While the focus will be on winning medals, it is inevitable that during an event that pits the world’s greatest athletes against each other, records will be under threat.
One world record, seven championship records, 11 area records and 73 national records were set at the last edition of the World Athletics Championships, held in Budapest in 2023.
So which events will be contested at the World Athletics Championships Tokyo 25, taking place from 13-21 September, and what will athletes need to do to set a record in Japan’s capital city later this year?
Here’s a rundown of the World Athletics Championships records and events, plus athletics world records.
100 metres
World record: men – 9.58 (Usain Bolt, 2009), women – 10.49 (Florence Griffith Joyner, 1988)
Championship record: men – 9.58 (Usain Bolt, 2009), women – 10.65 (Sha’Carri Richardson, 2023)
Jamaican sprint great Usain Bolt set world records in both the 100m and 200m at the 2009 World Championships in Berlin. The closest any other athlete has got since is 9.69 achieved by two athletes: Tyson Gay later that same year and Yohan Blake in 2012.
200 metres
World record: men – 19.19 (Usain Bolt, 2009), women – 21.34 (Florence Griffith Joyner, 1988)
Championship record: 19.19 (Usain Bolt, 2009), women – 21.41 (Shericka Jackson, 2023)
400 metres
World record: men – 43.03 (Wayde van Niekerk, 2016), women – 47.60 (Marita Koch, 1985)
Championship record: men – 43.18 (Michael Johnson, 1999), women – 47.99 (Jarmila Kratochvilova, 1983)
800 metres
World record: men – 1:40.91 (David Rudisha, 2012), women – 1:53.28 (Jarmila Kratochvilova, 1983)
Championship record: men – 1:42.34 (Donavan Brazier, 2019), women – 1:54.68 (Jarmila Kratochvilova, 1983)
1500 metres
World record: men – 3:26.00 (Hicham El Guerrouj, 1998), women – 3:49.04 (Faith Kipyegon, 2024)
Championship record: men – 3:27.65 (Hicham El Guerrouj, 1999), women – 3:51.95 (Sifan Hassan, 2019)
Kenya’s Faith Kipyegon has already won three world 1500m titles (and one world 5000m gold). She could have her eye on the championship record if she decides to defend her title again in Tokyo.
5000 metres
World record: men – 12:35.36 (Joshua Cheptegei, 2020), women – 14:00.21 (Gudaf Tsegay, 2023)
Championship record: men – 12:52.79 (Eliud Kipchoge, 2003), women – 14:26.72 (Hellen Obiri, 2019)
Kenya’s Eliud Kipchoge might now be known as one of the greatest marathon runners of all time, but back in 2003 the then 18-year-old became famous for a World Championships race for the ages in which he beat Hicham El Guerrouj and Kenenisa Bekele in 12:52.79, a time that remains the championship record.
Eliud Kipchoge beats Hicham El Guerrouj and Kenenisa Bekele to the 2003 world 5000m title in Paris (© Getty Images)
10,000 metres
World record: men – 26:11.00 (Joshua Cheptegei, 2020), women – 28:54.14 (Beatrice Chebet, 2024)
Championship record: men – 26:46.31 (Kenenisa Bekele, 2009), women – 30:04.18 (Berhane Adere, 2003)
Kenya’s Olympic 5000m and 10,000m champion Beatrice Chebet could be among the world record-holders on the hunt for another global gold in Tokyo.
Marathon
World record: men – 2:00:35 (Kelvin Kiptum, 2023), women – 2:15:50* women-only (Tigist Assefa, 2025)
Championship record: men – 2:05:36 (Tamirat Tola, 2022), women – 2:18:11 (Gotytom Gebreslase, 2022)
3000 metres steeplechase
World record: men – 7:52.11 (Lamecha Girma, 2023), women – 8:44.32 (Beatrice Chepkoech, 2018)
Championship record: men – 8:00.43 (Ezekiel Kemboi, 2009), women – 8:53.02 (Norah Jeruto, 2022)
100 metres hurdles
World record: women – 12.12 (Tobi Amusan, 2022)
Championship record: women – 12.12 (Tobi Amusan, 2022)
110 metres hurdles
World record: men – 12.80 (Aries Merritt, 2012)
Championship record: men – 12.91 (Colin Jackson, 1993)
400 metres hurdles
World record: men – 45.94 (Karsten Warholm, 2021), women – 50.37 (Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, 2024)
Championship record: men – 46.29 (Alison dos Santos, 2022), women – 50.68 (Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, 2022)
USA’s Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone set the fourth world record of her career when winning the world title in 2022. She has since improved that mark by another three tenths of a second.
