The Athletics World Championships will start tomorrow in Moscow.
IAAF Athletics World Championships 2013 – Race Calendar and Facts
If you want to closely follow this event and know some facts about the men’s world records for the 24 events that will take place in Moscow you may consider reading these brief notes.
In men, Americas hold almost half (11) of the world records mainly obtained by US and Jamaican Athletes. Africa and Europe both hold 6, and Asia only 1.
The oldest World Record (27 years) belongs to former Eastern Germany’s Jürgen Schult in Discus Throw. The more recent one (less than a year old) was obtained by Aries Merritt (US) in 110m Hurdles.
On average, men’s world records, considering the 24 events, have endured for 12.25 years. In almost all technical events (throws and jumps) world records have more than 20 years while in races only 3 have more than 10 years.
If you want to know in detail all the records that officially stand before the championships, see the table below.
And don’t forget that beating a world record entitles athletes with a special award.
Athletics World Championships Prize Money: How Much For A World Record?
| Event | Record | Athlete | Country | Date |
| 100 m | 9.58 | Usain Bolt | Jamaica | 16 August 2009 |
| 200 m | 19.19 | Usain Bolt | Jamaica | 20 August 2009 |
| 400 m | 43.18 | Michael Johnson | United States | 26 August 1999 |
| 800 m | 1:40.91 | David Rudisha | Kenya | 9 August 2012 |
| 1500 m | 3:26.00 | Hicham El Guerrouj | Morocco | 14 July 1998 |
| 5000 m | 12:37.35 | Kenenisa Bekele | Ethiopia | 31 May 2004 |
| 10,000 m | 26:17.53 | Kenenisa Bekele | Ethiopia | 26 August 2005 |
| Marathon | 02:03:38 | Patrick Makau Musyoki | Kenya | 25 September 2011 |
| 3000 m steeplechase | 7:53.63 | Saif Saaeed Shaheen | Qatar | 3 September 2004 |
| 110 m hurdles | 12.80 | Aries Merritt | United States | 7 September 2012 |
| 400 m hurdles | 46.78 | Kevin Young | United States | 6 August 1992 |
| High jump | 2.45 m | Javier Sotomayor | Cuba | 27 July 1993 |
| Pole vault | 6.14 m | Sergey Bubka | Ukraine | 31 July 1994 |
| Long jump | 8.95 m | Mike Powell | United States | 30 August 1991 |
| Triple jump | 18.29 m | Jonathan Edwards | United Kingdom | 7 August 1995 |
| Shot put | 23.12 m | Randy Barnes | United States | 20 May 1990 |
| Discus throw | 74.08 m | Jürgen Schult | East Germany | 6 June 1986 |
| Hammer throw | 86.74 m | Yuriy Sedykh | Soviet Union | 30 August 1986 |
| Javelin throw | 98.48 m | Jan Železný | Czech Republic | 25 May 1996 |
| Decathlon | 9039 pts | Ashton Eaton | United States | 22–23 June 2012 |
| 20 km walk (road) | 01:17:16 | Vladimir Kanaykin | Russia | 29 September 2007 |
| 50 km walk (road) | 03:34:14 | Denis Nizhegorodov | Russia | 11 May 2008 |
| 4×100 m relay | 36.84 | Nesta Carter | Jamaica | 11 August 2012 |
| Michael Frater | ||||
| Yohan Blake | ||||
| Usain Bolt | ||||
| 4×400 m relay | 2:54.29 | Andrew Valmon | United States | 22 August 1993 |
| Quincy Watts | ||||
| Butch Reynolds | ||||
| Michael Johnson |
We will be publishing a similar post for Women’s World Records in a few minutes.
