Rudisha's near 1:40 flat 800m in '12 or Komen's 7:20 3000m from ways back? 😏 Komen's 2 miler 7:58:61 is not recognized by World Athletics, I would rank it pretty high regardless.
I'd say El Guerrouj's 3:26.00 or either of Bolt's WRs. El G's mark has been there a long time, and it's one of the most fiercely contested events. Same can be said for Bolt's WRs.
The 5k and 10k WRs might be affected more because of the supershoes. Those marks were pretty nasty back in the day, but it seems it's been more commonplace to get down near those times recently.
Rudisha's near 1:40 flat 800m in '12 or Komen's 7:20 3000m from ways back? 😏 Komen's 2 miler 7:58:61 is not recognized by World Athletics, I would rank it pretty high regardless.
Among the general population, I’d say that Bolt’s 9.58 is the most respected due to the prominence of the 100m and the fact that Bolt is a household name even among non track fans.
On the boards, I’ve generally seen praise and reverence for Komen’s 7:20 3k that few other records receive.
Personally, I find Kipchoge’s marathon WR to be the most mind boggling. I still find it hard to believe a human can run sub 70 second 400s consecutively for that long.
Among the general population, I’d say that Bolt’s 9.58 is the most respected due to the prominence of the 100m and the fact that Bolt is a household name even among non track fans.
On the boards, I’ve generally seen praise and reverence for Komen’s 7:20 3k that few other records receive.
Personally, I find Kipchoge’s marathon WR to be the most mind boggling. I still find it hard to believe a human can run sub 70 second 400s consecutively for that long.
But Bekele came 2 seconds close. No one ever came that close to the 1500m record.
I personally think Bolts 100m and Rudishas 800m rank highest for me personally.
The fact that very few people have even broken 1:42 and 1:43 for 800m speaks volumes about Rudishas success. I personally think the 1500m WR has less than 5 years left, but I’m not sure we will even see someone break 1:42 in the next 5 years. The average male can’t even hit 12.6 100m pace period, and Rudisha did it for half a mile. That’s INSANE to me.
9.58 is 9.58.
7:20 for a 3k is insane though. I just don’t think it’s trained for/ran enough to really get a grasp at just how untouchable or not untouchable that truly is.
Rudisha's near 1:40 flat 800m in '12 or Komen's 7:20 3000m from ways back? 😏 Komen's 2 miler 7:58:61 is not recognized by World Athletics, I would rank it pretty high regardless.
I wouldn't call 1:40.91 'near 1:40 flat'.
It was one of the all-time great WRs given he ran it gun to tape in an Olympic final, but it was only 2/10ths of a second faster than Kipketer 15 years earlier, and less than a second faster than Coe over 30 years previously. When Coe ran 1:41.73, nobody else in history had ran faster than 1:43.4. Also, Coe's massive improvement in time wasn't due to a superior track or shoes, or even pacing.
Max Burgin will likely run 1:40.5 gun to tape in the 2024 Olympic final.
The fact that very few people have even broken 1:42 and 1:43 for 800m speaks volumes about Rudishas success. I personally think the 1500m WR has less than 5 years left, but I’m not sure we will even see someone break 1:42 in the next 5 years. The average male can’t even hit 12.6 100m pace period, and Rudisha did it for half a mile. That’s INSANE to me.
DAVID RUSDISHA 2012 800 WR 1:40.91
When I was young, I was in such awe of Seb Coe's 1981 800 WR 1:41.73, even his previous 1:42.33 from '79 when he took more than a second off of Juantorena's previous WR. Then Wilson Kipketer's 1997 assaults, tying and eventually chipping it down to 1:41.11! Then of course, enter David Rudisha's chipping away and his 1:40.91 in the London 2012 Olympics. What a thrill it was to watch that race in person!
Komen's 3k, Rudisha's 800m, ElG 4k. I think of those the 4k is the hardest to value because of how infrequently it is run. But after watching yesterday's Monaco 3k you realize just how hard that 3k is. Aregawi ran 12:50 in hot conditions by himself at Pre and wasn't even close to 7:20.
Kipchoge's 2:01 is mind boggling, but not a track record being asked by the OP.
Among the general population, I’d say that Bolt’s 9.58 is the most respected due to the prominence of the 100m and the fact that Bolt is a household name even among non track fans.
On the boards, I’ve generally seen praise and reverence for Komen’s 7:20 3k that few other records receive.
Personally, I find Kipchoge’s marathon WR to be the most mind boggling. I still find it hard to believe a human can run sub 70 second 400s consecutively for that long.
But Bekele came 2 seconds close. No one ever came that close to the 1500m record.
Lagat and Kiprop ran within 0.7 of El G's record, that's pretty close.
Bolt's 9.58 is the most impressive. Top guys since then are happy to get in the 9.7s.
A word for Warholm's record as well. Running a solid 400-flat time over the hurdles, in the Olympic final is impressive.
Powell's and Beamon's long jump, just to add variety to this thread. What Beamon did was utterly insane in 1968, altitude or not. It would almost be like someone skipping through the 25s in a 10000 and dipping into the 24-minute range. (Of course marks weren't as tough then annnnd it was at altitude, but for the sake of relevance it was still astounding).