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In this post, we will check out the top 10 athletics most remarkable world records.

We know that records are meant to be broken but there are some remarkable records in athletics that will make you say wow.

Some of the best athletics world records are still unbroken which was set in a different era. While on the other side some athletes have gone beyond the physical limits of their bodies. There are some magnificent records that are completely beyond the human limit.

In this article, we will check out the top 10 athletics impressive world records which required a test of time to breaking them.

Top 10 Athletics World Records

1 400m Unbreakable Record(Women)

Koch set the track and field event on fire when he broke the 400 m world record in just 47.60 seconds.

The event was held on 6 October 1985 at the year’s World Cup meet. It’s just unbelievable to know the timing was yet to be beaten in 2021.

Such a commanding performance from Marita Koch. It is said to be one of the most impactful performances in athletics history.

At the halfway point in the race, she had complete control over the race, nobody is close to him.

The only women in history to break the 48-second barrier is Koch and Jarmila Kratochvílová. Jarmila clocked 47.99 seconds in Helsinki, in 1983. Kratochvílová and Koch are said to be rivals as they are the top class runners in the same events i.e 400m.

Each of them frequently beat the 400 m world record set by the other. Until today no other women have even clocked below 48 seconds. It is something that may not be repeated again.

2 Discus Throw

Jürgen Schult is a German track and field athlete who is also the world record holder in the discus throw.

His records are still going strong which he was holding since 1986. It is the longest-standing record in men’s track and field. Schult symbolized East Germany in the 1988 Olympic competition in which he won the gold medal for discus throw which was held on 1 October 1988.

While representing the East German program, his throw of 74.08 meters (243.0 ft) broke the previous record which was set by the Soviet athlete, Yuriy Dumchev(71.86 meters (235.8 ft)).

An interesting fact is the discus world record set by Schult still stands today and is the longest-standing men’s world record ever beating the likes of Jesse Owens’s long jump record, which stood for almost 25 years and 79 days.

He later competed in a second Olympic Games in 1992, in which he won the silver medal. His last appearance in the Olympics is in 2000 when he was at an age of 40, finishing in 8th place.

3 Highest Points Achieved In Heptathlon

Heptathlon unites seven athletics events, in which the points are granted based on measures and times achieved.

Joyner-Kersee still holds the world record in Heptathlon which was has held on July 7, 1986. She became the first woman to excel at 7000 points. She scored 7148 in Moscow.

Joyner-Kersee set the heptathlon world record (7,291) for the fourth time when she won the gold medal at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul. In the 1992 Olympics held in Barcelona, she became the leading athlete to win the heptathlon in the back-to-back Olympic Games.

Joyner-Kersee’s dominance in the event is just unbelievable as she owns the top six heptathlon scores of all-time.

4 Men Long Jump Record Is Here To Stay

It was looking just impossible for anyone to break Bob Beamon’s long jump record and then Lewis and Powell came and changed everything.

Their clash on August 30, 1991, is said to be the biggest competition in long jump history. Earlier there is no one who had affected Bob Beamon’s long jump record of 8.90 meters that he had established in Mexico City in 1968.

At the world championship final in Tokyo, Carl Lewis and Mike Powell are going head to head for the gold medal.

First Lewis broke the world record by jumping 8.91 meters on his fourth attempt, while Powell followed him and established a new record of 8.95 meters on his fifth attempt.

Since 1991 multiple athletes have tried to break the long jump record but nobody has succeeded to do it. It is said to be one of the finest performances in track and field history.

5 30000 m Walk

Maurizio Damilano is one of the greatest walkers the world has ever seen. He won 15 medals individually (22 in team events), at the International athletics competitions.

Damilano was the Olympic Champion in 1980 and world champion in 1987 and 1991 in a 20 km race walk.

He has 60 caps in the national team from 1977 to 1992 which shows the longevity of this athlete.

Damilano’s most impressive record is the 30 km race walk in which he is the world record holder to date. He created the world record and clocked a timing of 2:01:44.1 which is something nobody comes close to. He achieved this feat in Cuneo in 1992.

6 Kevin Young Know How To Remove Hurdles From Life

Kevin C. Young is a former American athlete. He was the world record holder in 400 meters hurdles which was held at the 1992 Summer Olympics.

Kevin set a world record of 46.78 seconds in the finals which remains unbeaten to date. He was the first 400m hurdler to clock a time under 47 seconds.

He had an exceptional hurdling technique of shifting between 12 and 13 strides between the hurdles. Young’s performances weakened after 1993. He was enlisted into the National Track & Field Hall of Fame in 2006.

The athlete who comes closest to his time is Norwegian Karsten Warholm who he clocked 46.87 seconds in the same event.

7 4*400 m Relay

The 4*400 m relay is one of the most exciting events in the Olympics. The 4 × 400 meters relay is an athletics track event in which teams consist of four runners, each having to complete 400 meters or one lap. It is said to be the final event of a track meet.

