World Records—Women
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
m = meters
M = miles
p = mark pending ratification
(r) = road
y = yards
| Track Events |
| 100 |
10.49 |
Florence Griffith Joyner (US) |
Indianapolis, Indiana |
7/16/88 |
|
[T&FN believes the 10.49 is illegally wind-aided and should never have been accepted as the WR] |
|
[The “real” fastest is 10.61 Florence Griffith Joyner (US) Indianapolis, Indiana, 7/17/88] |
| 200 |
21.34 |
Florence Griffith Joyner (US) |
Seoul, South Korea |
9/29/88 |
| 400 |
47.60 |
Marita Koch (East Germany) |
Canberra, Australia |
10/06/85 |
| 600+ |
1:22.63 |
Ana Guevara (Mexico) |
Guadalajara, Spain |
7/25/97 |
| 800 |
1:53.28 |
Jarmila Kratochvílová (Czechoslovakia) |
Munich, Germany |
7/26/83 |
| 1000 |
2:28.98 |
Svetlana Masterkova (Russia) |
Brussels, Belgium |
8/23/96 |
| 1500 |
3:50.46 |
Yunxia Qu (China) |
Beijing, China |
9/11/93 |
| Mile |
4:12.56 |
Svetlana Masterkova (Russia) |
Zürich, Switzerland |
8/14/96 |
| 2000 |
5:25.35 |
Sonia O’Sullivan (Ireland) |
Edinburgh, Scotland |
7/08/94 |
| Steeple |
8:58.81 |
Gulnara Galkina (Russia) |
Beijing, China |
8/17/08 |
| 3000 |
8:06.11 |
Junxia Wang (China) |
Beijing, China |
9/13/93 |
| 2 Miles+ |
8:58.58 |
Meseret Defar (Ethiopia) |
Brussels, Belgium |
9/14/07 |
| 5000 |
14:11.15 |
Tirunesh Dibaba (Ethiopia) |
Oslo, Norway |
6/06/08 |
| 10,000 |
29:31.78 |
Junxia Wang (China) |
Beijing, China |
9/08/93 |
| 20,000 |
1:05:26.6 |
Tegla Loroupe (Kenya) |
Borgholzhausen, Germany |
9/03/00 |
| Hour |
18,517m (11M,878y) |
Dire Tune (Ethiopia) |
Ostrava, Czech Republic |
6/12/08 |
| 25,000 |
1:27:05.9 |
Tegla Loroupe (Kenya) |
Mengerskirchen, Germany |
9/02/02 |
| 30,000 |
1:45:50.0 |
Tegla Loroupe (Kenya) |
Warstein, Germany |
6/06/03 |
| 100 Hurdles |
12.21 |
Yordanka Donkova (Bulgaria) |
Stara Zagora, Bulgaria |
8/20/88 |
| 400 Hurdles |
52.34 |
Yuliya Pechonkina (Russia) |
Tula, Russia |
8/08/03 |
| Relay Events |
4x100
|
40.82 |
United States |
London, England |
8/11/12 |
|
(Tianna Madison, Allyson Felix, Bianca Knight, Carmelita Jeter) |
| 4 x 200 |
1:27.46 |
United States |
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
4/29/00 |
|
(LaTasha Jenkins, LaTasha Colander-Richardson, Nanceen Perry, Marion Jones) |
| 4 x 400 |
3:15.17 |
Soviet Union |
Seoul, South Korea |
10/01/88 |
|
(Tatyana Ledovskaya 50.12, Olga Nazarova 47.82, Maria Pinigina 49.43,
Olga Bryzgina 47.80) |
| 4 x 800 |
7:50.17 |
Soviet Union |
Moscow, Russia |
8/05/84 |
|
(Nadezhda Olizarenko, Lyubov Gurina, Lyudmila Borisova, Irina Podyalovskaya) |
| 4 x 1500+ |
17:08.34 |
Tennessee (US) |
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
4/24/09 |
|
(Chanelle Price 4:19.5, Phoebe Wright 4:19.0, Rolanda Bell 4:19.6, Sarah Bowman 4:10.2) |
| Sprint Medley+ |
3:34.56 |
Jamaica |
