Sports Stats · Athletics

World records

How the world records of the classic events of athletics came down, or went up, mark by mark: from Donald Lippincott's 10.6 in 1912 to Usain Bolt's 9.58, from Johnny Hayes's 2:55 marathon in 1908 to the first under two hours, and Armand Duplantis's pole vault records. Also see the Olympic Games.

The progression

Pick an event.

Every world record, as a step: the line stays flat while a record stands. Hover or tap a mark for the athlete.

Every record

The records today

Every event's current world record and how long it has stood, and the athletes who set the most records.

The oldest records

Most records set

Records broken or equalled, in the events on this page.