Mile Run World Record Progression
The world record in the mile run is the fastest time set by a runner in the middle-distance track and field event.
World Athletics is the official body which oversees the records. Hicham El Guerrouj is the current men's record holder with his time of 3:43.13, while Faith Kipyegon has the women's record of 4:07.64. Since 1976, the mile has been the only non-metric distance recognized by the IAAF for record purposes. However, in international competitions such as the Olympics the term "mile" almost always refers to a distance of 1,500 meters, which is 109.344 meters shorter than an Imperial mile, even though four "full" laps of a 400 meter track is equal to 1,600 meters.
Accurate times for the mile run (1.609344 km) have been recorded since 1850, when the first precisely measured running tracks were built. Foot racing had become popular in England by the 17th century, when footmen would race and their masters would wager on the result.[citation needed] By the 19th century "pedestrianism", as it was called, had become extremely popular and the best times recorded in the period were by professionals.[citation needed] Even after professional foot racing died out, it was not until 1915 that the professional record of 4:123⁄4 (set by Walter George in 1886) was surpassed by an amateur.[citation needed]
Progression of the mile record accelerated in the 1930s as newsreel coverage greatly popularized the sport, making stars out of milers such as Jules Ladoumègue, Jack Lovelock, and Glenn Cunningham. In the 1940s, Swedes Arne Andersson and Gunder Hägg lowered the record to just over four minutes (4:01.4) while racing was curtailed during World War II in the combatant countries. After the war, Roger Bannister of the United Kingdom and John Landy of Australia vied to be the first to break the fabled four-minute mile barrier. Roger Bannister did it first on May 6, 1954, and John Landy followed 46 days later.
On the women's side, the first sub-5:00 mile was achieved by the UK's Diane Leather 23 days after Bannister's first sub-4:00 mile. However, the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) did not recognize women's records for the distance until 1967, when Anne Smith of the UK ran 4:37.0.
Men
Pre-IAAF
Professionals
| Time | Athlete | Nationality | Date | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4:28 | Charles Westhall |  United Kingdom | 26 July 1855 | London |
| 4:28 | Thomas Horspool | United Kingdom | 28 September 1857 | Manchester |
| 4:23 | Thomas Horspool | United Kingdom | 12 July 1858 | Manchester |
| 4:221⁄4 | Siah Albison | United Kingdom | 27 October 1860 | Manchester |
| 4:213⁄4 | William Lang | United Kingdom | 11 July 1863 | Manchester |
| 4:201⁄2 | Edward Mills | United Kingdom | 23 April 1864 | Manchester |
| 4:20 | Edward Mills | United Kingdom | 25 June 1864 | Manchester |
| 4:171⁄4 | William Lang | United Kingdom | 19 August 1865 | Manchester |
| 4:171⁄4 | William Richards | United Kingdom | 19 August 1865 | Manchester |
| 4:161⁄5 | William Cummings | United Kingdom | 14 May 1881 | Preston |
| 4:123⁄4 | Walter George | United Kingdom | 23 August 1886 | London |
Amateurs
| Time | Athlete | Nationality | Date | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4:55 | J. Heaviside | United Kingdom | 1 April 1861 | Dublin |
| 4:49 | J. Heaviside | United Kingdom | 27 May 1861 | Dublin |
| 4:46 | Matthew Greene | United Kingdom | 27 May 1861 | Dublin |
| 4:33 | George Farran | United Kingdom | 23 May 1862 | Dublin |
| 4:293⁄5 | Walter Chinnery | United Kingdom | 10 March 1868 | Cambridge |
| 4:284⁄5 | Walter Gibbs | United Kingdom | 3 April 1868 | London |
| 4:283⁄5 | Charles Gunton | United Kingdom | 31 March 1873 | London |
| 4:260⁄5 | Walter Slade | United Kingdom | 30 May 1874 | London |
| 4:241⁄2 | Walter Slade | United Kingdom | 1 June 1875 | London |
| 4:231⁄5 | Walter George | United Kingdom | 16 August 1880 | London |
| 4:192⁄5 | Walter George | United Kingdom | 3 June 1882 | London |
| 4:182⁄5 | Walter George | United Kingdom | 21 June 1884 | Birmingham |
| 4:174⁄5 | Thomas Conneff | United Kingdom | 26 August 1893 | Cambridge |
| 4:170⁄5 | Fred Bacon | United Kingdom | 6 July 1895 | London |
| 4:153⁄5 | Thomas Conneff | United Kingdom | 28 August 1895 | New York City |
| 4:152⁄5 | John Paul Jones |  United States | 27 May 1911 | Cambridge |
As there was no recognized official sanctioning body until 1912, there are several versions of the mile progression before that year. One version starts with Richard Webster (GBR) who ran 4:36.5 in 1865, surpassed by Chinnery in 1868.
