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.
Symbols: (A) = altitude over 1000 meters; i = indoors; m = meters; M = miles; p = mark pending ratification; y = yards
| Track Events | ||||
| 100 | 10.49 | Florence Griffith Joyner (US) | Indianapolis, Indiana | 7/16/88 |
| [T&FN believes the 10.49 was illegally wind-aided and should never have been accepted as the WR. We believe the real fastest is 10.54 Elaine Thompson-Herah (Jamaica) Eugene, Oregon 8/21/21] |
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| 200 | 21.34 | Florence Griffith Joyner (US) | Seoul, South Korea | 9/29/88 |
| 300+ | 34.41 | Shaunae Miller-Uibo (Bahamas) | Ostrava, Czech Republic | 6/20/19 |
| 400 | 47.60 | Marita Koch (East Germany) | Canberra, Australia | 10/06/85 |
| 600+ | 1:21.77 | Caster Semenya (South Africa) | Berlin, Germany | 8/27/17 |
| 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 | 3:50.07 | Genzebe Dibaba (Ethiopia) | Fontvieille, Monaco | 7/17/15 |
| Mile | 4:12.33 | Sifan Hassan (Netherlands) | Fontvieille, Monaco | 7/12/19 |
| 2000 | 5:21.56 | Francine Niyonsaba (Burundi) | Zagreb, Croatia | 9/14/21 |
| Steeple | 8:44.32 | Beatrice Chepkoech (Kenya) | Fontvieille, Monaco | 7/20/18 |
| 3000 | 8:06.11 | Junxia Wang (China) | Beijing, China | 9/13/93 |
| [T&FN thinks the marks made in this meet are flawed and believes the “real” fastest should be listed as 8:16.60i Genzebe Dibaba (Ethiopia) Stockholm, Sweden 2/06/14] |
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| 2 Miles+ | 8:58.58 | Meseret Defar (Ethiopia) | Brussels, Belgium | 9/14/07 |
| 5000 | 14:06.62 | Letesenbet Gidey (Ethiopia) | Valencia, Spain | 10/07/20 |
| 10,000 | 29:01.03 | Letesenbet Gidey (Ethiopia) | Hengelo, Netherlands | 6/08/21 |
| 20,000+ | 1:05:26.6 | Tegla Loroupe (Kenya) | Borgholzhausen, Germany | 9/03/00 |
| Hour | 18,930m | 11M, 1341y | Sifan Hassan (Netherlands) | Brussels, Belgium | 9/04/20 |
| 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 | 12.20 | Keni Harrison (US) | London, England | 7/22/16 |
| 400 Hurdles | 51.46 | Sydney McLaughlin (US) | Tokyo, Japan | 8/04/21 |
| Relay Events | |||||
| 4 x 100 | 40.82 | United States | London, England | 8/11/12 | |
| (Tianna Bartoletta 11.0, Allyson Felix 9.9, Bianca Knight 10.9, Carmelita Jeter 9.9) | |||||
| 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) | |||||
| Mixed-Sex 4 x 400 | 3:09.34 | United States | Doha, Qatar | 9/28/19 | |
| (Wil London 44.9, Allyson Felix 50.4, Courtney Okolo 49.9, Michael Cherry 44.1) | |||||
| 4 x 800 | 7:50.17 | Soviet Union | Moscow, Russia | 8/05/84 | |
| (Nadezhda Olizarenko, Lyubov Gurina, Lyudmila Borisova, Irina Podyalovskaya) | |||||
| 4 x 1500 | 16:27.02 | Nike Bowerman TC | Portland, Oregon | 7/31/20 | |
| (Colleen Quigley 4:08, Elise Cranny 4:09, Karissa Schweizer 4:06, Shelby Houlihan 4:04) | |||||
| 800 Medley+ | 1:35.20 | Team USA Penn Red | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | 4/28/18 | |