In the event, runners carry a relay baton which they have to transfer between teammates.

Runners have been provided with a 20 m box in which the transfer process completes. The world record in the 4*400 m relay belongs to the USA team. The event was held at Stuttgart.

Andrew Valmon, Quincy Watts, Butch Reynolds, and Michael Johnson are the athlete who secured the gold for the USA. Michael Johnson was too good for the event and helped the team to snatch another gold medal for the USA.

The timing clocked at the event was 2:54.29 which is yet to be beaten by the others as no team comes close to the timing set by the USA runners.

8 High Jump Records That Still Going High

Javier Sotomayor is a renowned name in the world of athletics. His event in the high jump broke the world record in July 1993 in Salamanca.

Sotomayor extended his world record twice in his career. The first came on July 29, 1989, in the Central American and Caribbean Championships when he jumped to 2.44 meters (8 feet), and the second one came on July 27, 1993, in Salamanca when he jumped to 2.45 m (8 feet and one-half inch). Sotomayor is the first athlete to jump over 8 feet.

It is said to be one of the most remarkable jumps in the sense that Sotomayor required only four jumps to get the job done.

He took his first jump at 2.32 meters (7 ft 7.34 in), easily crossed 2.35 and 2.38 meters (7 ft 9.70 in) on his first attempt, then the level of the bar raised to a record height of 2.45, which he narrowly missed on his first attempt but later he succeeded on his second attempt and created the world record which is yet to be broken.

9 Triple Jump

Jonathan David Edwards is a British former triple jumper and a world record holder in Triple Jump. His dominance in his event can be seen as he is an Olympic, world, and European champion as well.

It was On July 18, 1995, when Edwards created the world record-beating mark of 17.97 meters which was previously held by American Willie Banks. He later broke his own world record twice and showed world supremacy in his event.

Edwards became the first triple jumper to surpass 18 meters barrier, bouncing 18.16 in his very first attempt in the final at the world championship which was held in Sweden.

He did the impossible in the second attempt setting the world record marking at 18.29 meters. His second jump of 18.29 m made him the first athlete to jump 60 feet. It’s something that no one has achieved to date.

10 Lightning Doesn’t Strike Twice(Usain Bolt World Record)

Lightning doesn’t strike twice and it’d truly said as it’s just impossible to match the timing of the fastest man on the planet.

It’s just impossible to finish the list without mentioning the great Usain Bolt. Bolt holds world records in both 100 meters (9.58 seconds) and 200 meters (19.19 seconds). It’s safe to say breaking his records requires a lot of hard work and dedication.

Usain Bolt is widely regarded to be the greatest sprinter of all time. He is an eight-time Olympic gold medallist.

Usain Bolt is the only sprinter in the history of the Olympics to win 100 m and 200 m titles at three consecutive Olympics (2008, 2012, and 2016).

It’s impossible to replicate his achievements as a sprinter. His accomplishment has earned him the name “Lightning Bolt”.

The Other 3 Athletics Impressive World Records

1 3000m

Daniel Kipngetich Komen is a Kenyan athlete who is widely regarded as the best in middle- and long-distance running.

He is the world record holder in 3000 meters both outdoors (7:20.67 set in 1996) and indoors (7:24.90 set in 1998). Komen also set another world record later in 1997 in an event named the 2-mile race set with an incredible timing of 7.58.61.

He is the only athlete in history to run back-to-back sub-four-minute miles, in which he clocked the timing of 3:59.4 on both the first and second half of the race. That’s something commendable, his world record in 3000 m is still to be broken.

2 4*100 m Relay World Record That Erased The History

The 4 × 100 meters relay is an event in which athletes run in lanes over one lap of the track with four runners performing 100 meters each.

A relay baton is carried by each runner and if someone drops it during the run the team will be disqualified. Before 2018, it was necessary to pass the baton within a 20 m changeover box.

This event has been dominated by the United States men and women winning the most Olympic gold medals and the most IAAF world championships.

Currently, the women’s world record in the 4*100 m relay stands at 40.82 seconds which was set by the United States women in 2012 at the London Olympics. 

The Team USA leads by runners Tianna Madison, Allyson Felix, Bianca Knight, and Carmelita Jeter.

It was a remarkable feat as they have broken the previous record which was dated back to October 6, 1985.

3 Record Breaker in Marathon

Eliud Kipchoge is a Kenyan athlete renowned as a long-distance runner. His highlight event is the marathon however previously he also competed at the 5000-meter distance.

He is currently the world record holder in the marathon with an unbreakable timing of 2:01:39 which he set on 16 September 2018 in Berlin. He has been characterized as “the greatest marathoner of the modern era”.

On 12 October 2019, Kipchoge also ran at a special event in Vienna, Austria 2019, where he clocked a time of 1:59:40. 

However, the run did not include a new marathon record, as standard competition rules do not apply like pacing and fluids were not followed.

It’s no denying the fact that he will remain the greatest runner in the history of Marathons.