Sydney McLaughlin wins the 400m hurdles at the World Athletics Championships Oregon22 (© Getty Images)
Heptathlon
World record: women – 7291 points (Jackie Joyner-Kersee, 1988)
Championship record: women – 7128 points (Jackie Joyner-Kersee, 1987)
Decathlon
World record: men – 9126 points (Kevin Mayer, 2018)
Championship record: men – 9045 points (Ashton Eaton, 2015)
High jump
World record: men – 2.45m (Javier Sotomayor, 1993), women – 2.10m (Yaroslava Mahuchikh, 2024)
Championship record: men – 2.41m (Bohdan Bondarenko, 2013), women – 2.09m (Stefka Kostadinova, 1987)
When clearing 2.10m in Paris last year, Ukraine’s Yaroslava Mahuchikh added a centimetre to the world record that had been set by Stefka Kostadinova at the World Championships in 1987.
Pole vault
World record: men – 6.27m (Mondo Duplantis, 2025), women – 5.06m (Yelena Isinbaeva, 2009)
Championship record: men – 6.21m (Mondo Duplantis, 2022), women – 5.01m (Yelena Isinbaeva, 2005)
Sweden’s Mondo Duplantis has proven that he can deliver on the biggest stages, setting three of his 11 world records in global championship finals. Can he achieve another pole vault world record in Tokyo?
Long jump
World record: men – 8.95m (Mike Powell, 1991), women – 7.52m (Galina Chistyakova, 1988)
Championship record: men – 8.95m (Mike Powell, 1991), women – 7.36m (Jackie Joyner-Kersee, 1987)
Tokyo last hosted the World Athletics Championships in 1991, when Mike Powell soared a long jump world record of 8.95m in what went down as one of the greatest duels in athletics history.
Triple jump
World record: men – 18.29m (Jonathan Edwards, 1995), women – 15.74m (Yulimar Rojas, 2022)
Championship record: men – 18.29m (Jonathan Edwards, 1995), women – 15.50m (Inessa Kravets, 1995)
Shot put
World record: men – 23.56m (Ryan Crouser, 2023), women – 22.63m (Natalya Lisovskaya, 1987)
Championship record: men – 23.51m (Ryan Crouser, 2023), women – 21.24m (Valerie Adams, 2011, and Natalya Lisovskaya, 1987)
USA’s Ryan Crouser is the titan of the men’s shot put and he will be seeking another big throw as he hunts for his third consecutive world title outdoors.
Discus throw
World record: men – 75.56m* (Mykolas Alekna, 2025), women – 76.80m (Gabriele Reinsch, 1988)
Championship record: men – 71.46m (Daniel Stahl, 2023), women – 71.62m (Martina Hellmann, 1987)
Hammer throw
World record: men – 86.74m (Yuriy Sedykh, 1986), women – 82.98m (Anita Wlodarczyk, 2016)
Championship record: men – 83.63m (Ivan Tikhon, 2007), women – 80.85m (Anita Wlodarczyk, 2015)
Javelin throw
World record: men – 98.48m (Jan Zelezny, 1996), women – 72.28m (Barbora Spotakova, 2008)
Championship record: men – 92.80m (Jan Zelezny, 2001), women – 71.70m (Olisdeilys Menendez, 2005)
20 kilometres race walk
World record: men – 1:16:10 (Toshikazu Yamanishi, 2025), women – 1:23:49 (Yang Jiayu, 2021)
Championship record: men – 1:17:21 (Jefferson Perez, 2003), women – 1:25:41 (Olimpiada Ivanova, 2005)
Fresh from a world record earlier this year, Japan’s Toshikazu Yamanishi will want to take that form with him to Tokyo, to clinch a third world crown on home soil.
35 kilometres race walk
World record: men – 2:21:47 (Masatora Kawano, 2024), women – 2:37:15 (Maria Perez, 2023)
Championship record: men – 2:23:14 (Massimo Stano, 2022), women – 2:38:40 (Maria Perez, 2023)
4×100 metres relay
World record: men – 36.84 (Jamaica, 2012), women – 40.82 (United States, 2012)
Championship record: men – 37.04 (Jamaica, 2011), women – 41.03 (United States, 2023)
4×400 metres relay
World record: men – 2:54.29 (United States, 1993), women – 40.82 (Soviet Union, 1988), mixed – 3:07.41 (United States, 2024)
Championship record: men – 2:54.29 (United States, 1993), women – 3:16.71 (United States, 1993), mixed – 3:08.80 (United States, 2023)
Although record-holders will be in action in many events, a big part of the excitement at global championships is seeing which breakthrough performers will secure the spotlight. Like Claire Bryant in the long jump and Marie-Julie Bonnin in the pole vault at the recent World Indoor Championships in Nanjing, sometimes rising stars time their peaks to perfection.
*pending ratification
Records correct as of 14 May 2025. Full up-to-date world, championship and area records lists can be found in the stats section of the World Athletics website
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