	​
3000 m steeplechase	7:53.63			14.1689	22.8026	Saif Saaeed Shaheen	QAT	3 Sep 2004	Memorial Van Damme	Brussels	BEL		​	P
	7:53.17		X	14.1827	22.8248	Brahim Boulami	MAR	16 Aug 2002	Weltklasse Zürich	Zürich	SUI
High jump	2.45 m					Javier Sotomayor	CUB	27 Jul 1993	Gran Premio Diputación	Salamanca	ESP		​	P
Pole vault	6.18 m		i			Armand Duplantis	SWE	15 Feb 2020	Glasgow Indoor Grand Prix	Glasgow	GBR	[21]	​	P
Long jump	8.95 m	+0.3				Mike Powell	USA	30 Aug 1991	World Championships	Tokyo	JPN		​	P
Triple jump	18.29 m	+1.3				Jonathan Edwards	GBR	7 Aug 1995	World Championships	Gothenburg	SWE	[22]	​	P
Shot put	23.37 m					Ryan Crouser	USA	18 June 2021	United States Olympic Trials	Eugene	USA	[23]		P
Discus throw	74.08 m					Jürgen Schult	GDR	6 Jun 1986		Neubrandenburg	GDR		​	P
Hammer throw	86.74 m					Yuriy Sedykh	URS	30 Aug 1986	European Championships	Stuttgart	FRG		​	P
Javelin throw	98.48 m		[c]			Jan Železný	CZE	25 May 1996		Jena	GER		​	P
Decathlon	9126 pts		[d]			Kevin Mayer	FRA	16 Sep 2018	Décastar	Talence	FRA	[24]	​	P
20,000 m walk (track)	1:17:25.60		[e]	9.6304	15.4985	Bernardo Segura	MEX	7 May 1994		Bergen	NOR
20 km walk (road)	1:16:36.00			9.7343	15.6658	Yusuke Suzuki	JPN	15 Mar 2015	Asian Race Walking Championships	Nomi	JPN	[25]		P
2 hours walk (track)	29,572 m		+	9.1876	14.7860	Maurizio Damilano	ITA	3 Oct 1992		Cuneo	ITA
30,000 m walk (track)	2:01:44.10			9.1878	14.7862	Maurizio Damilano	ITA	3 Oct 1992		Cuneo	ITA
50,000 m walk (track)	3:35:27.20			8.6522	13.9243	Yohann Diniz	FRA	12 Mar 2011		Reims	FRA	[26]
50 km walk (road)	3:32:33.00			8.7703	14.1143	Yohann Diniz	FRA	15 Aug 2014	European Championships	Zürich	SUI	[27]	​	P
4×100 m relay	36.84			24.2882	39.0879	Nesta Carter Michael Frater Yohan Blake Usain Bolt	JAM	11 Aug 2012	Olympic Games	London	GBR	[28]	​	P
4×200 m relay	1:18.63			22.7592	36.6272	Nickel Ashmeade Warren Weir Jermaine Brown Yohan Blake	JAM	24 May 2014	World Relays	Nassau	BAH	[29]	​	P
4×400 m relay	2:54.29			20.5354	33.0484	Andrew Valmon Quincy Watts Butch Reynolds Michael Johnson	USA	22 Aug 1993	World Championships	Stuttgart	GER	[f] [30]	​	P
4×800 m relay	7:02.43			16.9453	27.2708	Joseph Mutua William Yiampoy Ismael Kombich Wilfred Bungei	KEN	25 Aug 2006	Memorial Van Damme	Brussels	BEL		​
Distance medley relay	9:15.50		[g]	16.1076	25.9226	Kyle Merber Brandon Johnson Ben Blankenship	USA	3 May 2015	World Relays	Nassau	BAH	[31]
4×1500 m relay	14:22.22			15.5664	25.0516	Collins Cheboi Silas Kiplagat James Kiplagat Magut Asbel Kiprop	KEN	25 May 2014	World Relays	Nassau	BAH	[32]	​
Road relay 42.195 km	1:57:06.00		[h]	13.4341	21.6200	Josephat Ndambiri Martin Mathathi Daniel Muchunu Mwangi Mekubo Mogusu Onesmus Nyerre John Kariuki	KEN	23 Nov 2005	Chiba Ekiden	Chiba	JPN

Women[]

