Some sporting records remain in the memory of all fans, such as Usain Bolt’s record in the men’s 100 metres, equal to 9”58. It’s about outstanding performance that shatter previous records and stand for many years at global or national level. Many world records have been set at the Olympics or in events organized in preparation for the Games, such as the recent world record in pole vault set by Mondo Duplantis with 6.25 m. Other records are set at the world championships (existing since 1983) or in other competitions. Not all records, however, are “clean”: some are heavily burdened by the suspicion of dopingAt the 2024 Paris Olympics, as of this writing, only one world record in athletics has been broken, that of the pole vault, but there are still several events to be contested.
- 11. The longest-standing record, the women’s 800 meters
- 22. The longest-standing male record, the hammer throw
- 33. The long jump and the feat of Bob Beamon
- 44. Men’s sprint and Usain Bolt’s 100 and 200 meters
- 55. Women’s sprint and 100 and 200 meters by Florence Griffith
- 66. Pietro Mennea record holder for 17 years
- 77. An Italian on the roof of the world: Sara Simeoni’s high jump
- 88. Waiting for Tamberi: Javier Sotomayor’s high jumps
- 99. East Germany’s last men’s record: Jurgen Schult’s discus throw
- 1010. 35 times world record: Sergei Bubka’s pole vault
1. The longest-standing record, the women’s 800 meters
The longest-standing track and field record belongs to an athlete from a country that no longer exists: Jarmila Kratochvilova, representing Czechoslovakia. On July 26, 1983, in a race held in Munich, the athlete ran the 800 meters in 1’53”28a time that no one has ever surpassed. The record has therefore lasted for 41 years.
2. The longest-standing male record, the hammer throw
Even in the men’s world, the longest-running world record is held by an athlete from a country that has disappeared: Yuriy Sedykh, representing the Soviet Union, who on 30 August 1986, at the European Championships held in Stuttgart, threw the implement 86.74 metersThe record has therefore stood for 38 years.
3. The long jump and the feat of Bob Beamon
There was once an adjective in journalistic jargon, beamonesco, to indicate an exceptional performance. Bob Beamon, an African-American athlete, achieved a long jump of 8.90 metersimproving the previous record by a whopping 55 cm. Up until then, the record had been improved 13 times, with each new record averaging 6 centimetres higher than the previous one. Beamon’s record stood until 1991, when it was broken by Mike Powell, another African-American, who jumped 8.95 metres, which is still the world record. Beamon’s performance in 1968 is still an Olympic record: no one has jumped more than him at the Olympics, despite the fact that 56 years have passed!
4. Men’s sprint and Usain Bolt’s 100 and 200 meters
The king of speed is an athlete who has been retired for a few years: the Jamaican Usain Bolt. His records both date back to the world championships held in Berlin in 2009. On August 16, Bolt ran the 100 meters in 9”58beating the previous record of 9”69, which he himself had set at the Beijing Olympics. Four days later Bolt also improved the 200 meters record, accompanying 19”19, that is, 11 hundredths less than the time of 19”30 that he had set in Beijing.
5. Women’s sprint and 100 and 200 meters by Florence Griffith
In women’s speed, the world records have stood since 1988 and belong to the African-American Florence Griffith Joyner. trials Americans (i.e. the selections for the Olympics of US athletes) Griffith ran the 100 meters in 10”34; At the Olympics, held in Seoul, he improved the world record in the 200 metres, running in 21”34. Her records have therefore stood for 36 years. Flo-Jo, as the athlete was nicknamed, died in 1998 at only 38 years of age from an epileptic seizure that struck her in her sleep. The suspicion that the records, as well as her sudden death, were the consequence of doping is very strong, although it has never been proven.
6. Pietro Mennea record holder for 17 years
An Italian athlete held a world record for speed for many years: Pietro Mennea. On September 12, 1979, in a specially organized race in Mexico City, the sprinter ran the 200 meters in 19”72improving the record of 19”83 that the American Tommie Smith had set at the Mexico City Olympics. The record was only surpassed in 1996 by Michael Johnson, who at the trials Americans ran in 19”66. Mennea’s time is still an Italian and European record today.
7. An Italian on the roof of the world: Sara Simeoni’s high jump
An Italian athlete held the world record for the high jump for four years: Sara Simeoni, who in 1978 cleared the height of 2.01 metersone centimeter above the previous record of exactly 2 meters. In 1980 Simeoni also won the gold medal at the Moscow Olympics. Her record was surpassed in 1982 by the German Ulrike Meyfarth, who jumped 2.02 meters, while the current world record is held by the Ukrainian Jaroslava Mahucich, who last July 7 reached the height of 2.10 meters.
8. Waiting for Tamberi: Javier Sotomayor’s high jumps
We are all rooting for Gianmarco Tamberi, the first Italian athlete to win an Olympic gold medal in the men’s high jump. The greatest high jumper of all time was the Cuban Javier Sotomayor, who has held the world record for 31 years: in 1993, in a competition held in Salamanca, he cleared the bar set at 2.45 meters.
9. East Germany’s last men’s record: Jurgen Schult’s discus throw
East Germany, despite being a small country, was a “great power” in sport, capable of producing top-level athletes. Doping, used on a large scale, certainly had something to do with it, but the successes were also due to organization and investments. An East German athlete, Jurgen Schult, lost the world record a few months ago, when the measurement of 74.08 meters in discus throwwhich he had set in 1986, was surpassed by Lithuanian Mykolas Alenka, who threw the implement 74.35 metres.
Two women’s records still belong to East German athletes: the 400 meters, with a time of 47”60 set in 1985 by Marita Koch, and the discus throw, with a distance of 76.80 meters (a lighter implement than the men’s one) achieved by Gabriele Reinsch in 1988. In this case too, the suspicion that doping was involved is strong, but it has never been proven.
10. 35 times world record: Sergei Bubka’s pole vault
An athlete has improved the world record thirty-five times (18 indoors and 17 outdoors). We are talking about Sergei Bubka, a Soviet and then Ukrainian pole vaulter, who set the first world record in 1984, with a height of 5.85 meters (outdoors). In the following years, Bubka improved the record another 34 times, reaching the 6.15 meters in 1993 (indoor). The measurement was the world record until 2014, when the Frenchman Renaud Lavillenie jumped 6.16 meters. In Paris 2024 the Swedish Armand Duplantis, already world record holder, cleared the bar set at 6.25 meters, thus establishing the new record.
