Ready to be awe-inspired by some of the best athletes in the world?
It is incredibly motivating to see what the human body is capable of, and watching these elites smash records left and right, or hold onto their long-reigning titles makes us want to go out there and give our absolute best.
Why Everyday Runners Should Care About Running World Records
One of the best things about running is that it is predominantly an individual sport. Runners can choose to be as competitive as they want to be, in terms of how often they race, what kinds of races they enter, and even whether or not they ever want to enter a race.
Moreover, unless you are competing for a team, nearly all runners are just competing against themselves and their own personal best times when they toe the line and test themselves in a race.
Sure, the top athletes are vying to break the tape, take home the prize money, earn an Olympic medal, or even become a new world record holder. However, most of us are just hoping to run a faster time than we’ve ever posted for a certain distance before, take home a finisher’s medal, and enjoy the well-deserved post-race festivities.
However, as much as it is wonderful how inclusive the sport of running is and how unique it is that mere recreational athletes can run many of the same races as the sport’s elites, there is a bit of a disconnect in the attention of the professional and elite side of running and racing and that of other sports.
Sports like football, baseball, and basketball garner all sorts of fanatic viewership, and many top players are household names. The elite and professional side of running has yet to be as well followed and appreciated by everyday runners.
There’s a lot to gain by paying attention to the greatest athletes in the sport of running. It’s inspiring to see how fast they can run, it can be helpful to observe proper running form at its finest, and it can bring the running community together as we cheer in unison as the best runners chase long-standing records.
Lastly, it is humbling to know the world records for every running distance and at the same time compare your own PRs with the fastest world record performances.
With that in mind, let’s look at the running world records as of July 2024.
We will examine the men’s running world records for outdoor events and indoor events and then women’s running world records for outdoor events and indoor events for the standard sanctioned distances.
Please note that there may be some instances in which someone has beaten one of the below records, but we have not listed it as it has not undergone official ratification.
Additionally, although it involves running, we haven’t included long jump records in the below tables.
Men’s Running World Records (Outdoors)
| Event | World Record | Competitor | Age At Time of Record | Country | Venue Location | Date of Record |
| 100 Meters | 9.58 | Usain Bolt | 22 | Jamaica | Berlin, Germany | 8/16/09 |
| 200 Meters | 19.19 | Usain Bolt | 22 | Jamaica | Berlin, Germany | 8/20/09 |
| 400 Meters | 43.03 | Wayde Van Niekerk | 24 | South Africa | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | 8/14/16 |
| 800 Meters | 01:40.9 | David Rudisha | 23 | Kenya | London, Great Britain | 8/9/12 |
| 1000 Meters | 02:12.0 | Noah Ngeny | 20 | Kenya | Rieti, Italy | 9/5/99 |
| 1500 Meters | 03:26.0 | Hicham El Guerrouj | 23 | Morocco | Rome, Italy | 7/14/98 |
