World Records—Men
World Records are those officially ratified by the IAAF. We have also listed the statistically best-acceptable marks in other non-ratified events that are “frequently” contested (+).
If the ratified WR is altitude-aided—i.e., made at an altitude over 1000 meters in an event where the thinner air has a positive effect—we sub-list the unofficial best.
(A) = altitude over 1000 meters
i = indoors
m = meters
M = miles
p = mark pending ratification
(r) = road
y = yards
| Track Events |
| 100 |
9.58 |
Usain Bolt (Jamaica) |
Berlin, Germany |
8/16/09 |
| 150+ |
14.35 |
Usain Bolt (Jamaica) |
Manchester, England |
5/17/09 |
| 200 |
19.19 |
Usain Bolt (Jamaica) |
Berlin, Germany |
8/20/09 |
| 300+ |
30.85(A) |
Michael Johnson (US) |
Pretoria, South Africa |
3/24/00 |
|
[low-alt WR+ 30.97 Usain Bolt (Jamaica) Ostrava, Czech Republic 5/27/10] |
| 400 |
43.18 |
Michael Johnson (US) |
Seville, Spain |
8/26/99 |
| 600+ |
1:12.81 |
Johnny Gray (US) |
Santa Monica, California |
5/24/86 |
800
|
1:40.91 |
David Rudisha (Kenya) |
London, England |
8/09/12 |
| 1000 |
2:11.96 |
Noah Ngeny (Kenya) |
Rieti, Italy |
9/05/99 |
| 1500 |
3:26.00 |
Hicham El Guerrouj (Morocco) |
Rome, Italy |
7/14/98 |
| Mile |
3:43.13 |
Hicham El Guerrouj (Morocco) |
Rome, Italy |
7/07/99 |
| 2000 |
4:44.79 |
Hicham El Guerrouj (Morocco) |
Berlin, Germany |
9/07/99 |
| Steeple |
7:53.63 |
Saïf Shaheen (Qatar) |
Brussels, Belgium |
9/03/04 |
| 2000St+ |
5:10.86 |
Mahiedine Mekhissi-Benabbad (France) |
Reims, France |
6/30/10 |
| 3000 |
7:20.67 |
Daniel Komen (Kenya) |
Rieti, Italy |
9/01/96 |
| 2 Miles+ |
7:58.61 |
Daniel Komen (Kenya) |
Hechtel, Belgium |
7/19/97 |
| 5000 |
12:37.35 |
Kenenisa Bekele (Ethiopia) |
Hengelo, Holland |
5/31/04 |
| 10,000 |
26:17.53 |
Kenenisa Bekele (Ethiopia) |
Brussels, Belgium |
8/26/05 |
| 20,000 |
56:25.98 |
Haile Gebrselassie (Ethiopia) |
Ostrava, Czech Republic |
6/27/07 |
| Hour |
21,285m (13M,383y) |
Haile Gebrselassie (Ethiopia) |
Ostrava, Czech Republic |
6/27/07 |
25,000
|
1:12:25.4 |
Moses Mosop (Kenya) |
Eugene, Oregon |
6/03/11 |
30,000
|
1:26:47.4 |
Moses Mosop (Kenya) |
Eugene, Oregon |
6/03/11 |
| 110 Hurdles |
12.80 |
Aries Merritt (US) |
Brussels, Belgium |
9/07/12 |
| 400 Hurdles |
46.78 |
Kevin Young (US) |
Barcelona, Spain |
8/06/92 |
| Relay Events |
4x100
|
36.84 |
Jamaica |
London, England |
8/11/12 |
|
(Nesta Carter 10.1, Michael Frater 8.9, Yohan Blake 9.0, Usain Bolt 8.8) |
| 4 x 200 |
1:18.68 |
Santa Monica TC (US) |
Walnut, California |
4/17/94 |
|
(Mike Marsh 20.0, Leroy Burrell 19.6, Floyd Heard 19.7, Carl Lewis 19.4) |
| 4 x 400 |
2:54.29 |
United States |
Stuttgart, Germany |
8/22/93 |
|
(Andrew Valmon 44.5, Quincy Watts 43.6, Butch Reynolds 43.23, Michael Johnson 42.94) |
| 4 x 800 |
7:02.43 |
Kenya |
Brussels, Belgium |
8/25/06 |
|
(Joseph Mutua 1:46.73, William Yiampoy 1:44.38,
Ismael Kombich 1:45.92, Wilfred Bungei 1:45.40) |
| 4 x 1500 |
14:36.23 |
Kenya |
Brussels, Belgium |
9/04/09 |
|
(William Biwott 3:38.5, Gideon Gathimba 3:39.5,
Geoffrey Rono 3:41.4, Augustine Choge 3:36.9) |
| 4 x Mile+ |
15:49.08 |
Ireland |
Dublin, Ireland |
8/17/85 |
|
(Eamonn Coghlan 4:00.2, Marcus O’Sullivan 3:55.3,
