What WR is the most mind boggling?

Definitely Komen's 3000 WR for me. I watch the video about once a year and each time I get the same feeling of amazement and disbelief. I just cannot fathom how it was humanly possible.

The esteem to which the 3K WR has been held is a reoccurring trend on LR so idk if anyone can explain this to me in a non-condescending way

7:20.67 = 58.75/lap
12:35.36 = 60.42/lap

theres only 1.5s/lap between it but the latter is held for 5 more laps. For me the 5000m WR is more impressive, no? (not saying it's the most impressive WR, just saying surely it's more impressive than the 3000 WR)

This is overselling it... There have been almost no serious set up attempts by someone actually capable of breaking it. Bekele and and El G took like one serious shot apiece. Aregawi taking it out too hard and flaming out is not a "serious attempt." It is a really good record though and seemed to be precisely in Komen's sweet spot.

400m and 3000m women of course.

My favorite was Michael Johnson’s 19.32. It was mind boggling because of the previous record and how much it lowered that record. The previous record of 19.72 was set at high altitude and had stood since 1979. It was almost mythical. Then 17 years later, Johnson comes along and, after first breaking the record at the US Olympic Trials, runs 0.4 faster than the old record on the sport’s biggest stage as the featured Team USA track athlete in Atlanta while wearing those iconic golden spikes. Astonishing!

A couple of points, I get what you're saying and of course the 5000 record is super impressive, but....

The 3000 WR is now 26 years old and as another poster indicated, nobody has really come close, even the all-time greats with multiple attempts. I think if El G or Bekele could have done it, they would have...and if they couldn't do it, what does that tell you?

And in looking at the current crop of runners, even with advances in shoe technology, it certainly seems like the record is going to be safe for quite a while.

Yes, El G and Bekele have the other top 3k times but those seem like one-off, unserious attempts or just normal races. If they set it up seriously and optimized for 3k they would have been a lot closer... just my opinion but I think El G was more likely to break it than Bekele.

Another way to evaluate the strength of the 3k is also by looking at the 2-mile record. Gebreselassie clearly wanted it BAD and sources say he would have earned a million dollar bonus for breaking 8 minutes. He only clocked 8:01, three different times. He apparently was better engineered for 5k and up. Meanwhile Komen ran sub 8 TWICE-- it seems that miler-type speed is needed to be a 3k boss. Jakob may have a shot in a couple years.

The 5000 record clearly is the better one.

Wait, like, the Supreme Court lady?

Fair enough no one has but that may be partly just down to priorities - Cheptegei broke Bekele's WR's after 16 & 15 years, and hasnt gotten back to the same level of performance since. I think at the time had it been his priority he could've run it very close (not forgetting his current 3K PR is only the same as his 3K split during his 5000m WR).

And while I appreciate the difference between 7:26 and 7:20, I think given the right conditions Barega (7:26) might be/have been the athlete for the job in the right race, or a previous version of Kejelcha (7:26). Even Kiplimo (7:26) might still have the ability but again seems to be a man without a distance (or a man for every distance) and seems more interested bouncing between events than sticking to a specialty. It's just not as high profile an event/record, and so requires much more coordination and $$$ to get athletes onboard and focused on it (not saying it's right) I imagine, especially during the current busy Olympic/World Champs etc cycle

Her cousin!

So, if someone runs 7:19 tomorrow, the 5000m becomes the stronger record?

This post just underscored for me the mind boggling nature of Komen’s record. When I first saw 7:19, my impulsive first thought was, “No way in hell can anyone ever run a 3k that fast, how absurd!” Then it hit me that a 7:19 would be just one second faster than what Komen ran. Wow!

First, under 60s per lap by more than a full second is in itself extremely impressive. We all like round numbers.

Second, Komen did it without the advent of pacing light and superspikes. That makes it even more impressive.

However, I think Bekele's 12:37 trumps both, especially considering he had to run the last 3k by himself — no wavelight, no superspike, nothing. (Komen had someone pace him through a 4:53 2k)

Jonathan Edwards 18.29

Over 1 foot further than he previous world record holder Banks and still stands nearly 30 years on

Willie Banks started the rhythmic clapping all jumpers now use

Currently, the 400 hurdles on both sides

Have you thought about my point?

7:20 is not breakable anytime soon. You have guys micro dosing on the newest ped with another 5 second advantage cheat shoes have to offer that aren’t even close to 7:20. Even El G was only 7:23.

Any women’s record that was set by effectively a man shouldn’t count in this discussion — so that’s pretty much all of the power events.

Otoh, the women’s distance marks are just “normally doped”, as I understand it. No insane body changes, just better performances (possibly).

So maybe Wang.

But even I, a sprinter/deca type, have always considered KOMEN to be the Mt. Everest of records. What a machine, I am always surprised that he actually survived such an effort, seriously.

Honorable mentions go to BJ 9.83, MJ 19.32, Beamon 8.90, and maybe Edwards.

KOMEN! Just watch the guy, it’s like he was a resurrection of some ancient Egyptian mythical character, not of this world, at least not of this time. There was something deeply mysterious about that guy at the time, a “the aliens have landed” sort of thing. He was straight from an ancient stone relief.

Will it be broken? Sure, but his record will still be “the big one”, just like some historical figures were way richer than Bezos, Gates, etc.

Absolutely epic. KOMEN 🏔