| One Mile | 03:43.1 | Hicham El Guerrouj | 24 | Morocco | Rome, Italy | 7/7/99 |
| 2000 Meters | 4:43.1 | Jakob Ingebrigsten | 22 | Norway | Brussels, Belgium | 8/9/23 |
| 3000 Meters | 07:20.7 | Daniel Komen | 20 | Kenya | Rieti, Italy | 9/1/96 |
| 5000 Meters | 12:35.4 | Joshua Cheptegei | 23 | Uganda | Monaco, Monaco | 8/14/20 |
| 5 Kilometers | 12:49 | Berihu Aregawi | 20 | Ethiopia | Barcelona, Spain | 12/31/21 |
| 10,000 Meters | 26:11.0 | Joshua Cheptegei | 24 | Uganda | Valencia, Spain | 10/7/20 |
| 10 Kilometers | 26:24:00 | Rhonex Kipruto | 20 | Kenya | Valencia, Spain | 1/12/20 |
| One Hour | 21,330 meters | Mo Farah | 37 | Great Britain | Bruxelles, Belgium | 9/4/20 |
| Half Marathon | 57:31:00 | Jacob Kiplimo | 21 | Uganda | Lisbon, Portugal | 11/21/21 |
| Marathon | 2:01:09 | Eliud Kipchoge | 33 | Kenya | Berlin, Germany | 9/25/22 |
| 50 Kilometers | 2:40:13 | Stephen Mokoka | 37 | South Africa | Gqebera, South Africa | 3/6/22 |
| 100 Kilometers | 6:05:41 | Aleksandr Sorokin | 40 | Lithuania | Bedford, United Kingdom | 4/23/22 |
| 100 Miles | 10:51:39 | Aleksandr Sorokin | 40 | Lithuania | Tel Aviv, Israel | 1/6/22 |
| 3000 Meters Steeplechase | 7:52.11 | Lamecha Girma | 22 | Ethiopia | Paris, france | 9/6/23 |
| 110 Meters Hurdles | 12.8 | Aries Merritt | 27 | USA | Bruxelles, Belgium | 9/7/12 |
| 400 Meters Hurdles | 45.94 | Karsten Warholm | 25 | Norway | Tokyo, Japan | 8/3/21 |
| Decathlon | 9126 points | Kevin Mayer | 26 | France | Talence, France | 9/16/18 |
| 20,000 Meters Race Walk | 1:17:25.6 | Bernardo Segura | 24 | Mexico | Fana, Norway | 5/7/94 |
| 20 Kilometers Race Walk | 1:16:36 | Yusuke Suzuki | 27 | Japan | Nomi, Japan | 3/15/15 |
| 30,000 Meters Race Walk | 2:01:44.1 | Maurizio Damilano | 35 | Italy | Cuneo, Italy | 10/3/92 |
| 50,000 Meters Race Walk | 3:35:27.2 | Yohann Diniz | 33 | France | Reims, France | 3/12/11 |
| 50 Kilometers Race Walk | 3:32:33 | Yohann Diniz | 36 | France | Zürich, Switzerland | 8/15/14 |
| 4×100 Meters Relay | 36.84 | Jamaica | Jamaica | London, Great Britain | 8/11/12 | |
| 4×200 Meters Relay | 01:18.6 | Jamaica | Jamaica | Nassau, Bahamas | 5/24/14 | |
| 4×400 Meters Relay | 02:54.3 | United States | USA | Stuttgart, Germany | 8/22/93 | |
| 4×800 Meters Relay | 07:02.4 | Kenya | Kenya | Bruxelles, Belgium | 8/25/06 | |
| 4×1500 Meters Relay | 14:22.2 | Kenya | Kenya | Nassau, Bahamas | 5/25/14 | |
| Road Relay | 1:57:06 | Kenya | Kenya | Chiba, Japan | 11/23/05 | |
| Distance Medley Relay | 09:15.5 | United States | USA | Nassau, Bahamas | 5/3/15 |
Men’s Running World Records (Indoors)
| Event | World Record | Competitor | Age At Time of Record | Country | Venue Location | Date of Record |
| 50 Meters | 5.56 | Donovan Bailey | 28 | Canada | Reno, NV, USA | 2/9/96 |
| 60 Meters | 6.34 | Christian Coleman | 21 | USA | Albuquerque, NM, USA | 2/18/18 |
| 200 Meters | 19.92 | Frank Fredericks | 28 | Namibia | Liévin, France | 2/18/96 |
| 400 Meters | 44.57 | Kerron Clement | 19 | USA | Fayetteville, AR, USA | 3/12/05 |
| 800 Meters | 01:42.7 | Wilson Kipketer | 24 | Denmark | Paris, France | 3/9/97 |
| 1000 Meters | 02:14.2 | Ayanleh Souleiman | 23 | Djibouti | Stockholm, Sweden | 2/17/16 |
| 1500 Meters | 03:30.6 | Jakob Ingebrigtsen | 21 | Norway | Liévin, France | 2/17/22 |
| One Mile | 03:47.0 | Yomif Kejelcha | 21 | Ethiopia | Boston, MA, USA | 3/3/19 |