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
4/25/09 |
|
(Sherri-Ann Brooks, Rosemarie Whyte, Moya Thompson 51.7, Kenia Sinclair 1:57.43) |
| Distance Medley+ |
10:48.38 |
Villanova (US) |
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
4/28/88 |
|
(Kathy Franey 3:21.0, Kameisha Bennett 52.8,
Celeste Halliday 2:04.7, Vickie Huber 4:29.9) |
| 4 x 100H+ |
52.00 |
Russia |
Portsmouth, England |
6/05/93 |
|
(Marina Azyabina, Yelena Sinyutina, Eva Sokolova, Yelizaveta Chernyshova) |
| Field Events |
| High Jump |
2.09 | 6-10¼ |
Stefka Kostadinova (Bulgaria) |
Rome, Italy |
8/30/87 |
| Pole Vault |
5.06 | 16-7¼ |
Yelena Isinbaeva (Russia) |
Zürich, Switzerland |
8/28/09 |
| Long Jump |
7.52 | 24-8¼ |
Galina Chistyakova (Soviet Union) |
St. Petersburg, Russia |
6/11/88 |
| Triple Jump |
15.50 | 50-10¼ |
Inessa Kravets (Ukraine) |
Göteborg, Sweden |
8/10/95 |
| Shot |
22.63 | 74-3 |
Natalya Lisovskaya (Soviet Union) |
Moscow, Russia |
6/07/87 |
| Discus |
76.80 | 252-0 |
Gabriele Reinsch (East Germany) |
Neubrandenburg, Germany |
7/09/88 |
Hammer
|
79.42 | 260-7 |
Betty Heidler (Germany) |
Halle, Germany |
5/21/11 |
| Javelin |
72.28 | 237-2 |
Barbora Špotáková
(Czech Republic) |
Stuttgart, Germany |
9/13/08 |
| Multi Event |
| Heptathlon |
7291 |
Jackie Joyner-Kersee (US) |
Seoul, South Korea |
9/23–24/88 |
|
(12.69, 1.86/6-1¼, 15.80/51-10, 22.56 [4264], |
|
7.27/23-10¼, 45.66/149-10, 2:08.51 [3027]) |
| Decathlon |
8358 |
Austra Skujytė (Lithuania) |
Columbia, Missouri |
4/14-15/05 |
|
(12.49, 46.19/151-6, 3.10/10-2, 48.78/160-0, 57.19 [3890], |
|
4.22w, 6.12/20-1w, 16.42/53-10½, 1.78/5-10, 5:15.86 [4468]) |
| Road Events |
| 10K |
30:21 |
Paula Radcliffe (Great Britain) |
San Juan, Puerto Rico |
2/23/03 |
| 15K |
46:28 |
Tirunesh Dibaba (Ethiopia) |
Nijmegen, Holland |
11/15/09 |
| 20K |
62:36 |
Mary Keitany (Kenya) |
Ra’s al Khaymah,
United Arab Emirates |
2/18/11 |
| ½-Marathon |
65:50 |
Mary Keitany (Kenya) |
Ra’s al Khaymah,
United Arab Emirates |
2/18/11 |
| 25K |
1:19:53 |
Mary Keitany (Kenya) |
Berlin, Germany |
5/09/10 |
| 30K |
1:38:49 |
Mizuki Noguchi (Japan) |
Berlin, Germany |
9/25/05 |
| Marathon |
2:15:25 |
Paula Radcliffe (Great Britain) |
London, England |
4/13/03 |
| 100K |
6:33:11 |
Tomoe Abe (Japan) |
Lake Saroma, Japan |
5/25/00 |
| Ekiden Relay |
2:11:41 |
China |
Beijing, China |
2/28/98 |
|
(Bo Jiang 15:42, Yanmei Dong 31:36, Fenting Zhao 15:16, |
|
Zaijie Ma 31:01, Lixin Lan 15:50, Xa Lin 22:16) |
| Walk Events |
| 10,000 |
41:56.23 |
Nadezhda Ryashkina (SU) |
Seattle, Washington |
7/24/90 |
| 10K(r) |
41:04 |
Yelena Nikolayeva (Russia) |
Sochi, Russia |
4/20/96 |
| 20,000 |
1:26:52.3 |
Olimpiada Ivanova (Russia) |
Brisbane, Australia |
9/06/01 |
20K(r)
|
1:25:02 |
Yelena Lashmanova (Russia) |
London, England |
8/11/12 |
January 12, 2013
|
