# The oldest athletics world records still standing

Jarmila Kratochvílová's 800 metres from 1983 has stood for more than 40 years, and eight of the records were set in 1988 or earlier. The oldest outdoor world records nobody has broken, from oldest to newest. Which one will fall first?

- 0 votes · 15 items
- Sep 14, 2026 · Sara Lindberg
- https://even.best/en/l/3499/the-oldest-athletics-world-records-still-standing

## Top 15

1. **Jarmila Kratochvílová, 800 m (1983)** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — 1:53.28 in Munich, the oldest athletics record.
2. **Marita Koch, 400 m (1985)** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — 47.60, the only one of her 16 world records still standing.
3. **Yuri Sedykh, hammer (1986)** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — 86.74 metres.
4. **Natalya Lisovskaya, shot put (1987)** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — 22.63 metres.
5. **Galina Chistyakova, long jump (1988)** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — 7.52 metres.
6. **Gabriele Reinsch, discus (1988)** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — 76.80 metres.
7. **Florence Griffith-Joyner, 100 m (1988)** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — 10.49 seconds.
8. **Jackie Joyner-Kersee, heptathlon (1988)** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — 7,291 points.
9. **Florence Griffith-Joyner, 200 m (1988)** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — 21.34 seconds in Seoul.
10. **Soviet Union, women's 4 × 400 m (1988)** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — 3:15.17.
11. **Mike Powell, long jump (1991)** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — 8.95 metres at the Tokyo World Championships.
12. **Javier Sotomayor, high jump (1993)** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — 2.45 metres.
13. **Jonathan Edwards, triple jump (1995)** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — 18.29 metres.
14. **Jan Železný, javelin (1996)** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — 98.48 metres.
15. **Hicham El Guerrouj, 1,500 m (1998)** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — 3:26.00.

How is this ranking ordered? By people's votes: each ▲ adds a point and each ▼ takes one away. Anyone can vote and add what is missing.