- Mile run world record progression
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The world record in the mile run is the best mark set by a male or female runner in the middle-distance track and field event. The IAAF 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 minutes, while Svetlana Masterkova has the women's record of 4:12.56 minutes.[1] Since 1976, the mile is the only non-metric distance recognized by the IAAF for record purposes.
Accurate times for the mile run (1.609344 km) were not recorded until after 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. By the 19th century "pedestrianism", as it was called, had become very popular and the best times recorded in the period were by professionals. Even after professional foot racing died out, it was not until 1915 that the professional record of 4:12¾ minutes (set by Walter George in 1886) was surpassed by an amateur.
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 in the combatant countries due to World War II. After the war, it was John Landy of Australia and Britain's Roger Bannister who took up the challenge of being the first to break the fabled four-minute mile barrier. Roger Bannister did it first, and John Landy followed 46 days later. By the end of the 20th century, the record had been lowered to 3:43.13, by Hicham El Guerrouj of Morocco in 1999.[2]
On the women's side, the first sub-5:00 mile was achieved by Britain's Diane Leather 23 days after Bannister's first sub-4:00 mile. But the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) did not recognize women's records for the distance until 1967, when Anne Rosemary Smith of Britain ran 4:37.0. The current women's world record is 4:12.56 by Svetlana Masterkova of Russia, set on August 14, 1996.
Contents
Men's record progression
Professionals
Time Athlete Nationality Date Venue 4:28 Charles Westhall 
United Kingdom26 July 1855 London 4:28 Thomas Horspool United Kingdom28 September 1857 Manchester 4:23 Thomas Horspool United Kingdom12 July 1858 Manchester 4:22¼ Siah Albison United Kingdom27 October 1860 Manchester 4:21¾ William Lang United Kingdom11 July 1863 Manchester 4:20½ Edward Mills United Kingdom23 April 1864 Manchester 4:20 Edward Mills United Kingdom25 June 1864 Manchester 4:17¼ William Lang United Kingdom19 August 1865 Manchester 4:17¼ William Richards United Kingdom19 August 1865 Manchester 4:16 1/5 William Cummings United Kingdom14 May 1881 Preston 4:12¾ Walter George United Kingdom23 August 1886 London Amateurs
Time Athlete Nationality Date Venue 4:55 J. Heaviside 
Ireland1 April 1861 Dublin 4:49 J. Heaviside Ireland27 May 1861 Dublin 4:46 Matthew Greene Ireland27 May 1861 Dublin 4:33 George Farran Ireland23 May 1862 Dublin 4:29 3/5 Walter Chinnery United Kingdom10 March 1868 Cambridge 4:28 4/5 Walter Gibbs United Kingdom3 April 1868 London 4:28 3/5 Charles Gunton United Kingdom31 March 1873 London 4:26 0/5 Walter Slade United Kingdom30 May 1874 London 4:24½ Walter Slade United Kingdom1 June 1875 London 4:23 1/5 Walter George United Kingdom16 August 1880 London 4:19 2/5 Walter George United Kingdom3 June 1882 London 4:18 2/5 Walter George United Kingdom21 June 1884 Birmingham 4:17 4/5 Thomas Conneff 
United States26 August 1893 Cambridge, Mass. 4:17 0/5 Fred Bacon United Kingdom6 July 1895 London 4:15 3/5 Thomas Conneff United States28 August 1895 New York 4:15 2/5 John Paul Jones United States27 May 1911 Cambridge, Mass. 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.[3]
Another variation of the amateur record progression pre-1862 is as follows:[4]
Time Athlete Nationality Date Venue 4:52 Cadet Marshall United Kingdom2 September 1852 Addiscome 4:45 Thomas Finch United Kingdom3 November 1858 Oxford 4:45 St. Vincent Hammick United Kingdom15 November 1858 Oxford 4:40 Gerald Surman United Kingdom24 November 1859 Oxford 4:33 George Farran Ireland23 May 1862 Dublin IAAF era
The first world record in the mile for men (athletics) was recognized by the International Amateur Athletics Federation, now known as the International Association of Athletics Federations, in 1913.
