(as of July 10, 2018)
There are those who think that the sport—given the dearth of World Records in recent years—would have been better off if the IAAF had listened to proposals to create a set of “new millennium” World Records starting with the 2000 season.
Creating a new set doesn’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 IAAF accepted the proposal, this is what the “new millennium” World Records would look like (* = actual IAAF World Record, surpassing the best mark of the 1900s):
| MEN | ||
| 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 |
| 2000 | 4:44.49i | Kenenisa Bekele (Ethiopia) ’07 |
| Mile | 3:44.95 | Hicham El Guerrouj (Morocco) ’01 |
| Steeple | 7:53:63* | Saïf Shaheen (Qatar) ’04 |
| 3000 | 7:25.02 | Ali Saïdi-Sief (Algeria) ’00 |
| 5000 | 12:37.35* | Kenenisa Bekele (Ethiopia) ’04 |
| 10,000 | 26:17.53* | Kenenisa Bekele (Ethiopia) ’05 |
| 110H | 12.80* | Aries Merritt (US) ’12 |
| 400H | 46.98 | Abderrahmane Samba (Qatar) ’18 |
| Half-Mar | 58:23* | Zersenay Tadese (Eritrea) ’10 |
| Marathon | 2:02:57* | Dennis Kimetto (Kenya) ’14 |
| 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 |
| Field Events | ||
| HJ | 2.43 | 7-11½ | Mutaz Essa Barshim (Qatar) ’14 |
| PV | 6.16 | 20-2½i* | Renaud Lavillenie (France) ’14 |
| LJ | 8.74 | 28-8¼ | Dwight Phillips (US) ’09 |
| TJ | 18.21 | 59-9 | Christian Taylor (US) ’15 |
| SP | 22.67 | 74-4½ | Tom Walsh (New Zealand) ’18 |
| DT | 73.88 | 242-5 | Virgilijus Alekna (Lithuania) ’00 |
| HT | 84.90 | 278-6 | Vadim Devyatovskiy (Belarus) ’05 |
| JT | 94.44 | 309-10 | Johannes Vetter (Germany) ’17 |
| Dec | 9045* | Ashton Eaton (US) ’15 |
| WOMEN | ||
| 100 | 10.64 | Carmelita Jeter (US) ’09 |
| 200 | 21.63 | Dafne Schippers (Holland) ’15 |
| 400 | 48.70 | Sanya Richards-Ross (US) ’06 |
| 800 | 1:54.01 | Pamela Jelimo (Kenya) ’08 |
| 1000 | 2:30.12 | Maria Mutola (Mozambique) ’02 |
| 1500 | 3:50.07* | Genzebe Dibaba (Ethiopia) ’15 |
| 2000 | 5:23.75i* | Genzebe Dibaba (Ethiopia) ’17 |
| Mile | 4:13.31i | Genzebe Dibaba (Ethiopia) ’16 |
| St | 8:52.78* | Ruth Jebet (Bahrain) ’16 |
| 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 |
| 100H | 12.20* | Keni Harrison (US) ’16 |
| 400H | 52.34* | Yuliya Pechonkina (Russia) ’03 |
| Half-Mar | 64.51* | Joyciline Jepkosgei (Kenya) ’17 |
| Marathon | 2:15:25* | Paula Radcliffe (Great Britain) ’03 |
| 20K Walk | 1:24.38* | Hong Liu (China) ’15 |
| 50K Walk | 4:04.36* | Rui Liang (China) ’18 |
| 4×100 | 40.82* | United States ’12 |
| 4×400 | 3:16.87 | United States ’12 |
| Field Events | ||
| HJ | 2.08 | 6-9¾i | Kajsa Bergqvist (Sweden) ’06 |
| 2.08 | 6-9¾ | Blanka Vlašić (Croatia) ’09 | |
| PV | 5.06 | 16-7¼* | Yelena Isinbaeva (Russia) ’09 |
| LJ | 7.42 | 24-4¼ | Tatyana Kotova (Russia) ’02 |
| TJ | 15.39 | 50-6 | Françoise Mbango (Cameroon) ’08 |
| SP | 21.46 | 70-5 | Larisa Peleshenko (Russia) ’00 |
| DT | 71.41 | 234-3 | Sandra Perković (Croatia) ’17 |
| HT | 82.98 | 272-3* | Anita Włodarczyk (Poland) ’16 |
| JT | 72.28 | 237-2* | Barbora Špotáková (Czech Republic) ’08 |
| Hept | 7032 | Carolina Klüft (Sweden) ’07 |