In a recent episode of the House of Run podcast, Malcolm Gladwell joined the show to geek out on track with Kevin Sully and Jason Halpin. It’s a very good episode and we recommend that you give it a listen and subscribe to their podcast as well as Gladwell’s “Revisionist History.”

Halpin asks Gladwell what his thoughts are on all of the talk about wiping the slate clean with world records pre-dating 2005.

Here’s a piece of what Gladwell had to say around the 24-minute mark:

“I wonder whether we should do records by decade. We’d just say, in each era, we’d have a series of people who set the world record. Jim Ryun would continue to hold the world record in his era. Seb Coe is the 800 meter world record holder in his era…You’d have a complete reset at the turn of every decade…I wonder whether that could a way of reinvigorating the sport.”

“You could say, wow, the 2000’s were quite a decade for distance running. But then we’d say those marks are not relevant to today. We’ve living under different circumstances — people train differently and have different rules.

“I think it’s wrong to erase the historical record because those were extraordinary performances. The point isn’t to forget them or nullify them, the point is to put them in context.

“Maybe it’s going to be impossible to define exactly the context for middle distance running in 2004, but all we can say is the context is different. Hicham El Guerrouj was churning out 3:27’s like they’re a walk in the park. I’m sorry, but that’s not how distance runners look today. So let’s put [those marks] in their time and place.

“We’re holding two things in our head by saying that guy was the best ever, but now we’re rewarding the best in our time. I don’t see that as negating the best. We’ll still recognize who the all-time greats are.

“We’re balancing two contradictory notions — one is the absolute nature of records, and two is the clear fact that eras change. Maybe this is a way to compromise between those two realities.

“The biggest crisis track and field faces right now is legitimacy. We’ve staked our claim on the absolute nature of these records. Now that’s working against us because so many of the records are clearly bullshit. We’ve said we’re all about the sanctity of these records and then it turns out there’s nothing to sanctify about them. Every time we have one of these arguments about who was or wasn’t using [drugs], we just undermine the sport even more. So I say, let’s move on and create another [set of records].

“In basketball, people have no problem with this. They can simultaneously say Bob Cousy was an unbelieveable talent at point guard, and that he couldn’t even start on most college teams today. They have no problem with this. Why do we [as track fans] have a problem with this?”

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It’s a very interesting point and so out of curiosity we decided to do our best to compile the Decade or Era records that Gladwell suggested. Here’s what world records would look like for the last 60 years so six “eras.” (We threw in the mile and half marathon in the chart for fun.) We used the track and field all-time performances page, which is constantly updated and maintained by Peter Larsson.

Below the record charts, we’ve shared a few of our observations.

MEN’S DECADE RECORDS

2000-2009

Event	Mark	Name	Country	Record Set In	Record Date
100 meters	9.58	Usain Bolt	JAM	Berlin	Aug. 16, 2009
200 meters	19.19	Usain Bolt	JAM	Berlin	Aug. 20, 2009
400 meters	43.45	Jeremy Wariner	USA	Osaka	Aug. 31, 2007
800 meters	1:42.01	David Rudisha	KEN	Rieti	Sept. 6, 2009
1,500 meters	3:26.12	Hicham El Guerrouj	MAR	Brussels	Aug. 24, 2001
Mile	3:44.95	Hicham El Guerrouj	MAR	Rome	June 29, 2001
3,000 meter steeplechase	7:53.63	Saif Saeed Shaheen	QAT	Brussels	Sept. 3, 2004
5,000 meters	12:37.35	Kenenisa Bekele	ETH	Hengelo	May 31, 2004
10,000 meters	26:17.53	Kenenisa Bekele	ETH	Brussels	Sept. 26, 2008
Half Marathon	58.33	Sammy Wanjiru	KEN	The Hague	March 17, 2007
Marathon	2:03:59	Haile Gebrselassie	ETH	Berlin	Sept. 28, 2008
110m hurdles	12.87	Dayron Robles	CUB	Ostrava	June 12, 2008
400m hurdles	47.24	Kerron Clement	USA	Carson	June 26, 2005
High Jump	2.40m	Vyacheslav Voronin	RUS	London	Aug. 5, 2000
Pole Vault	6.05m	Dmitriy Markov	AUS	Edmonton	Aug. 9, 2001
Long Jump	8.74m	Dwight Phillips	USA	Eugene	June 7, 2009
Triple Jump	17.92m	Jonathan Edwards	GBR	Edmonton	Aug. 6, 2001
Shot Put	22.67m	Kevin Toth	USA	Lawrence	April 19, 2003
Discus	73.88m	Virgilijus Alekna	LTU	Kaunas	Aug. 3, 2000
Javelin	92.80	Jan Zelezný	CZE	Edmonton	Aug. 12, 2001
Hammer Throw	84.90	Vadim Devyatovskiy	BLR	Stayki	July 21, 2005
Decathlon	9026	Roman Sebrle	CZE	Götzis	May 27, 2001