Another variation of the amateur record progression pre-1862 is as follows:
| Time | Athlete | Nationality | Date | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4:52 | Cadet Marshall | United Kingdom | 2 September 1852 | Addiscome |
| 4:45 | Thomas Finch | United Kingdom | 3 November 1858 | Oxford |
| 4:45 | St. Vincent Hammick | United Kingdom | 15 November 1858 | Oxford |
| 4:40 | Gerald Surman | United Kingdom | 24 November 1859 | Oxford |
| 4:33 | George Farran | United Kingdom | 23 May 1862 | Dublin |
IAAF era
The first world record in the mile for men (athletics) was recognized by the International Amateur Athletics Federation (later known as the International Association of Athletics Federations and currently known as World Athletics) in 1913.
To June 21, 2009, the IAAF has ratified 32 world records in the event.
| Ratified | |
| Not ratified | |
| Ratified but later rescinded | |
| Pending ratification |
| Time | Auto | Athlete | Nationality | Date | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4:14.4 | John Paul Jones |  United States | 31 May 1913 | Allston, Mass. | |
| 4:12.6 | Norman Taber | United States | 16 July 1915 | Allston, Mass. | |
| 4:10.4 | Paavo Nurmi |  Finland | 23 August 1923 | Stockholm | |
| 4:09.2 | Jules Ladoumègue |  France | 4 October 1931 | Paris | |
| 4:07.6 | Jack Lovelock |  New Zealand | 15 July 1933 | Princeton, N.J. | |
| 4:06.8 | Glenn Cunningham | United States | 16 June 1934 | Princeton, N.J. | |
| 4:06.4 | Sydney Wooderson | United Kingdom | 28 August 1937 | Motspur Park | |
| 4:06.2 | Gunder Hägg |  Sweden | 1 July 1942 | Gothenburg | |
| 4:06.2 | Arne Andersson | Sweden | 10 July 1942 | Stockholm | |
| 4:04.6 | Gunder Hägg | Sweden | 4 September 1942 | Stockholm | |
| 4:02.6 | Arne Andersson | Sweden | 1 July 1943 | Gothenburg | |
| 4:01.6 | Arne Andersson | Sweden | 18 July 1944 | Malmö | |
| 4:01.4 | Gunder Hägg | Sweden | 17 July 1945 | Malmö | |
| 3:59.4 | Roger Bannister | United Kingdom | 6 May 1954 | Oxford | |
| 3:58.0 | John Landy |  Australia | 21 June 1954 | Turku | |
| 3:57.2 | Derek Ibbotson | United Kingdom | 19 July 1957 | London | |
| 3:54.5 | Herb Elliott | Australia | 6 August 1958 | Dublin | |
| 3:54.4 | Peter Snell | New Zealand | 27 January 1962 | Wanganui | |
| 3:54.1 | 3:54.04 | Peter Snell | New Zealand | 17 November 1964 | Auckland |
| 3:53.6 | Michel Jazy | France | 9 June 1965 | Rennes | |
| 3:51.3 | Jim Ryun |  United States | 17 July 1966 | Berkeley, Cal. | |
| 3:51.1 | Jim Ryun | United States | 23 June 1967 | Bakersfield, Cal. | |
| 3:51.0 | Filbert Bayi |  Tanzania | 17 May 1975 | Kingston | |
| 3:49.4 | John Walker | New Zealand | 12 August 1975 | Gothenburg | |
| 3:49.0 | 3:48.95 | Sebastian Coe | United Kingdom | 17 July 1979 | Oslo |
| 3:48.8 | Steve Ovett | United Kingdom | 1 July 1980 | Oslo | |
| 3:48.53 | Sebastian Coe | United Kingdom | 19 August 1981 | Zürich | |
| 3:48.40 | Steve Ovett | United Kingdom | 26 August 1981 | Koblenz | |
| 3:47.33 | Sebastian Coe | United Kingdom | 28 August 1981 | Brussels | |
| 3:46.32 | Steve Cram | United Kingdom | 27 July 1985 | Oslo | |
| 3:44.39 | Noureddine Morceli |  Algeria | 5 September 1993 | Rieti | |
| 3:43.13 | Hicham El Guerrouj |  Morocco | 7 July 1999 | Rome |
The "Time" column indicates the ratified mark; the "Auto" column indicates a fully automatic time that was also recorded in the event when hand-timed marks were used for official records, or which was the basis for the official mark, rounded to the 10th of a second, depending on the rules then in place.