Event	Perf.	W	N	mph	km/h	Athlete(s)	Nat.	Date	Meeting	Location	Ctry.	R	V	P
100 m	10.49	0.0	[i]	21.32	34.32	Florence Griffith Joyner	USA	16 Jul 1988	US Olympic Trials	Indianapolis	USA		​	P
200 m	21.34	+1.3		20.97	33.74	Florence Griffith Joyner	USA	29 Sep 1988	Olympic Games	Seoul	KOR		​	P
400 m	47.60			18.798	30.252	Marita Koch	GDR	6 Oct 1985	World Cup	Canberra	AUS		​	P
800 m	1:53.28			15.798	25.424	Jarmila Kratochvílová	TCH	26 Jul 1983		Munich	FRG		​	P
1000 m	2:28.98			15.015	24.164	Svetlana Masterkova	RUS	23 Aug 1996	Memorial Van Damme	Brussels	BEL		​	P
1500 m	3:50.07			14.584	23.471	Genzebe Dibaba	ETH	17 Jul 2015	Herculis	Fontvieille	MON	[35]	​	P
Mile	4:12.33			14.267	22.961	Sifan Hassan	NED	12 Jul 2019	Herculis	Fontvieille	MON	[36]	​	P
2000 m	5:23.75		i	13.819	22.239	Genzebe Dibaba	ETH	7 Feb 2017	Míting Internacional de Catalunya	Sabadell	ESP	[37]	​
	5:21.56			13.913	22.391	Francine Niyonsaba	BDI	14 Sep 2021	Memorial Borisa Hanžekovića	Zagreb	CRO	[38]
3000 m	8:06.11			13.8051	22.2172	Wang Junxia	CHN	13 Sep 1993	Chinese National Games	Beijing	CHN			P
5000 m	14:06.62			13.2110	21.2610	Letesenbet Gidey	ETH	7 Oct 2020		Valencia	ESP	[11]	​	P
5 km (road)	14:44.00		Wo	12.65	20.36	Sifan Hassan	NED	17 Feb 2019	5 km Herculis	Monaco	MON	[39]	​	P
	14:43.00		Mx	12.67	20.39	Beatrice Chepkoech	KEN	14 Feb 2021	5 km Herculis	Monaco	MON	[40]		P
	14:41.00		Mx[j][k]			Beth Potter	GBR	3 Apr 2021	Podium 5k Sub-15.30	Barrowford	GBR	[41][42]		P
10,000 m	29:01.03			12.848	20.677	Letesenbet Gidey	ETH	8 Jun 2021	Ethiopian Olympic Trials	Hengelo	NED		[43]	P
10 km (road)	30:29.00		Wo	12.230	19.683	Asmae Leghzaoui	MAR	8 Jun 2002		New York City	USA			P
	29:43.00		Mx	12.546	20.191	Joyciline Jepkosgei	KEN	9 Sep 2017	Birell Prague Grand Prix	Prague	CZE	[44]
One hour (track)	18,930 m			11.763	18.930	Sifan Hassan	NED	4 Sep 2020	Diamond League	Brussels	BEL	[14]	​	P
Half marathon	1:04:31		Mx	12.192	19.621	Ababel Yeshaneh	ETH	21 Feb 2020	Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon	Ras Al Khaimah	UAE	[45]		P
	1:04:02		Mx	12.28	19.77	Ruth Chepng'etich	KEN	4 Apr 2021	Istanbul Half Marathon	Istanbul	TUR	[46]
	1:05:16		Wo	12.055	19.400	Peres Jepchirchir	KEN	17 Oct 2020	World Half Marathon Championships	Gdynia	POL	[47]	​
	1:04:28		Mx a	12.201	19.636	Brigid Kosgei	KEN	8 Sep 2019	Great North Run	Newcastle upon Tyne-South Shields	GBR	[48]
	1:03:44		Mx			Yalemzerf Yehualaw	ETH	29 Aug 2021	Antrim Coast Half Marathon	Antrim Coast	IRL	[49]	[50]
Marathon[a]	2:14:04.00		Mx	11.734	18.884	Brigid Kosgei	KEN	13 Oct 2019	Chicago Marathon	Chicago	USA	[51]	​	P
	2:17:01.00		Wo	11.481	18.477	Mary Jepkosgei Keitany	KEN	23 Apr 2017	London Marathon	London	GBR	[52]
100 km (road)	6:33:11.00		Mx	9.4822	15.2601	Tomoe Abe	JPN	25 Jun 2000	Lake Saroma Ultramarathon	Yūbetsu	JPN
100 m hurdles	12.20	+0.3				Kendra Harrison	USA	22 Jul 2016	London Grand Prix	London	GBR	[53]	​	P
400 m hurdles	51.90					Sydney McLaughlin	USA	27 Jun 2021	US Olympic Trials	Eugene	USA	[54]		P
	51.46					Sydney McLaughlin	USA	4 Aug 2021	Olympic Games	Tokyo	JPN	[55]
3000 m steeplechase	8:44.32					Beatrice Chepkoech	KEN	20 Jul 2018	Herculis	Fontvieille	MON	[56]		P
High jump	2.09 m					Stefka Kostadinova	BUL	30 Aug 1987	World Championships	Rome	ITA		​	P
Pole vault	5.06 m					Yelena Isinbayeva	RUS	28 Aug 2009	Weltklasse Zürich	Zürich	SUI		​	P
Long jump	7.52 m	+1.4				Galina Chistyakova	URS	11 Jun 1988	Brothers Znamensky Memorial	Leningrad	URS	[57]	​	P
Triple jump	15.50 m	+0.9				Inessa Kravets	UKR	10 Aug 1995	World Championships	Gothenburg	SWE		​	P
	15.67 m	+0.7				Yulimar Rojas	VEN	1 Aug 2021	Olympic Games	Tokyo	JPN			P
Shot put	22.63 m					Natalya Lisovskaya	URS	7 Jun 1987	Brothers Znamensky Memorial	Moscow	URS		​	P
Discus throw	76.80 m					Gabriele Reinsch	GDR	9 Jul 1988		Neubrandenburg	GDR		​	P
Hammer throw	82.98 m					Anita Włodarczyk	POL	28 Aug 2016	Skolimowska Memorial	Warsaw	POL	[58]	​	P
Javelin throw	72.28 m		[c]			Barbora Špotáková	CZE	13 Sep 2008	World Athletics Final	Stuttgart	GER	[59]	​	P
Heptathlon	7291 pts		[l][c]			Jackie Joyner-Kersee	USA	24 Sep 1988	Olympic Games	Seoul	KOR	[60]		P
Decathlon	8358 pts		[verification needed][m]			Austra Skujytė	LTU	15 Apr 2005	Audrey Walton Combined Events	Columbia	USA	[61]		P
10,000 m walk (track)	41:56.23					Nadezhda Ryashkina	URS	24 Jul 1990	Goodwill Games	Seattle	USA
	41:37.90					Gao Hongmiao	CHN	7 Apr 1994		Beijing	CHN
20,000 m walk (track)	1:26:52.30					Olimpiada Ivanova	RUS	6 Sep 2001		Brisbane	AUS	[62]
20 km walk (road)	1:23:49					Yang Jiayu	CHN	20 Mar 2021	Chinese Race Walking Championships	Huangshan	CHN	[63]		P
	1:23:39		[j]			Elena Lashmanova	RUS	9 Jun 2018	Russian Race Walking Championships	Cheboksary	RUS	[64]
50,000 m walk (track)	4:29:45.560		[n]			Katie Burnett	USA	13 Jul 2019	National Invitational Racewalks	San Diego	USA	[65]
50 km walk (road)	3:59:15					Liu Hong	CHN	9 Mar 2019	Chinese Race Walk Grand Prix	Huangshan	CHN	[66][67]		P
	3:57:08		[j]			Klavdiya Afanasyeva	RUS	15 Jun 2019	Russian Race Walking Championships	Cheboksary	RUS	[68]
4×100 m relay	40.82					Tianna Madison Allyson Felix Bianca Knight Carmelita Jeter	USA	10 Aug 2012	Olympic Games	London	GBR	[69]	​	P
4×200 m relay	1:27.46					LaTasha Jenkins LaTasha Colander-Richardson Nanceen Perry Marion Jones	USA	29 Apr 2000	Penn Relays	Philadelphia	USA
4×400 m relay	3:15.17					Tatyana Ledovskaya Olga Nazarova Mariya Pinigina Olga Bryzgina	URS	1 Oct 1988	Olympic Games	Seoul	KOR		​	P
4×800 m relay	7:50.17					Irina Podyalovskaya Nadezhda Olizarenko Lyubov Gurina Lyudmila Borisova	URS	5 Aug 1984		Moscow	URS
Distance medley relay	10:36.50		[o]			Treniere Moser Sanya Richards-Ross Ajee' Wilson Shannon Rowbury	USA	2 May 2015	World Relays	Nassau	BAH	[70]
4×1500 m relay	16:27.02					Colleen Quigley Elise Cranny Karissa Schweizer Shelby Houlihan	USA	31 Jul 2020	Bowerman TC Intrasquad Meet IV	Portland	USA	[71]	[1]
Road relay 42.195 km	2:11:41.00		Mx[p]			Jiang Bo Dong Yanmei Lan Lixin	CHN	28 Feb 1998		Beijing	CHN	[72]
	2:16:04.00		Wo			Birhane Adere Ayelech Worku Gete Wami Getenesh Urge	ETH	13 Apr 1996		Copenhagen	DEN	[72]

