Men's Track & Field world records, as recognized by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF).
1. 100 Meters
Michael Steele/Getty ImagesUsain Bolt, who was once a 200-meter specialist, broke the 100-meter world mark for the third time during a thrilling showdown with Tyson Gay at the World Outdoor Championships in Berlin on Aug. 16, 2009. The Jamaican pulled ahead of Gay early in the race and never let up, finishing in 9.58 seconds. The victory came exactly one year after Bolt broke the record for the second time, winning the 2008 Olympic gold medal in 9.69.
2. 200 Meters
Usain Bolt of Jamaica broke his own world mark at the 2009 World Outdoor Track & Field Championships, where he finished in 19.19 on Aug. 20. He first broke Michael Johnson's 12-year-old mark during the Olympic final exactly one year ealier, finishing in 19.30 seconds while running into a slight headwind (0.9 kilometers per hour).3. 400 Meters
Michael Johnson, USA, 43.18. Johnson overcame leg injuries to set the 400 record at the 1999 World Championships.4. 800 Meters
Sebastian Coe's mark of 1:41.73 in the 800 stood for 16 years before Wilson Kipketer's amazing six-week attack on the mark in 1997. The Kenyan native tied Coe's record on July 7 of that year, then broke the mark twice in August, running 1:41.24 on Aug. 13, then lowering the record to 1:41.11 on Aug. 24 at the Cologne Grand Prix in Germany. Kipketer, known for excellent form and a strong finishing kick, benefited from the fast pace set by Kenyan David Kiptoo to set the record.5. 1000 Meters
Noah Ngeny broke Sebastian Coe's 18-year-old world mark in a time of 2:11.96 at Rieti, Italy, on Sept. 5, 1999. The record hasn't been seriously challenged since.6. 1500 Meters
Hicham El Guerrouj of Morocco was virtually alone when he completed his record-setting 1500-meter effort of 3:26.00 on July 14, 1998, in Rome. Previously, Algerian Noureddine Morceli had run the four fastest 1500s in history, with El Guerrouj fifth.7. One Mile
The mile isn’t run in the Olympics or the world championships. But it still captures people’s attention, even though the record has been unchanged since Morocco's Hicham El Guerrouj won a brilliant battle with Noah Ngeny on July 7, 1999, in Rome’s Olympic Stadium. With Ngeny virtually on his heels down the stretch, El Guerrouj broke the mile record with a time of 3:43.13. Ngeny’s time of 3:43.40 remains the second fastest mile.8. 2,000 Meters
On Sept. 7, 1999, Morocco's Hicham El Guerrouj capped a two-season assault on the record book by setting his third world mark – all previously held by Noureddine Morceli – while winning the 2000 meters in 4:44.79. El Guerrouj topped Morceli’s old record by more than three seconds.9. 3,000 Meters
Daniel Komen of Kenya couldn’t qualify for his country’s Olympic team in 1996 – he was fourth in Kenya’s 5000-meter trials – but shortly after the Atlanta Games he shattered Noureddine Morceli's 3,000-meter world record by 4.4 seconds, with a time of 7:20.67, in Rieta, Italy on Sept. 1, 1996.10. 5,000 Meters
Kenenisa Bekele of Ethiopia took two seconds off the 5000-meter record with a time of 12:37.35 set in Hengelo, The Netherlands on May 31, 2004. Kenyan David Kiplak set the pace for about half the race, leaving Bekele to attack the record on his own thereafter. Bekele was more than one second behind the record pace entering the final lap, but finished the lap in 57.85 seconds to earn the prize.