 

1990-1999

Event	Mark	Name	Country	Record Set In	Record Date
100 meters	9.79	Maurice Greene	USA	Athens	June 16, 1999
200 meters	19.32	Michael Johnson	USA	Atlanta	Aug. 1, 1996
400 meters	43.18	Michael Johnson	USA	Sevilla	Aug. 26, 1999
800 meters	1:41.11	Wilson Kipketer	DEN	Cologne	Aug. 24, 1997
1,500 meters	3:26.00	Hicham El Guerrouj	MAR	Rome	July 14, 1998
Mile	3:43.13	Hicham El Guerrouj	MAR	Rome	July 7, 1999
3,000 meter steeplechase	7:55.72	Bernard Barmasai	KEN	Cologne	Aug. 24, 1997
5,000 meters	12:39.36	Haile Gebrselassie	ETH	Helsinki	June 13, 1998
10,000 meters	26:22.75	Haile Gebrselassie	ETH	Hengelo	June 1, 1998
Half Marathon	59:17	Paul Tergat	KEN	Milan	April 4, 1998
Marathon	2:05:42	Khalid Khannouchi	MAR	Chicago	Oct. 24, 1999
110m hurdles	12.91	Colin Jackson	GBR	Stuttgart	Aug. 20, 1993
400m hurdles	46.78	Kevin Young	USA	Barcelona	Aug. 6, 1992
High Jump	2.45m	Javier Sotomayor	CUB	Salamanca	July 27, 1993
Pole Vault	6.14A	Sergey Bubka	UKR	Sestriere	July 31, 1994
Long Jump	8.95m	Mike Powell	USA	Tokyo	Aug.30, 1991
Triple Jump	18.29m	Jonathan Edwards	GBR	Gothenburg	Aug. 7, 1995
Shot Put	23.12m	Randy Barnes	USA	Westwood	May 20, 1990
Discus	71.50m	Lars Riedel	GER	Wiesbaden	May 3, 1997
Javelin	98.48m	Jan Zelezný	CZE	Jena	May 25, 1996
Hammer Throw	84.62m	Igor Astapkovich	BLR	Sevilla	June 6, 1992
Decathlon	8994	Tomás Dvorák	CZE	Prague	July 4, 1999

 

1980-1989

Event	Mark	Name	Country	Record Set In	Record Date
100 meters	9.92	Carl Lewis	USA	Seoul	Sept. 24, 1988
200 meters	19.75	Carl Lewis	USA	Indianapolis	June 19, 1983
400 meters	43.29	Harry Reynolds	USA	Zurich	Aug. 17, 1988
800 meters	1:41.73	Sebastian Coe	GBR	Florence	June 10, 1981
1,500 meters	3:29.46	Saïd Aouita	MAR	Berlin	Aug. 23, 1985
Mile	3:46.32	Steve Cram	GBR	Oslo	July 27, 1985
3,000 meter steeplechase	8:05.35	Peter Koech	KEN	Stockholm	July 3, 1989
5,000 meters	12:58.39	Saïd Aouita	MAR	Rome	July 22, 1987
10,000 meters	27:08.23	Arturo Barrios	MEX	Berlin	Aug. 18, 1989
Half Marathon	60:11A	Matthews Temane Zithulele Sinqe	RSA RSA	East London East London	July 25, 1987
Marathon	2:06:50	Belayneh Dinsamo	ETH	Rotterdam	April 17, 1988
110m hurdles	12.92	Roger Kingdom	USA	Zurich	Aug. 16, 1989
400m hurdles	47.02	Edwin Moses	USA	Koblenz	Aug. 31, 1983
High Jump	2.44	Javier Sotomayor	CUB	San Juan	July 29, 1989
Pole Vault	6.06m	Sergey Bubka	UKR	Nice	July 10, 1988
Long Jump	8.86A	Robert Emmiyan	ARM	Tsakhkadzor	May 22, 1987
Triple Jump	17.97m	Willie Banks	USA	Indianapolis	June 16, 1985
Shot Put	23.06m	Ulf Timmermann	GER	Chania	May 22, 1988
Discus	74.08m	Jürgen Schult	GER	Neubrandenburg	June 6, 1986
Javelin	87.66m	Jan Zelezný	CZE	Nitra	May 31, 1987
Hammer Throw	86.74m	Yuriy Syedikh	RUS	Stuttgart	Aug. 30, 1986
Decathlon	8847	Daley Thompson	GBR	Los Angeles	Aug. 9, 1984