| 3000 Meters | 7:23.8 | Lamecha Girma | 22 | Ethiopia | Liévin, France | 2/15/23 |
| 5000 Meters | 12:49.6 | Kenenisa Bekele | 21 | Ethiopia | Birmingham, Great Britain | 2/20/04 |
| 50 Meters Hurdles | 6.25 | Mark Mckoy | 24 | Canada | Kobe, Japan | 3/5/86 |
| 60 Meters Hurdles | 7.27 | Grant Holloway | 25 | USA | Albuquerque, USA | 2/16/24 |
| Heptathlon | 6645 | Ashton Eaton | 24 | USA | Istanbul, Turkey | 3/10/12 |
| 5000 Meters Race Walk | 18:07.1 | Mikhail Shchennikov | 27 | Russia | Moskva, Russia | 2/14/95 |
| 4×200 Meters Relay | 01:22.1 | Great Britain & Ni | Great Britain | Glasgow, Great Britain | 3/3/91 | |
| 4×400 Meters Relay | 03:01.5 | Houston | USA | Clemson, SC, USA | 2/9/19 | |
| 4×800 Meters Relay | 07:11.3 | Hoka Nj / Ny Tc | USA | Boston, MA, USA | 2/25/18 |
Women’s Running World Records (Outdoors)
| Event | World Record | Record Holder | Age at Time of Record | Country | Venue Location | Date of Record |
| 100 Meters | 10.49 | Florence Griffith-Joyner | 28 | USA | Indianapolis, IN, USA | 7/16/88 |
| 200 Meters | 21.34 | Florence Griffith-Joyner | 28 | USA | Seoul, South Korea | 9/29/88 |
| 400 Meters | 47.6 | Marita Koch | 28 | East Germany | Canberra, Australia | 10/6/85 |
| 800 Meters | 01:53.3 | Jarmila Kratochvílová | 32 | Czechoslovakia | München, Germany | 7/26/83 |
| 1000 Meters | 02:29.0 | Svetlana Masterkova | 28 | Russia | Bruxelles, Belgium | 8/23/96 |
| 1500 Meters | 3:49.1 | Faith Kipyegon | 29 | Kenya | Firenze, Italy | 6/2/23 |
| One Mile | 4:07.6 | Faith Kipyegon | 29 | Kenya | Monaco | 7/21/23 |
| 2000 Meters | 05:21.6 | Francine Nyonsaba | 28 | Burundi | Zagreb, Croatia | 9/14/21 |
| 3000 Meters | 08:06.1 | Junxia Wang | 20 | China | Beijing, China | 9/13/93 |
| 5000 Meters | 14:00:2 | Gudaf Tsegay | 26 | Ethiopia | Eugene, USA | 9/17/23 |
| 5 Kilometers (Women’s Only Race) | 14:29 | Senbere Teferi | 26 | Ethiopia | Herzogenaurach, Germany | 9/12/21 |
| 5 Kilometers (Mixed Gender Race) | 14:19 | Ejgayehu Taya | 21 | Ethiopia | Barcelona, Spain | 12/31/21 |
| 10,000 Meters | 29:01.0 | Letesenbet Gidey | 23 | Ethiopia | Hengelo, Netherlands | 6/8/21 |
| 10 Kilometers (Women’s Only Race) | 30:01 | Agnes Jebet Tirop | 25 | Kenya | Herzogenaurach, Germany | 9/12/21 |
| 10 Kilometers (Mixed Gender Race) | 29:14 | Yalemzerf Yehualaw | 22 | Ethiopia | Castellón, Spain | 2/27/22 |
| One Hour | 18,930 meters | Sifan Hassan | 27 | Netherlands | Bruxelles, Belgium | 9/4/20 |
| Half Marathon (Women’s Only Race) | 1:05:16 | Peres Jepchirchir | 27 | Kenya | Gdynia, Poland | 10/17/20 |
| Half Marathon (Mixed Gender Race) | 1:02:52 | Letesenbet Gidey | 23 | Ethiopia | Valencia, Spain | 10/24/21 |
| Marathon (Women’s Only Race) | 2:16:16 | Peres Jepchirchir | 30 | Kenya | London, Great Britain | 4/21/24 |
| Marathon (Mixed Gender Race) | 2:11:53 | Tigst Assefa | 26 | Ethiopia | Berlin, Germany | 9/24/23 |
| 50 Kilometers (Women’s Only Race) | 3:04:24 | Irvette Van Zyl | 33 | South Africa | Port Elizabeth, South Africa | 5/23/21 |
| 50 Kilometers (Mixed Gender Race) | 2:59:54 | Desiree Linden | 37 | USA | Dorena Lake, OR, USA | 4/13/21 |
| 100 Kilometers | 6:33:11 | Tomoe Abe | 28 | Japan | Lake Saroma, Japan | 6/25/00 |
| 3000 Meters Steeplechase | 08:44.3 | Beatrice Chepkoech | 27 | Kenya | Monaco, Monaco | 7/20/18 |
| 100 Meters Hurdles | 12.2 | Kendra Harrison | 23 | USA | London, Great Britain | 7/22/16 |
