(as of September 07, 2020)
There are those who think that the sport would have been better off if WA (then the IAAF) had listened to proposals to create a set of “new millennium” World Records starting with the 2000 season. We hasten to note that creating a new set of all-time bests wouldn’t have to mean throwing the old ones out. There would simply be records for the 1900s and another set for the 2000s.
Had the international federation bought into that revolutionary idea, this is what the “new millennium” World Records would look like (* = actual WA World Record, surpassing the best mark of the 1900s):
| MEN’S TRACK | ||
| 100 | 9.58* | Usain Bolt (Jamaica) ’09 |
| 200 | 19.19* | Usain Bolt (Jamaica) ’09 |
| 400 | 43.03* | Wayde van Niekerk (South Africa) ’16 |
| 800 | 1:40.91* | David Rudisha (Kenya) ’12 |
| 1000 | 2:13.08 | Taoufik Makhloufi (Algeria) ’15 |
| 1500 | 3:26:12 | Hicham El Guerrouj (Morocco) ’01 |
| Mile | 3:44.95 | Hicham El Guerrouj (Morocco) ’01 |
| 2000 | 4:49.99i | Kenenisa Bekele (Ethiopia) ’07 |
| Steeple | 7:53:63* | Saïf Shaheen (Qatar) ’04 |
| 3000 | 7:25.02 | Ali Saïdi-Sief (Algeria) ’00 |
| 5000 | 12:35.36* | Joshua Cheptegei (Uganda) ’20 |
| 10,000 | 26:17.53* | Kenenisa Bekele (Ethiopia) ’05 |
| 110 Hurdles | 12.80* | Aries Merritt (US) ’12 |
| 400 Hurdles | 46.87 | Karsten Warholm (Norway) ’20 |
| Half-Marathon | 58:01* | Geoffrey Kamworor (Kenya) ’19 |
| Marathon | 2:01:39* | Eliud Kipchoge (Kenya) ’18 |
| 20K Walk | 1:16:36* | Yusuke Suzuki (Japan) ’15 |
| 50K Walk | 3:32:33* | Yohann Diniz (France) ’14 |
| 4 x 100 | 36.84* | Jamaica ’12 |
| 4 x 400 | 2:55.39 | United States ’08 |
| MEN’S FIELD | ||
| High Jump | 2.43 | 7-11½ | Mutaz Essa Barshim (Qatar) ’14 |
| Pole Vault | 6.18 | 20-3¼i* | Mondo Duplantis (Sweden) ’20 |
| Long Jump | 8.74 | 28-8¼ | Dwight Phillips (US) ’09 |
| Triple Jump | 18.21 | 59-9 | Christian Taylor (US) ’15 |
| Shot | 22.91 | 75-2 | Joe Kovacs (US) ’19 |
| 22.91 | 75-2 | Ryan Crouser (US) ’20 | |
| Discus | 73.88 | 242-5 | Virgilijus Alekna (Lithuania) ’00 |
| Hammer | 84.90 | 278-6 | Vadim Devyatovskiy (Belarus) ’05 |
| Javelin | 97.76 | 320-9 | Johannes Vetter (Germany) ’20 |
| Decathlon | 9126* | Kevin Mayer (France) ’18 |
| WOMEN’S TRACK | ||
| 100 | 10.64 | Carmelita Jeter (US) ’09 |
| 200 | 21.63 | Dafne Schippers (Holland) ’15 |
| 400 | 48.14 | Salwa Eid Naser (Bahrain) ’19 |
| 800 | 1:54.01 | Pamela Jelimo (Kenya) ’08 |
| 1000 | 2:29.15 | Faith Kipyegon (Kenya) ’20 |
| 1500 | 3:50.07* | Genzebe Dibaba (Ethiopia) ’15 |
| Mile | 4:12.33* | Sifan Hassan (Netherlands) ’16 |
| 2000 | 5:23.75i* | Genzebe Dibaba (Ethiopia) ’17 |
| Steeple | 8:44.32* | Beatrice Chepkoech (Kenya) ’18 |
| 3000 | 8:16.60i | Genzebe Dibaba (Ethiopia) ’14 |
| 5000 | 14:11.15* | Tirunesh Dibaba (Ethiopia) ’08 |
| 10,000 | 29:17.45* | Almaz Ayana (Ethiopia) ’16 |
| 100 Hurdles | 12.20* | Keni Harrison (US) ’16 |
| 400 Hurdles | 52.16* | Dalilah Muhammad (US) ’19 |
| Half-Marathon | 64.31* | Yeshaneh Ababel (Ethiopia) ’20 |
| Marathon | 2:14:04* | Brigid Kosgei (Kenya) ’19 |
| 20K Walk | 1:24.38* | Hong Liu (China) ’15 |
| 50K Walk | 3:59:15* | Hong Liu (China) ’19 |
| 4 x 100 | 40.82* | United States ’12 |
| 4 x 400 | 3:16.87 | United States ’12 |
| WOMEN’S FIELD | ||
| High Jump | 2.08 | 6-9¾i | Kajsa Bergqvist (Sweden) ’06 |
| 2.08 | 6-9¾ | Blanka Vlašić (Croatia) ’09 | |
| Pole Vault | 5.06 | 16-7¼* | Yelena Isinbaeva (Russia) ’09 |
| Long Jump | 7.42 | 24-4¼ | Tatyana Kotova (Russia) ’02 |
| Triple Jump | 15.43 | 50-7½i | Yulimar Rojas (Venezuela) ’20 |
| Shot | 21.46 | 70-5 | Larisa Peleshenko (Russia) ’00 |
| Discus | 71.41 | 234-3 | Sandra Perković (Croatia) ’17 |
| Hammer | 82.98 | 272-3* | Anita Włodarczyk (Poland) ’16 |
| Javelin | 72.28 | 237-2* | Barbora Špotáková (Czech Republic) ’08 |
| Heptathlon | 7032 | Carolina Klüft (Sweden) ’07 |
Go here to see what new-millennium American Records look like.