Mixed[]

Event	Perf.	N	Athlete(s)	Nat.	Date	Meeting	Location	Ctry.	R	V	P
4×400 m relay	3:09.34		Wilbert London Allyson Felix Courtney Okolo Michael Cherry	USA	29 September 2019	World Championships	Doha	QAT	[73]	​	P

Indoor world records[]

Men[]

Event	Perf.	N	Athlete(s)	Nat.	Date	Meeting	Location	Ctry.	R	V	P
50 m	5.55	X[q]	Ben Johnson	CAN	31 Jan 1987		Ottawa	CAN	[74]
	5.56	A	Donovan Bailey	CAN	9 Feb 1996	Bill Cosby Invitational	Reno	USA		​
	5.56	#[r]	Maurice Greene	USA	13 Feb 1999		Los Angeles	USA	[75]
60 m	6.34	A	Christian Coleman	USA	18 Feb 2018	USA Championships	Albuquerque	USA	[76]	​	P
200 m	19.92		Frankie Fredericks	NAM	18 Feb 1996	Meeting Pas de Calais	Liévin	FRA		​
400 m	44.57		Kerron Clement	USA	12 Mar 2005	NCAA Men's Division I Indoor Championships	Fayetteville	USA
	44.52	#[r]	Michael Norman	USA	10 Mar 2018	NCAA Division I Championships	College Station	USA	[77]	​
800 m	1:42.67		Wilson Kipketer	DEN	9 Mar 1997	World Championships	Paris	FRA		​
1000 m	2:14.20		Ayanleh Souleiman	DJI	17 Feb 2016	Globen Galan	Stockholm	SWE	[78]	​
1500 m	3:31.04		Samuel Tefera	ETH	16 Feb 2019	Birmingham Indoor Grand Prix	Birmingham	GBR	[79]	​
Mile	3:47.01		Yomif Kejelcha	ETH	3 March 2019	Bruce Lehane Invitational	Boston	USA	[80]	​
3000 m	7:24.90		Daniel Komen	KEN	6 Feb 1998		Budapest	HUN
5000 m	12:49.60		Kenenisa Bekele	ETH	20 Feb 2004	Aviva Indoor Grand Prix	Birmingham	GBR
50 m hurdles	6.25		Mark McKoy	CAN	5 Mar 1986		Kobe	JPN
60 m hurdles	7.29		Grant Holloway	USA	24 Feb 2021	World Athletics Indoor Tour	Madrid	ESP	[81]	​	P
High jump	2.43 m		Javier Sotomayor	CUB	4 Mar 1989	World Championships	Budapest	HUN		​	P
Pole vault	6.18 m		Armand Duplantis	SWE	15 Feb 2020	Glasgow Indoor Grand Prix	Glasgow	GBR	[21]	​	P
Long jump	8.79 m		Carl Lewis	USA	27 Jan 1984	Millrose Games	New York City	USA		​
Triple jump	17.92 m	[s]	Teddy Tamgho	FRA	6 Mar 2011	European Championships	Paris	FRA	[82][83]	​
	18.07 m		Hugues Fabrice Zango	BUR	16 Jan 2021		Aubière	FRA	[84]	​
Shot put	22.66 m		Randy Barnes	USA	20 Jan 1989	Sunkist Invitational	Los Angeles	USA		​
	22.82 m		Ryan Crouser	USA	24 Jan 2021	American Track League	Fayetteville	USA	[85]	​
Heptathlon	6645 pts	[t]	Ashton Eaton	USA	10 Mar 2012	World Championships	Istanbul	TUR	[86]
5000 m walk	18:07.08		Mikhail Shchennikov	RUS	14 Feb 1995	Russian Winter Meeting	Moscow	RUS
4×200 m relay	1:22.11		Linford Christie Darren Braithwaite Ade Mafe John Regis	GBR	3 Mar 1991		Glasgow	GBR
4 × 400 m relay	3:01.51	[u]	Amere Lattin Obi Igbokwe Kahmari Montgomery	USA	9 Feb 2019	Clemson's Tiger Paw Invitational	Clemson	USA	[87]
	3:00.77	[v] [w]	Rai Benjamin Michael Norman	USA  ATG  USA  USA	10 Mar 2018	NCAA Division I Championships	College Station	USA	[88]	​
	3:01.39	#[r][x]	Ilolo Izu Robert Grant	USA	10 Mar 2018	NCAA Division I Championships	College Station	USA	[77]
	3:01.43	[y] [z]	Grant Holloway Benjamin Lobo Vedel	NGR  USA  JAM  DEN	10 Mar 2018	NCAA Division I Championships	College Station	USA	[77]
4 × 800 m relay	7:11.30	[aa]	Kyle Merber Chris Giesting	USA	25 Feb 2018	BU Last Chance Meet	Boston	USA	[89]

Women[]

