WITH OUR SPORT BEING as marks-oriented as it is — particularly marks of the all-time-best variety — it would be only logical to wonder what World Records we might see at the World Championships in July.
But that sets an awfully high bar. So instead, let’s drop back a notch and examine the possibilities for Meet Records in Eugene. That’s a stiff collection of marks in and of itself and you may well be surprised to see just how old some of them are.
The distribution of MRs by year, which finds all but 2 of the 17 hosts still claiming at least 1: 6—Doha ’19; 5—Rome ’87, Helsinki ’05 & Berlin ’09; 4—Stuttgart ’93 & Beijing ’15; 3—Seville ’99, Paris ’03 & Daegu ’11; 2—Helsinki ’83, Gothenburg ’95 & Edmonton ’01; 1—Tokyo ’91, Osaka ’07 & Moscow ’13; 0—Athens ’97 & London ’17.
The chart:
| WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS MEN’S MEET RECORDS |
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS WOMEN’S MEET RECORDS |
|||||
| 100 | 9.58 | Usain Bolt (Jamaica) ’09 | 100 | 10.70 | Marion Jones (US) ’99 | |
| 200 | 19.19 | Usain Bolt (Jamaica) ’09 | 200 | 21.63 | Dafne Schippers (Netherlands) ’15 | |
| 400 | 43.18 | Michael Johnson (US) ’99 | 400 | 47.99 | Jarm. Kratochvílová (Czecho) ’83 | |
| 800 | 1:42.34 | Donavan Brazier (US) ’19 | 800 | 1:54.68 | Jarm. Kratochvílová (Czecho) ’83 | |
| 1500 | 3:27.65 | Hicham El Guerrouj (Morocco) ’99 | 1500 | 3:51.95 | Sifan Hassan (Netherlands) ’19 | |
| Steeple | 8:00.43 | Ezekiel Kemboi (Kenya) ’09 | Steeple | 8:57.84 | Beatrice Chepkoech (Kenya) ’19 | |
| 5000 | 12:52.79 | Eliud Kipchoge (Kenya) ’03 | 5000 | 14:26.72 | Hellen Obiri (Kenya) ’19 | |
| 10,000 | 26:46.31 | Kenenisa Bekele (Ethiopia) ’09 | 10,000 | 30:04.18 | Berhane Adere (Ethiopia) ’03 | |
| 110H | 12.91 | Colin Jackson (G Britain) ’93 | 100H | 12.28 | Sally Pearson (Australia) ’11 | |
| 400H | 47.18 | Kevin Young (US) ’93 | 400H | 52.16 | Dalilah Muhammad (US) ’19 | |
| Marathon | 2:06:54 | Abel Kirui (Kenya) ’09 | Marathon | 2:20:57 | Paula Radcliffe (GB) ’05 | |
| 20Walk | 1:17:21 | Jefferson Pérez (Ecuador) ’03 | 20Walk | 1:25:41 | Olimpiada Ivanova (Russia) ’05 | |
| 4 x 100 | 37.04 | Jamaica ’11 | 4 x 100 | 41.07 | Jamaica ’15 | |
| 4 x 400 | 2:54.29 | United States ’93 | 4 x 400 | 3:16.71 | United States ’93 | |
| ——— | ||||||
| HJ | 2.41 | 7-10¾ | Bohdan Bondarenko (Ukraine) ’13 | HJ | 2.09 | 6-10¼ | Stefka Kostadinova (Bulgaria) ’87 | |
| PV | 6.05 | 19-10¼ | Dmitriy Markov (Australia) ’01 | PV | 5.01 | 16-5¼ | Yelena Isinbayeva (Russia) ’05 | |
| LJ | 8.95 | 29-4½ | Mike Powell (US) ’91 | LJ | 7.36 | 24-1¾ | Jackie Joyner-Kersee (US) ’87 | |
| TJ | 18.29 | 60-¼ | Jonathan Edwards (G Britain) ’95 | TJ | 15.50 | 50-10¼ | Inessa Kravets (Ukraine) ’95 | |
| SP | 22.91 | 75-2 | Joe Kovacs (US) ’19 | SP | 21.24 | 69-8¼ | Natalya Lisovskaya (SU) ’87 | |
| Valerie Adams (New Zealand) ’11 | ||||||
| DT | 70.17 | 230-2 | Virgilijus Alekna (Lithuania) ’05 | DT | 71.62 | 235-0 | Martina Hellmann (E Germany) ’87 | |
| HT | 83.63 | 274-4 | Ivan Tikhon (Belarus) ’07 | HT | 80.85 | 265-3 | Anita Włodarczyk (Poland) ’15 | |
| JT | 92.80 | 304-5 | Jan Železný (Czech Republic) ’01 | JT | 71.70 | 235-3 | Osleidys Menéndez (Cuba) ’05 | |
| Dec | 9045 | Ashton Eaton (US) ’15 | Hept | 7128 | Jackie Joyner-Kersee (US) ’87 | |
Which MR is most likely to fall? The same one that’s the most likely WR, and that comes with Sydney McLaughlin’s being chased by Dalilah Muhammad and Femke Bol (not necessarily in that order) in the women’s 400H, where 52.16 should be easy-peasy.
Next up: men’s shot, where Ryan Crouser is a threat for a 77-footer every time he steps in the ring, being far beyond the existing 75-2 (22.91) with unimaginable consistency.
With the Jamaican women in fine form hard not to imagine at least one of them breaking 10.70 in the 100. And at twice the distance add Americans Gabby Thomas & Abby Steiner and 21.63 seems fated to bite the dust.
Least likely to fall? On the men’s side, Bolt’s 9.58 & 19.19 and Powell’s 29-4½ (8.95). On the women’s, JJK’s 7128, the 69-8¼ (21.24) shared by Lisovskaya & Adams and the 6-10¼ (2.09) by Kostadinova.
The best news is that even in the unlikelihood of a single MR being broken, the head-to-head competition is going to be fabulous and well worth the watching. ◻︎