| 400 Meters Hurdles | 51.46 | Sydney McLaughlin | 21 | USA | Tokyo, Japan | 8/4/21 |
| Heptathlon | 7291 | Jackie Joyner-Kersee | 26 | USA | Seoul, South Korea | 9/24/88 |
| Decathlon | 8358 points | Austra Skujytė | 25 | Lithuania | Columbia, MO, USA | 4/15/05 |
| 10,000 Meters Race Walk | 41:56.2 | Nadezhda Ryashkina | 23 | Soviet Union | Seattle, WA, USA | 7/24/90 |
| 20,000 Meters Race Walk | 1:26:52.3 | Olimpiada Ivanova | 31 | Russia | Brisbane, Australia | 9/6/01 |
| 20 Kilometers Race Walk | 1:23:49 | Jiayu Yang | 25 | China | Huangshan, China | 3/20/21 |
| 50 Kilometers Race Walk | 3:59:15 | Hong Liu | 31 | China | Huangshan, China | 3/9/19 |
| 4×100 Meters Relay | 40.82 | United States | USA | London, Great Britain | 8/10/12 | |
| 4×200 Meters Relay | 01:27.5 | United States Blue | USA | Philadelphia, PA, USA | 4/29/00 | |
| 4×400 Meters Relay | 03:15.2 | Soviet Union | Soviet Union | Seoul, South Korea | 10/1/88 | |
| 4×800 Meters Relay | 07:50.2 | Soviet Union | Soviet Union | Moskva, Soviet Union | 8/5/84 | |
| 4×1500 Meters Relay | 16:27.0 | Nike/Bowerman Track Club | USA | Portland, OR, USA | 7/31/20 | |
| Road Relay | 2:11:41 | Pr Of China | China | Beijing, China | 2/28/98 | |
| Distance Medley Relay | 10:36.5 | United States | USA | Nassau, Bahamas | 5/2/15 |
Women’s Running World Records (Indoors)
| Event | World Record | Record Holder | Age At Time of Record | Country | Venue Location | Date Of Record |
| 50 Meters | 5.96 | Irina Privalova | 26 | Russia | Madrid, Spain | 2/9/95 |
| 60 Meters | 6.92 | Irina Privalova | 24 | Russia | Madrid, Spain | 2/11/93 |
| 60 Meters | 6.92 | Irina Privalova | 26 | Russia | Madrid, Spain | 2/9/95 |
| 200 Meters | 21.87 | Merlene Ottey | 32 | Jamaica | Liévin, France | 2/13/93 |
| 400 Meters | 49.17 | Femke Bol | 24 | Netherlands | Glasgow, UK | 4/2/24 |
| 800 Meters | 01:55.8 | Jolanda Čeplak | 25 | Slovenia | Wien, Austria | 3/3/02 |
| 1000 Meters | 02:30.9 | Maria De Lurdes Mutola | 26 | Mozambique | Stockholm, Sweden | 2/25/99 |
| 1500 Meters | 03:53.1 | Gudaf Tsegay | 23 | Ethiopia | Liévin, France | 2/9/21 |
| One Mile | 04:13.3 | Genzebe Dibaba | 25 | Ethiopia | Stockholm, Sweden | 2/17/16 |
| 3000 Meters | 08:16.6 | Genzebe Dibaba | 22 | Ethiopia | Stockholm, Sweden | 2/6/14 |
| 5000 Meters | 14:18.9 | Genzebe Dibaba | 24 | Ethiopia | Stockholm, Sweden | 2/19/15 |
| 50 Meters Hurdles | 6.58 | Cornelia Oschkenat | 26 | East Germany | Berlin, Germany | 2/20/88 |
| Pentathlon | 5055 points | Nafissatou Thiam | 28 | Belgium | Istanbul, Turkey | 4/3/23 |
| 3000 Meters Race Walk | 11:40.0 | Claudia Iovan | 20 | Romania | Bucureşti, Romania | 1/30/99 |
| 4×200 Meters Relay | 01:32.4 | Russia | Russia | Glasgow, Great Britain | 1/29/05 | |
| 4×400 Meters Relay | 03:23.4 | Russia | Russia | Glasgow, Great Britain | 1/28/06 | |
| 4×800 Meters Relay | 08:05.9 | United States | USA | New York, NY, USA | 2/3/18 |
Which running world record is most impressive to you? Which record would you most want to hold?
Whether you’re looking at the world championships or just starting out in track and field, let us help you work towards your personal best with one of our very own training plans.
You can continue to stay up to date with running world records at sites like Track & Field News and World Athletics (formally known as the IAAF).