Event	Perf.	N	Athlete(s)	Nat.	Date	Meeting	Location	Ctry.	R	V	P
50 m	5.96	+	Irina Privalova	RUS	9 Feb 1995		Madrid	ESP
60 m	6.92		Irina Privalova	RUS	11 Feb 1993		Madrid	ESP
	6.92		Irina Privalova	RUS	9 Feb 1995		Madrid	ESP
200 m	21.87		Merlene Ottey	JAM	13 Feb 1993	Meeting Pas de Calais	Liévin	FRA		​
400 m	49.59		Jarmila Kratochvílová	TCH	7 Mar 1982		Milan	ITA		​
800 m	1:55.82		Jolanda Čeplak	SLO	3 Mar 2002	European Championships	Vienna	AUT		​
1000 m	2:30.94		Maria Mutola	MOZ	25 Feb 1999	GE Galan	Stockholm	SWE
1500 m	3:53.09		Gudaf Tsegay	ETH	9 Feb 2021	Meeting Hauts-de-France Pas-de-Calais	Liévin	FRA	[90]	​
Mile	4:13.31		Genzebe Dibaba	ETH	17 Feb 2016	Globen Galan	Stockholm	SWE	[78]	​
3000 m	8:16.60		Genzebe Dibaba	ETH	6 Feb 2014	XL Galan	Stockholm	SWE	[91]	​
5000 m	14:18.86		Genzebe Dibaba	ETH	19 Feb 2015	XL Galan	Stockholm	SWE	[92]	​
50 m hurdles	6.58		Cornelia Oschkenat	GDR	20 Feb 1988		East Berlin	GDR
60 m hurdles	7.68		Susanna Kallur	SWE	10 Feb 2008	BW-Bank Meeting	Karlsruhe	GER		​	P
	7.68	X[ab]	Lyudmila Narozhilenko	RUS	2 Mar 1993		San Sebastián	ESP
	7.66	X	Lyudmila Narozhilenko	RUS	4 Mar 1993		Seville	ESP
	7.63	X	Lyudmila Narozhilenko	RUS	4 Mar 1993		Seville	ESP
High jump	2.08 m		Kajsa Bergqvist	SWE	4 Feb 2006	Hochsprung mit Musik	Arnstadt	GER		​
Pole vault	5.03 m	#[ac]	Jenn Suhr	USA	30 Jan 2016	Golden Eagle Multi and Invitational	Brockport	USA	[93][94]		P
	5.02 m	A	Jenn Suhr	USA	2 Mar 2013	USA Championships	Albuquerque	USA	[95]		P
Long jump	7.37 m		Heike Drechsler	GDR	13 Feb 1988		Vienna	AUT
Triple jump	15.43 m		Yulimar Rojas	VEN	21 Feb 2020	Villa de Madrid Indoor Meeting	Madrid	ESP	[96]	​
Shot put	22.50 m		Helena Fibingerová	TCH	19 Feb 1977		Jablonec	TCH
Pentathlon	5013 pts	[ad]	Nataliya Dobrynska	UKR	9 Mar 2012	World Indoor Championships	Istanbul	TUR	[97]
3000 m walk	11:40.33		Claudia Iovan	ROU	30 Jan 1999		Bucharest	ROU
	11:35.34	#[ae]	Gillian O'Sullivan	IRL	15 Feb 2003		Belfast	GBR
4×200 m relay	1:32.41		Yekaterina Kondratyeva Irina Khabarova Yuliya Pechonkina Yuliya Gushchina	RUS	29 Jan 2005	Aviva International Match	Glasgow	GBR
4×400 m relay	3:23.37		Olesya Krasnomovets Olga Zaytseva Olga Kotlyarova Yuliya Gushchina	RUS	28 Jan 2006	Aviva International Match	Glasgow	GBR
4 × 800 m relay	8:05.89		Chrishuna Williams Raevyn Rogers Charlene Lipsey Ajeé Wilson	USA	3 Feb 2018	Millrose Games	New York City	USA	[98]

Best performances in non-WA World Record events[]

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.^[99][100] Under conventional football timing on a turf field in 2017, Christian Coleman reportedly ran a 4.12.^[101]

Outdoor events[]

Men[]