Frank O’Mara 3:56.6, Ray Flynn 3:56.98) |
| Sprint Medley+ |
3:10.76 |
Santa Monica TC (US) |
Tempe, Arizona |
4/06/85 |
|
(Carl Lewis 20.3, Ferran Tyler 20.1, Benny Hollis 47.1, Johnny Gray 1:43.3) |
| Distance Medley+ |
9:15.56 |
Kenya |
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
4/29/06 |
|
(Elkanah Angwenyi 2:50.8, Thomas Musembi 45.8,
Alfred Kirwa Yego 1:46.2, Alex Kipchirchir 3:52.8) |
| 4 x 110H+ |
53.36 |
United States |
Stockholm, Sweden |
8/07/07 |
|
(Ron Bramlett, Anwar Moore, David Payne, Aries Merritt) |
| Field Events |
| High Jump |
2.45 | 8-½ |
Javier Sotomayor (Cuba) |
Salamanca, Spain |
7/27/93 |
| Pole Vault |
6.14 | 20-1¾(A) |
Sergey Bubka (Ukraine) |
Sestriere, Italy |
7/31/94 |
|
[low-alt WR+ 6.15 | 20-2¼i Sergey Bubka (Ukraine) Donets’k, Ukraine 2/21/93] |
|
[note: under current IAAF rules, the Bubka indoor mark should also be the overall World Record] |
| Long Jump |
8.95 | 29-4½ |
Mike Powell (US) |
Tokyo, Japan |
8/30/91 |
| Triple Jump |
18.29 | 60-¼ |
Jonathan Edwards (Great Britain) |
Göteborg, Sweden |
8/07/95 |
| Shot |
23.12 | 75-10¼ |
Randy Barnes (US) |
Westwood, California |
5/20/90 |
|
[note: Barnes tested positive for steroids later in the year; in keeping with its standard policy, T&FN does not carry any of his ’90 marks on its all-time lists] |
|
[best non-Barnes mark: 23.06 | 75-8 Ulf Timmermann (East Germany) Chanía, Crete 5/22/88] |
| Discus |
74.08 | 243-0 |
Jürgen Schult (East Germany) |
Neubrandenburg, Germany |
6/06/86 |
| Hammer |
86.74 | 284-7 |
Yuriy Syedikh (Soviet Union) |
Stuttgart, Germany |
8/30/86 |
| Javelin |
98.48 | 323-1 |
Jan Železný (Czech Republic) |
Jena, Germany |
5/25/96 |
| Multi Event |
Decathlon
|
9039 |
Ashton Eaton (US)
|
Eugene, Oregon
|
6/22-23/12 |
|
(10.21, 8.23/27-0, 14.20/46-7¼, 2.05/6-8¾, 46.70 [4728],
13.70, 42.81/140-5, 5.30/17-4½, 58.87/193-1, 4:14.48 [4311]) |
| Road Events |
| 10K |
26:44 |
Leonard Komon (Kenya) |
Utrecht, Holland |
9/26/10 |
| 15K |
41:13 |
Leonard Komon (Kenya) |
Ra’s al Khaymah,
United Arab Emirates |
11/21/10 |
| 20K |
55:21 |
Zersenay Tadese (Eritrea) |
Lisbon, Portugal |
3/21/10 |
| ½-Mar |
58:23 |
Zersenay Tadese (Eritrea) |
Lisbon, Portugal |
03/21/10 |
25K
|
1:11:18 |
Dennis Kimetto (Kenya) |
Berlin, Germany |
5/06/12 |
| 30K |
1:27:38
|
Patrick Makau (Kenya) |
Berlin, Germany |
9/25/11 |
| Marathon |
2:03:38 |
Patrick Makau (Kenya) |
Berlin, Germany |
9/25/11 |
|
[note: Geoffrey Mutai (Kenya) ran 2:03:02 on an aided-course—Boston, Massachusetts 4/18/11] |
| 100K |
6:13:33 |
Takahiro Sunada (Japan) |
Lake Saroma, Japan |
6/21/98 |
| Ekiden Relay |
1:57:06 |
Kenya |
Chiba, Japan |
11/17/05 |
|
(Josphat Muchiri 13:24, Martin Mathathi 27:12, Daniel Mwangi 13:59, |
|
Mekubo Mogusu 27:56, Onesmus Nyerre 14:36, John Kariuki 19:59) |
| Walk Events |
| 20,000 |
1:17:25.6 |
Bernardo Segura (Mexico) |
Bergen, Norway |
5/07/94 |
| 20K(r) |
1:17:16 |
Vladimir Kanyakin (Russia) |
Saransk, Russia |
9/29/07 |
| 30,000 |
2:01:44.1 |
Maurizio Damilano (Italy) |
Cuneo, Italy |
10/03/92 |
| 50,000 |
3:35:27.2 |
Yohann Diniz (France) |
Reims, France |
3/12/11 |
| 50K(r) |
3:34:14 |
Denis Nizhegorodov (Russia) |
Cheboksary, Russia |
5/11/08 |
March 31, 2013
|