To June 21, 2009, the IAAF has ratified 32 world records in the event.[5]
Time Auto Athlete Nationality Date Venue 4:14.4 John Paul Jones United States31 May 1913[5] Allston, Mass. 4:12.6 Norman Taber United States16 July 1915[5] Allston, Mass. 4:10.4 Paavo Nurmi 
Finland23 August 1923[5] Stockholm 4:09.2 Jules Ladoumègue 
France4 October 1931[5] Paris 4:07.6 Jack Lovelock 
New Zealand15 July 1933[5] Princeton, N.J. 4:06.8 Glenn Cunningham United States16 June 1934[5] Princeton, N.J. 4:06.4 Sydney Wooderson United Kingdom28 August 1937[5] Motspur Park 4:06.2 Gunder Hägg 
Sweden1 July 1942[5] Göteborg 4:06.2 Arne Andersson Sweden10 July 1942[5] Stockholm 4:04.6 Gunder Hägg Sweden4 September 1942[5] Stockholm 4:02.6 Arne Andersson Sweden1 July 1943[5] Göteborg 4:01.6 Arne Andersson Sweden18 July 1944[5] Malmö 4:01.4 Gunder Hägg Sweden17 July 1945[5] Malmö 3:59.4 Roger Bannister United Kingdom6 May 1954[5] Oxford 3:58.0 John Landy 
Australia21 June 1954[5] Turku 3:57.2 Derek Ibbotson United Kingdom19 July 1957[5] London 3:54.5 Herb Elliott Australia6 August 1958[5] Santry, Dublin 3:54.4 Peter Snell New Zealand27 January 1962[5] Wanganui 3:54.1 3:54.04 Peter Snell New Zealand17 November 1964[5] Auckland 3:53.6 Michel Jazy France9 June 1965[5] Rennes 3:51.3 Jim Ryun United States17 July 1966[5] Berkeley, Cal. 3:51.1 Jim Ryun United States23 June 1967[5] Bakersfield, Cal. 3:51.0 Filbert Bayi 
Tanzania17 May 1975[5] Kingston 3:49.4 John Walker New Zealand12 August 1975[5] Göteborg 3:49.0 3:48.95 Sebastian Coe United Kingdom17 July 1979[5] Oslo 3:48.8 Steve Ovett United Kingdom1 July 1980[5] Oslo 3:48.53 Sebastian Coe United Kingdom19 August 1981[5] Zürich 3:48.40 Steve Ovett United Kingdom26 August 1981[5] Koblenz 3:47.33 Sebastian Coe United Kingdom28 August 1981[5] Bruxelles 3:46.32 Steve Cram United Kingdom27 July 1985[5] Oslo 3:44.39 Noureddine Morceli 
Algeria5 September 1993[5] Rieti 3:43.13 Hicham El Guerrouj 
Morocco7 July 1999[5] Rome Auto times to the hundredth of a second were accepted by the IAAF for events up to and including 10,000 m from 1981.[5]
Women's record progression
Pre-IAAF
Time Athlete Nationality Date Venue 6:13.2 Elizabeth Atkinson United Kingdom24 June 1921 Manchester 5:27.5 Ruth Christmas United Kingdom20 August 1932 London 5:24.0 Gladys Lunn United Kingdom1 June 1936 Brentwood 5:23.0 Gladys Lunn United Kingdom18 July 1936 London 5:20.8 Gladys Lunn United Kingdom8 May 1937 Dudley 5:17.0 Gladys Lunn United Kingdom7 August 1937 London 5:15.3 Evelyn Forster United Kingdom22 July 1939 London 5:11.0 Anne Oliver United Kingdom14 June 1952 London 5:09.8 Enid Harding United Kingdom4 June 1953 London 5:08.0 Anne Oliver United Kingdom12 September 1953 Consett 5:02.6 Diane Leather United Kingdom30 September 1953 London 5:00.3 Edith Treybal 
Romania1 November 1953 Timisoara 5:00.2 Diane Leather United Kingdom26 May 1954 Birmingham 4:59.6 Diane Leather United Kingdom29 May 1954 Birmingham 4:50.8 Diane Leather United Kingdom24 May 1955 London 4:45.0 Diane Leather United Kingdom21 September 1955 London 4:41.4 Marise Chamberlain New Zealand8 December 1962 Perth 4:39.2 Anne Rosemary Smith United Kingdom13 May 1967 London IAAF era
The first world record in the mile for women (athletics) was recognized by the International Amateur Athletics Federation, now known as the International Association of Athletics Federations, in 1967.