Records for the mile were rounded up to the nearest tenth of a second commencing January 1, 1957. Previously, records were rounded up to the nearest fifth of a second. Those rounded-up marks were: Cunningham's 4:06.8 (timed at 4:06.7); Hägg's 4:06.2 (4:06.1); Hägg's 4:01.4 (4:01.3); Landy's 3:58.0 (3:57.9). Landy's mark was not retroactively adjusted when the new rule came into effect.: vii, 69–70 Auto times to the hundredth of a second were accepted by the IAAF for events up to and including 10,000 m beginning in 1981.
During the most recent world record setting race in 1999, Noah Ngeny came in second place to Hicham El Guerrouj with a time of 3:43.40, which continues to be the second fastest mile run in history, beating out the old world record set in 1993 by Noureddine Morceli. No-one else approached the record in the 21st century until September 16, 2023, when Jakob Ingebrigtsen and Yared Nuguse recorded the third and fourth fastest times in history, with 3:43.73 and 3:43.97 respectively, aged just 22 and 24 at the time.
Men's Indoor
Men Indoor Pre-IAAF
Men Indoor IAAF era
The IAAF started to recognize indoor world records in 1987, with the then world's best time, Coghlan's 3:49.78, ratified as the inaugural record for the mile.
| Time | Athlete | Nationality | Date | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3:49.78 | Eamonn Coghlan |  Ireland | February 27, 1983 | East Rutherford United States |
| 3:48.45 | Hicham El Guerrouj | Morocco | February 12, 1997 | Ghent  Belgium |
| 3:47.01 | Yomif Kejelcha |  Ethiopia | March 3, 2019 | Boston United States |
Women
Pre-IAAF
| Time | Athlete | Nationality | Date | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6:13.2 | Elizabeth Atkinson | United Kingdom | 24 June 1921 | Manchester |
| 5:27.5 | Ruth Christmas | United Kingdom | 20 August 1932 | London |
| 5:24.0 | Gladys Lunn | United Kingdom | 1 June 1936 | Brentwood |
| 5:23.0 | Gladys Lunn | United Kingdom | 18 July 1936 | London |
| 5:20.8 | Gladys Lunn | United Kingdom | 8 May 1937 | Dudley |
| 5:17.0 | Gladys Lunn | United Kingdom | 7 August 1937 | London |
| 5:15.3 | Evelyn Forster | United Kingdom | 22 July 1939 | London |
| 5:11.0 | Anne Oliver | United Kingdom | 14 June 1952 | London |
| 5:09.8 | Enid Harding | United Kingdom | 4 June 1953 | London |
| 5:08.0 | Anne Oliver | United Kingdom | 12 September 1953 | Consett |
| 5:02.6 | Diane Leather | United Kingdom | 30 September 1953 | London |
| 5:00.3 | Edith Treybal |  Romania | 1 November 1953 | Timișoara |
| 5:00.2 | Diane Leather | United Kingdom | 26 May 1954 | Birmingham |
| 4:59.6 | Diane Leather | United Kingdom | 29 May 1954 | Birmingham |
| 4:50.8 | Diane Leather | United Kingdom | 24 May 1955 | London |
| 4:45.0 | Diane Leather | United Kingdom | 21 September 1955 | London |
| 4:41.4 | Marise Chamberlain | New Zealand | 8 December 1962 | Perth |
| 4:39.2 | Anne Smith | United Kingdom | 13 May 1967 | London |
Women's IAAF era
The first world record in the mile for women (athletics) was recognized by the International Amateur Athletics Federation (later known as the International Association of Athletics Federations and currently known as World Athletics), in 1967. To June 21, 2009, the IAAF has ratified 13 world records in the event.