Event	Perf.	W	N	Athlete(s)	Nat.	Date	Meeting	Location	Ctry.	R	V	P
50 m	5.40	+0.2	+[af]	Bruny Surin	CAN	22 Aug 1999	World Championships	Seville	ESP	[102]
60 m	6.25		+[ag]							[102][103]
	6.31	+0.9	+[ah]	Usain Bolt	JAM	16 Aug 2009	World Championships	Berlin	GER	[104]
100 y	9.00		h	Ivory Crockett	USA	11 May 1974		Knoxville	USA	[105]
				Houston McTear	USA	9 May 1975		Winter Park	USA	[105]
	9.07	−0.5	+	Asafa Powell	JAM	27 May 2010	Golden Spike Ostrava	Ostrava	CZE	[106]
150 m	14.44	−0.3	+	Usain Bolt	JAM	20 Aug 2009	World Championships	Berlin	GER	[107]
150 m straight	14.35	+1.1		Usain Bolt	JAM	17 May 2009	Manchester City Games	Manchester	GBR	[108]
200 m straight	19.41	−0.4		Tyson Gay	USA	16 May 2010	Manchester City Games	Manchester	GBR	[109][110]
220 y (straight)	19.50	+1.9	h	Tommie Smith	USA	7 May 1966	Video on YouTube	San Jose	USA	[111]
	19.54	−0.4		Tyson Gay	USA	16 May 2010	Manchester City Games	Manchester	GBR	[112]
300 m	30.81			Wayde van Niekerk	RSA	28 Jun 2017	Golden Spike Ostrava	Ostrava	CZE	[113]
440 y	44.50			John Smith	USA	26 Jun 1971	USA Championships	Eugene	USA	[114][115][116]
500 m	57.69		[ai]	David Rudisha	KEN	10 Sep 2016	Great North CityGames	Newcastle	GBR	[117]
600 m	1:12.81			Johnny Gray	USA	24 May 1986		Santa Monica	USA
Two miles	7:58.61			Daniel Komen	KEN	19 Jul 1997		Hechtel-Eksel	BEL			P
8 km (road)	21:11.00		+	Rhonex Kipruto	KEN	12 Jan 2020	10K Valencia Ibercaja	Valencia	ESP	[118]	​
15 km (road)	41:05.00			Joshua Cheptegei	UGA	18 Nov 2018	Zevenheuvelenloop	Nijmegen	NED	[119]
	41:05.00		+	Geoffrey Kamworor	KEN	15 Sep 2019	Copenhagen Half Marathon	Copenhagen	DEN	[120]
10 miles (road)	44:24.00		[aj]	Haile Gebrselassie	ETH	4 Sep 2005	Tilburg Ten Miles	Tilburg	NED
20,000 m (track)	56:20.02		+	Bashir Abdi	BEL	4 Sep 2020	Diamond League	Brussels	BEL	[14]	​
20 km (road)	55:00.00		+	Geoffrey Kamworor	KEN	15 Sep 2019	Copenhagen Half Marathon	Copenhagen	DEN	[121]
25,000 m (track)	1:12:25.40		+	Moses Mosop	KEN	3 Jun 2011	Prefontaine Classic	Eugene	USA	[122]
25K run (road)	1:11:18.00			Dennis Kipruto Kimetto	KEN	6 May 2012	BIG 25	Berlin	GER	[123][124]
30,000 m (track)	1:26:47.40			Moses Mosop	KEN	3 Jun 2011	Prefontaine Classic	Eugene	USA	[122][125]
30 km (road)	1:26:45		+	Eliud Kipchoge	KEN	16 Sep 2018	Berlin Marathon	Berlin	GER	[126]
35 km (road)	1:41:47.00		+	Dennis Kipruto Kimetto	KEN	28 Sep 2014	Berlin Marathon	Berlin	GER	[127]
40 km (road)	1:55:32.00		+	Eliud Kipchoge	KEN	16 Sep 2018	Berlin Marathon	Berlin	GER	[128]
50 km (road)	2:43:38.00		+		RSA	12 Apr 1988		Cape Town	RSA	[129]
90 km (road)	5:20:49.00			Leonid Shvetsov	RUS	2007	Comrades Marathon	Durban	RSA
100,000 m (track)	6:10:20.00			Don Ritchie	GBR	28 Oct 1978		London	GBR
150 km (road)	10:27:48.00		+		LTU	24 Apr 2021	Centurion Running Track 100 Mile	Ashford	UK	[130]
100 miles (road)	11:14:56.00		+		LTU	24 Apr 2021	Centurion Running Track 100 Mile	Ashford	UK	[131]
12-hour run (road)	170,309 m				LTU	24 Apr 2021	Centurion Running Track 100 Mile	Ashford	UK	[132]
24-hour run	309,400 m				LTU	29 Aug 2021	UltraPark Weekend	Pabianice	POL
2000 m steeplechase	5:10.68			Mahiedine Mekhissi-Benabbad	FRA	30 Jun 2010	Alma Athlé Tour	Reims	FRA	[133]
2500 m steeplechase	7:34.4		h	George Orton	CAN	15 Jul 1900	Olympic Games	Paris	FRA
2590 m steeplechase	7:39.6		h	James Lightbody	USA	29 Aug 1904	Olympic Games	St. Louis	USA
3460 m steeplechase	10:33.4		h[ak]	Volmari Iso-Hollo	FIN	1 Aug 1932	Olympic Games	Los Angeles	USA
4000 m steeplechase	12:58.4		h	John Rimmer	GBR	16 Jul 1900	Olympic Games	Paris	FRA
200 m hurdles	22.55			Laurent Ottoz	ITA	31 May 1995		Milan	ITA	[134]
200 m hurdles straight	21.90	+1.4	h[al]	Don Styron	USA	2 Apr 1960		Baton Rouge	USA	[135]
	22.10	+2.0		Andy Turner	GBR	15 May 2011	Manchester City Games	Manchester	GBR	[136]
	22.10	+1.8		Louis Jacobus van Zyl	RSA	9 May 2015	Manchester City Games	Manchester	GBR	[137]
220 y hurdles straight	21.90	+1.4	h	Don Styron	USA	2 Apr 1960		Baton Rouge	USA	[135][138]
300 m hurdles	33.26			Karsten Warholm	NOR	4 Jun 2021	Night of Highlights	Oslo	NOR	[139]	​	P
440 y hurdles	48.70			Jim Bolding	USA	25 Jul 1974		Turin	ITA	[140]
Standing long jump	12 ft 3 in			Byron Jones	USA	23 Feb 2015	NFL scouting combine	Indianapolis	USA	[141]
Standing triple jump	10.95 m				USA	31 Oct 2011
Weight throw	25.41 m			Lance Deal	USA	20 Feb 1993		Azusa	USA
Icosathlon	14571 pts			Joseph Detmer	USA	25 Sep 2010	World Championships	Lynchburg	USA	[142]
1500 m walk (track)	5:12.00		+		LTU	12 May 1990		Vilnius	LTU	[143]
Mile walk (track)	5:31.08			Tom Bosworth	GBR	9 Jul 2017	London Grand Prix	London	GBR	[144]
3000 m walk (track)	10:47.11			Giovanni De Benedictis	ITA	19 May 1990		San Giovanni Valdarno	ITA
5000 m walk (track)	18:05.49			Hatem Ghoula	TUN	1 May 1997		Tunis	TUN
5 km walk (road)	18:21			Robert Korzeniowski	POL	15 Sep 1990		Bad Salzdetfurth	GER	[145]
10,000 m walk (track)	37:25.21			Eiki Takahashi	JPN	14 Nov 2020	Juntendo University Long Distance meeting	Inzai	JPN	[146]
10 km walk (road)	37:11.00			Roman Rasskazov	RUS	28 May 2000		Saransk	RUS	[147]
30 km walk (road)	2:05:06.00			Nathan Deakes	AUS	27 Aug 2006	Australian Race Walking Championships	Hobart	AUS	[145]
35 km walk (road)	2:21:31.00			Vladimir Kanaykin	RUS	19 Feb 2006	Russian Winter Race Walking Championships	Adler	RUS	[148]
50 mile walk (road)	7:44:47.20		[am]	Shaul Ladany	ISR	1972		New Jersey	USA	[149]
4×110 y relay	38.60		A[an]	Earl McCullouch O. J. Simpson Lennox Miller (JAM)		17 Jun 1967	NCAA Men's Division I Indoor Championships	Provo	USA	[150]
Swedish relay	1:46.59		[ao]	Christopher Williams Usain Bolt Davian Clarke Jermaine Gonzales	JAM	25 Jul 2006	DN Galan	Stockholm	SWE	[151]
Sprint medley relay (2-2-4-8)	3:10.76			Carl Lewis Johnny Gray	USA	6 Apr 1985		Tempe	USA
4 × mile relay	15:49.08			Eamonn Coghlan Ray Flynn Frank O'Mara Marcus O'Sullivan	IRL	17 Aug 1985		Dublin	IRL	[152]
4×110m shuttle hurdles relay	52.94		[ap]	Jason Richardson Aleec Harris Aries Merritt David Oliver	USA	25 Apr 2015	Drake Relays	Des Moines	USA	[153]

Women[]

