(as of April 27, 2019)
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.
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 IAAF bought into the idea, this is what the “new millennium” World Records would look like (* = actual IAAF 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 |
| 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 |
| 110 Hurdles | 12.80* | Aries Merritt (US) ’12 |
| 400 Hurdles | 46.98 | Abderrahmane Samba (Qatar) ’18 |
| Half-Marathon | 58:18* | Abraham Kiptum (Kenya) ’18 |
| 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 | 6.16 | 20-2½i* | Renaud Lavillenie (France) ’14 |
| Long Jump | 8.74 | 28-8¼ | Dwight Phillips (US) ’09 |
| Triple Jump | 18.21 | 59-9 | Christian Taylor (US) ’15 |
| Shot | 22.74 | 74-7¼ | Ryan Crouser (US) ’19 |
| Discus | 73.88 | 242-5 | Virgilijus Alekna (Lithuania) ’00 |
| Hammer | 84.90 | 278-6 | Vadim Devyatovskiy (Belarus) ’05 |
| Javelin | 94.44 | 309-10 | Johannes Vetter (Germany) ’17 |
| Decathlon | 9126* | Kevin Mayer (France) ’18 |
| WOMEN’S TRACK | ||
| 100 | 10.64 | Carmelita Jeter (US) ’09 |
| 200 | 21.63 | Dafne Schippers (Holland) ’15 |
| 400 | 48.70 | 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 |
| 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 | 52.34* | Yuliya Pechonkina (Russia) ’03 |
| Half-Marathon | 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 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 | 15.39 | 50-6 | Françoise Mbango (Cameroon) ’08 |
| 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 |