To June 21, 2009, the IAAF has ratified 13 world records in the event.[6]
Time Athlete Nationality Date Venue 4:37.0 Anne Rosemary Smith United Kingdom3 June 1967[6] London 4:36.8 Maria Gommers 
Netherlands14 June 1969[6] Leicester 4:35.3 Ellen Tittel 
West Germany20 August 1971[6] Sittard 4:29.5 Paola Pigni 
Italy8 August 1973[6] Viareggio 4:23.8 Natalia Marasescu Romania21 May 1977[6] Bucharest 4:22.09* Natalia Marasescu Romania27 January 1979[6] Auckland 4:21.68* Mary Slaney United States26 January 1980[6] Auckland 4:20.89 Lyudmila Veselkova 
Soviet Union12 September 1981[6] Bologna 4:18.08 Mary Slaney United States9 July 1982[6] Paris 4:17.44 Maricica Puică Romania9 September 1982[6] Rieti 4:16.71 Mary Slaney United States21 August 1985[6] Zürich 4:15.61 Paula Ivan Romania10 July 1989[6] Nice 4:12.56 Svetlana Masterkova 
Russia14 August 1996[6] Zürich Actual times run are noted above. Those times with an asterisk were not the times ratified by the IAAF. Marasescu's 4:22.09 was ratified as 4:22.1. Slaney's 4:21.68 was initially ratified as 4:21.7 until the IAAF recognized times to the hundredth of a second in 1981.[6]
Mary Slaney ran 4:17.55 in Houston on 16 February 1980, and Natalya Artyomova (Soviet Union) ran 4:15.8 in Leningrad on 6 August 1984, but neither time was ratified by the IAAF.
See also
References
- ^ One Mile Records. IAAF (2011). Retrieved on 2011-06-14.
- ^ IAAF International Association of Athletics Federations - IAAF.org - Statistics - Records
- ^ "World Mile Record Progression". Berkshire Sports. http://www.berkshiresports.org/index.php?ID=milerecordprogression. Retrieved 2011-09-04.
- ^ http://www.stat.colostate.edu/~jah/teach/st540/data/mile.info
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah "12th IAAF World Championships In Athletics: IAAF Statistics Handbook. Berlin 2009." (PDF). Monte Carlo: IAAF Media & Public Relations Department. 2009. pp. Pages 546, 549–50. http://www.iaaf.org/mm/document/competitions/competition/05/15/63/20090706014834_httppostedfile_p345-688_11303.pdf. Retrieved August 4, 2009.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o "12th IAAF World Championships In Athletics: IAAF Statistics Handbook. Berlin 2009." (PDF). Monte Carlo: IAAF Media & Public Relations Department. 2009. pp. Pages 546, 642. http://www.iaaf.org/mm/document/competitions/competition/05/15/63/20090706014834_httppostedfile_p345-688_11303.pdf. Retrieved August 4, 2009.
Further reading
- Cordner Nelson and Roberto Quercetani, The Milers, Tafnews Press, 1985, ISBN 0-911521-15-1
- Bascomb Neal, "The Perfect Mile", Houghton Mifflin, 2004, ISBN 0-618391-12-6
External links
- Runner's World data
- Running Times Magazine data
- Frankfurt University (German)(Broken link)
- Women's progression
- Another women's mile progression
- Frankfurt University (Women's progression) (German) (Broken link)
- Clips of Banister's 4 minute mile
- Video of current Men's world record by Hicham El Guerrouj
Athletics record progressions World 800 metres (progression) · 1500 metres (progression) · One mile (progression) · 3000 metres (men) (women)5000 metres (progression) · 10,000 metres (progression) · Marathon (progression) · 10 km walk (men) (women) · 20 km walk (men) (women) · 50 km walk (men)110/100 metres hurdles (men) (women) · 400 metres hurdles (men) (women) · 3000 metres steeplechase (men) (women)High jump (men outdoor • men indoor) (women) · Long jump (progression) · Triple jump (progression) · Pole vault (men outdoor • men indoor) (women)European Categories:- Athletics (track and field) record progressions
- World records in athletics
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