Event	Perf.	W	N	Athlete(s)	Nat.	Date	Meeting	Location	Ctry.	R
50 m	5.93	−0.1	+	Marion Jones	USA	22 Aug 1999	World Championships	Seville	ESP
60 m	6.85	−0.1	+	Marion Jones	USA	22 Aug 1999	World Championships	Seville	ESP
100 y	9.91	+1.1	+	Veronica Campbell-Brown	JAM	31 May 2011	Golden Spike Ostrava	Ostrava	CZE	[154]
150 m	16.10	+1.3	+	Florence Griffith Joyner	USA	29 Sep 1988	Olympic Games	Seoul	KOR
	16.41	+1.1		Brianna Rollins-McNeal	USA	20 Jul 2020	AP Ranch High-Performance Invitational	Fort Worth	USA	[155]
150 m straight	16.23	-0.7		Shaunae Miller-Uibo	BAH	20 May 2018	Adidas Boost Boston Games	Boston	USA	[156]
200 m straight	21.76	+0.5		Shaunae Miller-Uibo	BAH	4 Jun 2017	Boost Boston Games	Somerville	USA	[157]
300 m	34.14		+	Marita Koch	GDR	6 Oct 1985	World Cup	Canberra	AUS
	34.41			Shaunae Miller-Uibo	BAH	20 June 2019	Golden Spike Ostrava	Ostrava	CZE	[158]
500 m	1:05.90			Tatana Kocembova	TCH	2 Aug 1984		Ostrava	TCH
600 m	1:21.77			Caster Semenya	RSA	27 August 2017	ISTAF Berlin	Berlin	GER	[159]
Two miles	8:58.58			Meseret Defar	ETH	14 Sep 2007	Memorial Van Damme	Brussels	BEL
5 km (road)	14:32.00		+[aq]	Joyciline Jepkosgei	KEN	9 Sep 2017	Birell Prague Grand Prix	Prague	CZE	[160]
4 miles (road)	19:14.00			Viola Kibiwot	KEN	13 Oct 2013	4 Mile of Groningen	Groningen	NED	[161]
8 km (road)	24:30.00		+	Mary Keitany	KEN	18 Feb 2011	RAK Half Marathon	Ras al-Khaimah	UAE	[162]
12 km (road)	38:05.00				KEN	19 May 2019	FNB Cape Town 12 ONERUN	Cape Town	RSA	[163]
15 km (road)	44:20.00		Mx	Letesenbet Gidey	ETH	17 Nov 2019	Zevenheuvelenloop	Nijmegen	NED	[164]
	46:59.00		Wo +	Lornah Kiplagat	NED	14 Oct 2007	World Road Running Championships	Udine	ITA	[165]
10 miles (road)	50:05.00		+	Mary Keitany	KEN	18 Feb 2011	RAK Half Marathon	Ras al-Khaimah	UAE	[162]
	49:21.00		+ a	Brigid Kosgei	KEN	8 Sep 2019	Great North Run	Newcastle upon Tyne-South Shields, United Kingdom	GBR	[48]
20,000 m (track)	1:05:26.60			Tegla Loroupe	KEN	3 Sep 2000		Borgholzhausen	GER
20 km (road)	1:00:43		Mx +	Ruth Chepng'etich	KEN	4 Apr 2021	Istanbul Half Marathon	Istanbul	TUR	[166]
	1:02:57.00		Wo +	Lornah Kiplagat	NED	14 Oct 2007	World Road Running Championships	Udine	ITA	[165]
25,000 m (track)	1:27:05.84			Tegla Loroupe	KEN	21 Sep 2002		Mengerskirchen	GER
25K run (road)	1:19:33.00		Mx +	Brigid Kosgei	KEN	13 Oct 2019	Chicago Marathon	Chicago	USA	[167]
	1:19:43.00		+	Mary Jepkosgei Keitany	KEN	23 Apr 2017	London Marathon	London	GBR	[168]
30,000 m (track)	1:45:50.00			Tegla Loroupe	KEN	6 Jun 2003		Warstein	GER
30 km (road)	1:35:18.00		Mx +	Brigid Kosgei	KEN	13 Oct 2019	Chicago Marathon	Chicago	USA	[169]
	1:36:05.00		Wo +	Mary Jepkosgei Keitany	KEN	23 Apr 2017	London Marathon	London	GBR	[168]
35 km (road)	1:51:14.00		Mx +	Brigid Kosgei	KEN	13 Oct 2019	Chicago Marathon	Chicago	USA	[170]
	1:52:39.00		Wo +	Mary Jepkosgei Keitany	KEN	23 Apr 2017	London Marathon	London	GBR	[168]
40 km (road)	2:07:11.00		Mx +	Brigid Kosgei	KEN	13 Oct 2019	Chicago Marathon	Chicago	USA	[171]
	2:09:38.00		+	Mary Jepkosgei Keitany	KEN	23 Apr 2017	London Marathon	London	GBR	[168]
50 km (road)	2:59:54.00			Desiree Linden	USA	13 Apr 2021	Brooks Running 50km & Marathon	Dorena Lake	USA	[172]
24-hour run (road)	270,116 m			Camille Herron	USA	26–27 Oct 2019	IAU 24 Hour World Championship	Albi	FRA	[173]
2000 m steeplechase	5:52.80			Gesa Felicitas Krause	GER	1 Sep 2019	ISTAF	Berlin	GER	[174]
200 m hurdles (bend)	24.80	+0.4	h	Yadisleidy Pedroso	ITA	6 Apr 2013		Caserta	ITA	[175]
	25.60	−0.7	h	Patricia Girard	FRA	23 Aug 2001		Nantes	FRA	[176]
	25.79	−0.6		Lauren Wells	AUS	21 Jan 2017	AACT Combined Events Championships	Canberra	AUS	[177]
200 m hurdles (straight)	24.86	+0.1		Shiann Salmon	JAM	23 May 2021	Adidas Boost Boston Games	Boston	USA	[178]
300 m hurdles	38.16			Zuzana Hejnová	CZE	2 Aug 2013	Grand Prix of Cheb	Cheb	CZE	[179]
Tetradecathlon	10798 pts				FIN	8 Sep 2002		Turku	FIN	[180]
3000 m walk (track)	11:48.24			Ileana Salvador	ITA	29 Aug 1993		Padua	ITA	[181]
5000 m walk (track)	20:01.80			Eleonora Giorgi	ITA	18 May 2014	Italian Clubs League Meet	Misterbianco	ITA	[182]
5 km walk (road)	19:46			Kjersti Plätzer	NOR	27 Aug 2006	Internationaler Geher-Cup	Hildesheim	GER	[183]
10 km walk (road)	41:04.00			Yelena Nikolayeva	RUS	20 Apr 1996	Russian Championships	Sochi	RUS	[184]
30 km walk (road)	2:24:33.00			Paola Pérez	ECU	22 Oct 2017		Hauppauge	USA	[183]
35 km walk (road)	2:43:43.00			Eleonora Giorgi	ITA	26 Jan 2020	Italian 35 km Race Walking Championships	Grosseto	ITA	[183]
Sprint medley relay (1–1–2–4)	1:35.20		[ar]	Aaliyah Brown Kimberlyn Duncan Raevyn Rogers	USA	28 Apr 2018	Penn Relays	Philadelphia	USA	[185]
Swedish relay (1–2–3–4)	2:01.10		[as]	Marina Zhirova Yelena Ruzina Tatyana Alekseyeva	RUS	5 June 1993		Portsmouth	GBR
Sprint medley relay (2-2-4-8)	3:34.56		[at]	Sherri-Ann Brooks Rosemarie Whyte Kenia Sinclair	JAM	1 Apr 2009	Penn Relays	Philadelphia	USA
4 × mile relay	18:39.58				USA	5 May 1985		Eugene	USA
4×100 m hurdles relay	50.50			Brianna Rollins Dawn Harper-Nelson Queen Harrison Kristi Castlin	USA	24 Apr 2015	Drake Relays	Des Moines	USA

