BEING WORLD-CLASS in both the 100 & 200 or both the 200 & 400 is tough enough, but how about those very are athletes who great at all 3 events? The current big performer in this regard is former quartermiler Fred Kerley, who dropped down to the 100/200 in ’21 year and in ’21 and ’22 produced marks good enough to bring him from outside the top 50 all the way to No. 2. Fellow American Kenny Bednarek likewise improved his PRs at the two shorter distances to move from No. 16 ever to No. 9. With 200 and 400 breakthroughs in July of ’23 Botswanan Letsile Tebogo has reached No. 8 on the compilation.
Here are the top 50 combo athletes of all time as scored on the WA (formerly IAAF) Tables. For those athletes from the era where hand and auto timing were both in use times are marked by * (0.14 added to the 400, 0.24 to the 100 and 200). Altitude-aided marks—designated with an (A)—and indoor marks are included, wind-aided times are not. An addendum at the bottom gives the best low-altitude marks for those with better high-altitude performances.
Thanks to those who have posted and e-mailed amendments; more are always welcome.
The Top 50 of all time (stats updated by Jim Rorick from an original compilation by Justin Clouder):
| All-Time Men’s 100/200/400 Combined Scoring | ||||
| 3867 | Usain Bolt | 9.58 (1356) | 19.19 (1351) | 45.28 (1160) |
| 3825 | Fred Kerley | 9.76 (1291) | 19.76 (1258)(A) | 43.64 (1276) |
| 3815 | Michael Johnson | 10.09 (1176) | 19.32 (1329) | 43.18 (1310) |
| 3813 | Michael Norman | 9.86 (1255) | 19.70 (1268) | 43.45 (1290) |
| 3793 | Wayde van Niekerk | 9.94 (1227) | 19.84 (1245) | 43.03 (1321) |
| 3790 | Tyson Gay | 9.69 (1316) | 19.58 (1287) | 44.89 (1187) |
| 3745 | Yohan Blake | 9.69 (1316) | 19.26 (1339) | 46.32 (1090) |
| 3735 | Letsile Tebogo | 9.91 (1238) | 19.50 (1300) | 44.75 (1197) |
| 3698 | Xavier Carter | 10.00 (1206) | 19.63 (1279) | 44.53 (1213) |
| 3715 | Kenny Bednarek | 9.89 (1245) | 19.68 (1271) | 44.73 (1199)(A) |
| (10) | ||||
| 3668 | Mike Marsh | 9.93 (1231) | 19.73 (1263) | 45.08 (1174) |
| 3664 | Isaac Makwala | 10.20 (1138)(A) | 19.77 (1256) | 43.72 (1270) |
| 3661 | Wallace Spearmon | 9.96 (1220) | 19.65 (1276) | 45.22 (1165) |
| 3656 | Asafa Powell | 9.72 (1305) | 19.90 (1236) | 45.94 (1115) |
| 3653 | Rai Benjamin | 10.03 (1196) | 19.99 (1222) | 44.21 (1235) |
| 3637 | Steven Gardiner | 10.35 (1089) | 19.75 (1260) | 43.48 (1288) |
| 3634 | Femi Ogunode | 9.91 (1238) | 19.97 (1225) | 45.12 (1171) |
| 3631 | Obadele Thompson | 9.87 (1252)(A) | 19.97 (1225) | 45.38 (1154)(A) |
| 3628 | Noah Lyles | 9.86 (1255) | 19.31 (1331) | 47.04 (1042) |
| 3619 | Frank Fredericks | 9.86 (1255) | 19.68 (1271) | 46.28 (1093) |
| (20) | ||||
| 3614 | Matthew Boling | 9.98 (1213) | 19.92 (1233) | 45.17 (1168) |
| 3612 | Alexander Ogando | 10.09 (1176) | 19.91 (1234) | 44.68 (1202) |
| 3606 | Dennis Mitchell | 9.91 (1238) | 20.09 (1206)(A) | 45.26 (1162) |
| 3604 | Walter Dix | 9.88 (1248) | 19.53 (1295) | 46.75 (1061) |
| 3602 | Zharnel Hughes | 9.83 (1266) | 19.73 (1263) | 46.58 (1073) |
| 3601 | Robson da Silva | 10.02 (1199) | 19.96 (1226) | 45.06 (1176) |
| 3601 | Bruno Hortelano | 10.06 (1186) | 20.04 (1214) | 44.69 (1201) |
| 3601 | Josephus Lyles | 10.03 (1196) | 19.93 (1231) | 45.09 (1174) |
| 3596 | Erriyon Knighton | 10.04 (1193) | 19.49 (1302) | 46.15 (1101) |
| 3592 | Francis Obikwelu | 9.86 (1255) | 19.84 (1245) | 46.29 (1092) |
| (30) | ||||
| 3592 | Jereem Richards | 10.23 (1128) | 19.80 (1252) | 44.54 (1212) |
| 3591 | Jon Drummond | 9.92 (1234) | 20.03 (1215) | 45.55 (1142) |
| 3591 | Churandy Martina | 9.91 (1238) | 19.81 (1250) | 46.13 (1103)(A) |
| 3587 | Pietro Mennea | 10.01 (1203)(A) | 19.72 (1264)(A) | 45.87 (1120) |
| 3586 | LaShawn Merritt | 10.47 (1050) | 19.74 (1261) | 43.65 (1275) |
| 3586 | Gil Roberts | 10.12 (1165) | 20.22 (1186) | 44.22 (1235) |
| 3576 | Steve Williams | 10.07 (1182) | 20.02*(1217) | 45.04*(1177)(A) |
| 3571 | Akeem Bloomfield | 10.42 (1066) | 19.81 (1250) | 43.94 (1255) |
| 3570 | Aaron Brown | 9.96 (1220) | 19.95 (1228) | 45.84 (1122) |
| 3566 | Justin Gatlin | 9.74 (1298) | 19.57 (1289) | 48.02 (979) |
| (40) | ||||
| 3562 | Kevin Little | 10.13 (1162) | 20.10 (1204) | 44.77 (1196) |
| 3560 | Jacory Patterson | 10.11 (1169) | 20.14 (1198) | 44.81 (1193) |
| 3559 | Carl Lewis | 9.86 (1255) | 19.75 (1260) | 47.01 (1044) |
| 3555 | James Sanford | 10.02 (1199) | 19.94*(1229)(A) | 45.77 (1127) |
| 3550 | Kelly Willie | 10.13 (1162) | 20.24 (1182) | 44.63 (1206) |
| 3548 | Innocent Egbunike | 10.15 (1155) | 20.42 (1155) | 44.17 (1238) |
| 3548 | Warren Weir | 10.02 (1199) | 19.79 (1253) | 46.23 (1096) |
| 3548 | Mark Witherspoon | 10.04 (1193) | 20.12 (1201) | 45.37 (1154) |
| 3544 | Tommie Smith | 10.34*(1092) | 19.83 (1247)(A) | 44.64*(1205) |
| 3544 | Baboloki Thebe | 10.29 (1108)(A) | 20.21 (1187)(A) | 44.02 (1249) |
| Non-Altitude | ||||
| 3820 | Kerley | 9.76 (1291) | 19.79 (1253) | 43.64 (1276) |
| 3670 | Bednarek | 9.89 (1245) | 19.68 (1271) | 45.37 (1154) |
| 3598 | Makwala | 10.40 (1072) | 19.77 (1256) | 43.72 (1270) |
| 3589 | Mitchell | 9.91 (1238) | 20.20 (1189) | 45.26 (1162) |