| Time | Auto | Athlete | Nationality | Date | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4:37.0 | Anne Smith | United Kingdom | 3 June 1967 | London | |
| 4:36.8 | Maria Gommers |  Netherlands | 14 June 1969 | Leicester | |
| 4:35.3 | Ellen Tittel |  West Germany | 20 August 1971 | Sittard | |
| 4:29.5 | Paola Pigni |  Italy | 8 August 1973 | Viareggio | |
| 4:23.8 | Natalia Mărășescu |  Romania | 21 May 1977 | Bucharest | |
| 4:22.1 | 4:22.09 | Natalia Mărășescu | Romania | 27 January 1979 | Auckland |
| 4:21.7 | 4:21.68 | Mary Decker | United States | 26 January 1980 | Auckland |
| 4:20.89 | Lyudmila Veselkova |  Soviet Union | 12 September 1981 | Bologna | |
| 4:18.08 | Mary Decker-Tabb | United States | 9 July 1982 | Paris | |
| 4:17.44 | Maricica Puică | Romania | 9 September 1982 | Rieti | |
| 4:16.71 | Mary Decker-Slaney | United States | 21 August 1985 | Zürich | |
| 4:15.61 | Paula Ivan | Romania | 10 July 1989 | Nice | |
| 4:12.56 | Svetlana Masterkova |  Russia | 14 August 1996 | Zürich | |
| 4:12.33 | Sifan Hassan | Netherlands | 12 July 2019 | Monaco | |
| 4:07.64 | Faith Kipyegon |  Kenya | 21 July 2023 | Monaco |
The "Time" column indicates the ratified mark; the "Auto" column indicates a fully automatic time that was also recorded in the event when hand-timed marks were used for official records, or which was the basis for the official mark, rounded to the 10th of a second, depending on the rules then in place.
The IAAF recognized times to the hundredth of a second starting in 1981.
Note:
- Decker ran 4:17.55 indoors in Houston on 16 February 1980, but this time was rejected as a record due to an oversized track.
- Natalya Artyomova (Soviet Union) ran 4:15.8 in Leningrad on 6 August 1984, but this time was rejected as a record due to there being no international judges.
Women's Indoor
Women Indoor Pre-IAAF
| Time | Athlete | Nationality | Date | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5:17.2 | Brenda Cook | United Kingdom | February 5, 1966 | Cosford United Kingdom |
| 5:03.6 | Joyce Smith | United Kingdom | February 12, 1966 | Cosford United Kingdom |
| 4:52.0 | Doris Brown | United States | February 19, 1966 | Vancouver  Canada |
| 4:40.4 | Doris Brown | United States | February 18, 1967 | Vancouver Canada |
| 4:38.5 | Debbie Heald | United States | March 17, 1972 | Richmond United States |
| 4:35.6 | Francie Larrieu | United States | February 17, 1973 | San Diego United States |
| 4:34.6 | Francie Larrieu | United States | February 2, 1974 | Seattle United States |
| 4:29.0 | Francie Larrieu | United States | February 15, 1975 | San Diego United States |
| 4:28.5 | Francie Larrieu | United States | March 3, 1975 | Richmond United States |
| 4:24.6 | Mary Decker | United States | January 22, 1982 | Los Angeles United States |
| 4:21.47 | Mary Decker | United States | February 12, 1982 | New York United States |
Women Indoor IAAF era
| Time | Athlete | Nationality | Date | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4:20.5 | Mary Decker | United States | February 19, 1982 | San Diego United States |
| 4:18.86 | Doina Melinte |  Romania | February 13, 1988 | East Rutherford United States |
| 4:17.14 | Doina Melinte | Romania | February 9, 1990 | East Rutherford United States |
| 4:13.31 | Genzebe Dibaba | Ethiopia | February 17, 2016 | Stockholm Sweden |
See also
References
Further reading
- Bascomb, Neil (2004). The Perfect Mile. Willow. ISBN 978-0-0071737-3-0.
- Bryant, John (2004). 3:59.4 The Quest To Break The Four Minute Mile. Hutchinson. ISBN 978-0-0918003-3-8.
- Nelson, Cordner; Quercetani, Roberto (1985). The Milers. Tafnews Press. ISBN 0-911521-15-1.
- Phillips, Bob (2004). 3:59.4 The Quest For The Four-Minute Mile. Parrs Wood Press. ISBN 978-1-9031584-9-4.
External links
- Runner's World data
- Running Times Magazine data
- Frankfurt University (in German) (Internet Archive)
- Women's progression
- Another women's mile progression
- Frankfurt University (Women's progression) (in German) (Internet Archive)
- Clips of Bannister's 4 minute mile
- Video of current Men's world record by Hicham El Guerrouj
This article uses material from the Wikipedia English article Mile run world record progression, which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 license ("CC BY-SA 3.0"); additional terms may apply (view authors). Content is available under CC BY-SA 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
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