Indoor events[]

Men[]

Event	Perf.	N	Athlete(s)	Nat.	Date	Meeting	Location	Ctry.	R
30 m	3.81		Churandy Martina	NED	14 Nov 2008	Domino Day	Amsterdam	NED	[186]
40 y	4.12	[au]	Christian Coleman	USA	2 May 2017	Trial	Knoxville	USA
	5.22		Stanley Floyd	USA	22 Jan 1982		Los Angeles	USA
	5.15	X[q]	Ben Johnson	CAN	29 Jan 1988		Toronto	CAN
	5.00	h		USA	10 Jan 1970		Calgary	CAN
			Herb Washington	USA	2 Feb 1972		Toronto	CAN	[188]
			Mel Pender	USA	4 Mar 1972		Orlando	USA
					18 Mar 1972		Hamilton	CAN
			Herb Washington	USA	4 Feb 1973		Toronto	CAN
			Manfred Ommer	FRG	14 Mar 1975		Leverkusen	FRG
60 y	5.80	h	Herb Washington	USA	12 Feb 1972		East Lansing	USA	[188]
		hA	Mel Pender	USA	25 May 1973		Salt Lake City	USA
55 m	5.99	A	Obadele Thompson	BAR	22 Feb 1997		Colorado Springs	USA	[75]
	6.80	h	Mel Pender	USA	27 Feb 1965	Mason-Dixon Games	Louisville	USA
				USA	27 Feb 1965	Mason-Dixon Games	Louisville	USA
			Larry Highbaugh	USA	14 Feb 1970	Mason-Dixon Games	Louisville	USA
				USA	14 Feb 1970	Mason-Dixon Games	Louisville	USA
			Mel Pender	USA	13 Feb 1971	Mason-Dixon Games	Louisville	USA
				MAD	1 Jun 1973	Mason-Dixon Games	Louisville	USA
				USA	1 Jun 1973	Mason-Dixon Games	Louisville	USA
				USA	1 Jun 1973	Mason-Dixon Games	Louisville	USA
100 m	9.98		Usain Bolt	JAM	23 Aug 2014	Kamila Skolimowska Memorial	Warsaw	POL	[189][190][191]
150 m	14.99		Donovan Bailey	CAN	1 Jun 1997	Bailey–Johnson 150-metre race	Toronto	CAN	[192]
	29.27			USA	7 Feb 1981		Bloomington	USA
300 m	31.87		Noah Lyles	USA	4 Mar 2017	USA Championships	Albuquerque	USA	[193]
	53.90	hA	Larry James	USA	25 May 1973	ITA meet	Salt Lake City	USA	[194]
500 m	59.83	[av]	Abdalelah Haroun	QAT	17 Feb 2016	Globen Galan	Stockholm	SWE	[195]
600 y	1:06.93		Moitalel Mpoke	KEN	15 Feb 2020		Lubbock	USA	[196]
600 m	1:13.77		Donavan Brazier	USA	24 Feb 2019	USA Indoor Championships	Staten Island	USA	[197]
1000 y	2:04.39		Johnny Gray	USA	23 Feb 1986		San Diego	USA
2000 m	4:49.99		Kenenisa Bekele	ETH	17 Feb 2007	Aviva Indoor Grand Prix	Birmingham	GBR
Two miles	8:03.40		Mo Farah	GBR	21 Feb 2015	Birmingham Indoor Grand Prix	Birmingham	GBR	[198]
10,000 m	27:50.29		Mark Bett	KEN	10 Feb 2002	Indoor Flanders Meeting	Ghent	BEL	[199]
Marathon	2:19:01		Malcolm Richards	USA	17 Mar 2018	The Armory Indoor Marathon	New York City	USA	[200]
2000 m steeplechase	5:13.77		Paul Kipsiele Koech	KEN	13 Feb 2011	Indoor Flanders Meeting	Ghent	BEL	[201][202]
3000 m steeplechase	8:17.46			URS	21 Feb 1982		Moscow	URS	[199]
	5.88		Greg Foster	USA	17 Jan 1986		Los Angeles	USA
	6.82		Renaldo Nehemiah	USA	30 Jan 1982		Dallas	USA
55 m hurdles	6.89	[aw]	Renaldo Nehemiah	USA	20 Jan 1979		New York City	USA
110 m hurdles	13.34		Allen Johnson	USA	14 Feb 1995		Moscow	RUS	[199]
300 m hurdles	34.26	OT	Karsten Warholm	NOR	10 Feb 2018	Avoimet Pirkanmaan	Tampere	FIN	[203]
400 m hurdles	48.78		Félix Sánchez	DOM	18 Feb 2012	Meeting National Val-de-Reuil	Val-de-Reuil	FRA	[204][205]
Discus throw	69.51 m		Gerd Kanter	EST	22 Mar 2009	World Record Indoor Challenge	Växjö	SWE	[206]
Weight throw	25.86 m		Lance Deal	USA	4 Mar 1995		Atlanta	USA	[199]
Javelin throw	85.78 m		Matti Närhi	FIN	3 Mar 1996		Kajaani	FIN	[207]
3000 m walk	10:30.28		Tom Bosworth	GBR	25 Feb 2018	Glasgow Grand Prix	Glasgow	GBR	[208]
Two miles walk	11:54.50		Valdas Kazlauskas	URS	24 Feb 1990		Kaunas	URS	[199]
10,000 m walk	38:23.73		Wang Zhen	CHN	8 Feb 2015		Genoa	ITA
15,000 m walk	1:00:03.90		Valdas Kazlauskas	URS	24 Jan 1987		Kaunas	URS	[199]
20,000 m walk	1:20:40.00	OT	Ronald Weigel	GDR	27 Jan 1980		Senftenberg	GDR
Sprint medley relay	3:15.10	[ax]	Mark Everett James Trapp Kevin Little Butch Reynolds	USA	14 Mar 1993	World Indoor Championships	Toronto	CAN	[209]
Distance medley relay	9:19.42	[ay]	Cole Hocker Charlie Hunter Cooper Teare	USA  DOM  AUS  USA	29 Jan 2021	Razorback Invitational	Fayetteville	USA	[210]
4 × mile relay	16:03.68	[az]	(4:08.2) Henry Wynne (4:01.4) Brannon Kidder (3:56.8) Izaic Yorks (3:57.2)	USA	26 Jan 2019	Dr. Sander Columbia Challenge	New York City	USA	[211]
4×60y shuttle hurdles relay	27.6	A[ba]		USA	21 Feb 1975		Colorado Springs	USA	[212]