| (Destinee Brown, Aaliyah Brown, Kimberlyn Duncan, Raevyn Rogers 50.48) | |||||
| 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 | 10:36.50 | United States | Nassau, Bahamas | 5/02/15 | |
| (Treniere Moser 3:18.38, Sanya Richards-Ross 50.12, Ajee’ Wilson 2:00.08, Shannon Rowbury 4:27.92) | |||||
| 4 x 100H+ | 50.50 | Team USA Blue Drake | Des Moines, Iowa | 4/24/15 | |
| (Brianna Rollins, Dawn Harper Nelson, Queen Harrison, Kristi Castlin) | |||||
| 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 | 15.67 | 51-5 | Yulimar Rojas (Venezuela) | Tokyo, Japan | 8/01/21 |
| 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 | 82.98 | 272-3 | Anita Włodarczyk (Poland) | Warsaw, Poland | 8/28/16 |
| Javelin | 72.28 | 237-2 | Barbora Špotáková (Czech Republic) | Stuttgart, Germany | 9/13/08 |
| Multi Events | ||||
| 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], 14.22w, 6.12/20-1w, 16.42/53-10½, 1.78/5-10, 5:15.86 [4468]) | ||||
| Road Events | ||||
| 5K | 14:43 | Beatrice Chepkoech (Kenya) | Monaco | 2/14/21 |
| 14:29p | Senbere Teferi (Ethiopia) | Herzogenaurach, Germany | 9/12/21 | |
| (women-only) | 14:29p | Senbere Teferi (Ethiopia) | Herzogenaurach, Germany | 9/12/21 |
| 10K | 29:43 | Joyciline Jepkosgei (Kenya) | Prague, Czech Republic | 9/09/17 |
| (women-only) | 30:29 | Asmae Leghzaoui (Morocco) | New York, New York | 6/08/02 |
| 30:01p | Agnes Tirop (Kenya) | Herzogenaurach, Germany | 9/12/21 | |
| 29:38p | Kalkidan Gezahegne (Bahrain) | Geneva, Switzerland | 10/03/21 | |
| 15K+ | 44:20 | Letesenbet Gidey (Ethiopia) | Nijmegen, Netherlands | 11/17/19 |
| 20K+ | 61:25 | Joyciline Jepkosgei (Kenya) | Prague, Czech Republic | 4/01/17 |
| Half-Marathon | 64:02 | Ruth Chepngetich (Kenya) | İstanbul, Turkey | 4/04/21 |
| 63:44p | Yalemzerf Yehualaw (Ethiopia) | Larne, Ireland | 8/29/21 | |
| 62:52p | Letesenbet Gidey (Ethiopia) | Valencia, Spain | 10/24/21 | |
| (women-only) | 65:16 | Peres Jepchirchir (Kenya) | Gdynia, Poland | 10/17/20 |
| 25K+ | 1:19:53 | Mary Keitany (Kenya) | Berlin, Germany | 5/09/10 |
| 30K+ | 1:38:49 | Mizuki Noguchi (Japan) | Berlin, Germany | 9/25/05 |
| (women-only) | 1:36.05 | Mary Keitany (Kenya) | London, England | 4/23/17 |
| Marathon | 2:14:04 | Brigid Kosgei (Kenya) | Chicago, Illinois | 10/13/19 |
| (women-only) | 2:17:01 | Mary Keitany (Kenya) | London, England | 4/23/17 |
| 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 (road) | 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 (road) | 1:24:38 | Hong Liu (China) | La Coruña, Spain | 6/06/15 |
| 1:23:49p | Jiayu Yang (China) | Huangshan, China | 3/20/21 | |
| 50K (road) | 3:59:15 | Hong Liu (China) | Huangshan, China | 3/09/19 |
| [3:57:08 Klavdiya Afanasyeva (Russia) Cheboksary, Russia 6/15/19 not ratifiable because of lack of international-caliber judges] | ||||
as of November 23, 2021