Women[]

Event	Perf.	N	Athlete(s)	Nat.	Date	Meeting	Location	Ctry.	R
	5.74	[bb]	Evelyn Ashford	USA	18 Feb 1983		San Diego	USA	[213]
60 y	6.54		Evelyn Ashford	USA	7 Feb 1982	USA Indoor Track and Field Championships	New York City	USA
			Jeanette Bolden	USA	21 Feb 1986		Los Angeles	USA
55 m	6.56		Gwen Torrence	USA	14 Mar 1987	NCAA	Oklahoma City	USA	[214]
100 y	10.15		Heike Drechsler	GDR	8 Feb 1987		Senftenberg	GDR	[215]
100 m	11.15		Marita Koch	GDR	12 Jan 1980		East Berlin	GDR
	32.63		Merlene Ottey	JAM	13 Mar 1982		Cedar Falls	USA
300 m	35.45		Irina Privalova	RUS	17 Jan 1993		Moscow	RUS
			Shaunae Miller-Uibo	BAH	3 Feb 2018	Millrose Games	New York City	USA	[98]
	1:00.61	A	Jearl Miles-Clark	USA	19 Feb 2000		Pocatello	USA
500 m	1:06.31		Olesya Krasnomovets	RUS	7 Jan 2006		Yekaterinburg	RUS
600 y	1:17.38		Delisa Walton	USA	13 Mar 1982		Cedar Falls	USA
600 m	1:23.44		Olga Kotlyarova	RUS	1 Feb 2004	Russian Winter Meeting	Moscow	RUS
1000 y	2:23.5		Joetta Clark	USA	9 Mar 1986		Gainesville	USA
2000 m	5:23.75		Genzebe Dibaba	ETH	7 Feb 2017	Míting Internacional de Catalunya	Sabadell	ESP	[37]
Two miles	9:00.48		Genzebe Dibaba	ETH	15 Feb 2014	Aviva Indoor Grand Prix	Birmingham	GBR	[216]
10,000 m	32:44.97			RUS	23 Dec 1995		Saint Petersburg	RUS
Marathon	2:40:55		Lindsey Scherf	USA	17 Mar 2018	The Armory Indoor Marathon	New York City	USA	[200]
55 m hurdles	7.30	A, [bc]	Tiffany Lott-Hogan	USA	22 Feb 1997		Colorado Springs	USA
100 m hurdles	12.64		Ludmila Engquist	SWE	10 Feb 1997		Tampere	FIN
300 m hurdles	40.09	OT		NOR	5 Feb 2011	Finland-Sweden-Norway Indoor Match	Tampere	FIN	[217][218]
400 m hurdles	56.41		Sheena Tosta	USA	12 Feb 2011	Meeting National	Val-de-Reuil	FRA	[219][220][221]
2000 m steeplechase	5:47.79		Maruša Mišmaš	SLO	19 Feb 2020	Meeting Hauts de France Pas de Calais	Liévin	FRA	[222]
3000 m steeplechase	9:07.00		Tatyana Petrova	RUS	17 Feb 2006		Moscow	RUS
	9:54.20	[bd]		CZE	11 Feb 2010	Botnia Games	Korsholm	FIN	[223][224]
Discus throw	64.03 m	Mx	Shanice Craft	GER	14 Feb 2020	ISTAF Indoor	Berlin	GER	[225]
Weight throw	25.60 m	A	Gwen Berry	USA	4 Mar 2017	USA Championships	Albuquerque	USA	[193]
Javelin throw	57.75 m	[be]	Anna Wessman	SWE	10 Mar 2012	World Indoor Throwing	Växjö	SWE	[226]
	61.29 m	[bf]	Taina Uppa	FIN	28 Feb 1999		Korsholm	FIN	[227]
Mile walk	6:16.72		Sada Eidikytė	URS	24 Feb 1990		Kaunas	URS	[228]
Two miles walk	13:11.88		Ileana Salvador	ITA	14 Feb 1990		Genoa	ITA	[228]
5000 m walk	20:10.30		Vera Sokolova	RUS	30 Dec 2010	Mordovian Indoor Championships	Saransk	RUS	[229]
10,000 m walk	43:54.63		Yelena Ginko	BLR	22 Feb 2008	Belarusian Championships	Mogilev	BLR
4×100 m relay	44.39		Anne Möllinger Cathleen Tschirch Marion Wagner	GER	31 Jan 2010	BW-Bank Meeting	Karlsruhe	GER	[230]
Sprint medley relay	3:45.90	[bg]	Joetta Clark-Diggs Wendy Vereen Kim Batten Jearl Miles Clark	USA	14 Mar 1993	World Indoor Championships	Toronto	CAN	[231]
Distance medley relay	10:40.31	[bh]	Emma Coburn Sydney McLaughlin Brenda Martinez Jenny Simpson	USA	28 Jan 2017	New Balance Indoor Grand Prix	Boston	USA	[232]

Running records by race distance[]

Notes[]

Javelin specifications[]

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.^[233]

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	[234]
	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[bi] (javelin), 2:12.56 (800 m)

Other Notes[]

See also[]

• List of Olympic records in athletics
• Ultramarathon records

References[]

External links[]

• Records overview – IAAF
• World Record progression in athletics – athletix.org
• Track and Field all-time performances
• Masters Track & Field World Records