 

1970-1979

Event	Mark	Name	Country	Record Set In	Record Date
100 meters	9.98A	Silvio Leonard	CUB	Guadalajara	Aug. 11, 1977
200 meters	19.72A	Pietro Mennea	ITA	Mexico City	Sept. 12, 1979
400 meters	44.26	Alberto Juantorena	CUB	Montreal	Aug. 29, 1976
800 meters	1:42.33	Sebastian Coe	GBR	Oslo	Aug. 5, 1979
1,500 meters	3:32.03	Sebastian Coe	GBR	Zurich	Aug. 15, 1979
Mile	3:48.95	Sebastian Coe	GBR	Oslo	July 17, 1979
3,000 meter steeplechase	8:05.4	Henry Rono	KEN	Seattle	May 13, 1978
5,000 meters	13:08.4	Henry Rono	KEN	Berkeley	April 8, 1978
10,000 meters	27:22.47	Henry Rono	KEN	Vienna	June 11, 1978
Half Marathon	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Marathon	2:09:06	Shigeru Soh	JPN	Beppu	Feb. 2, 1978
110m hurdles	13.00	Renaldo Nehemiah	USA	Westwood	May 6, 1979
400m hurdles	47.45	Edwin Moses	USA	Westwood	June 11, 1977
High Jump	2.34m	Volodymyr Yaschenko	UKR	Tbilisi	June 16, 1978
Pole Vault	5.71m	Mike Tully	USA	Corvallis	May 19, 1978
Long Jump	8.52m	Larry Myricks	USA	Montreal	Aug. 26, 1979
Triple Jump	17.89A	João Carlos de Oliveira	BRA	Mexico City	Oct. 15, 1875
Shot Put	22.86m	Brian Oldfield	USA	El Paso	May 10, 1975
Discus	71.16m	Wolfgang Schmidt	GER	Berlin	Aug. 9, 1978
Javelin	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Hammer Throw	80.32m	Karl-Hans Riehm	FRG	Heidenheim	Aug. 6, 1978
Decathlon	8634	Bruce Jenner	USA	Montreal	July 30, 1976

 

1960-1969

Event	Mark	Name	Country	Record Set In	Record Date
100 meters	9.95A	Jim Hines	USA	Mexico City	Oct. 14, 1968
200 meters	19.83A	Tommie Smith	USA	Mexico City	Oct. 16, 1968
400 meters	43.86A	Lee Evans	USA	Mexico City	Oct. 18, 1968
800 meters	1:44.3+ 1:44.3y	Peter Snell Jim Ryun	NZL USA	Christchurch Terre Haute	Feb. 3, 1962 June 10, 1966
1,500 meters	3:33.1	Jim Ryun	USA	Los Angeles	July 8, 1967
Mile	3:51.1	Jim Ryun	USA	Bakersfield	June 23, 1967
3,000 meter steeplechase	8:22.2	Vladimiras Dudinas	LTU	Kiev	Aug. 19, 1969
5,000 meters	13:16.6	Ron Clarke	AUS	Stockholm	July 5, 1966
10,000 meters	27:39.89	Ron Clarke	AUS	Oslo	July 14, 1965
Half Marathon	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Marathon	2:08:34	Derek Clayton	AUS	Antwerp	May 30, 1969
110m hurdles	13.33m A	Willie Davenport	USA	Mexico City	October 17, 1968
400m hurdles	48.12m A	David Hemery	GBR	Mexico City	October 15, 1968
High Jump	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Pole Vault	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Long Jump	8.90m A	Bob Beamon	USA	Mexico City	Oct. 18, 1968
Triple Jump	17.39m A	Viktor Saneyev	GEO	Mexico City	Oct. 17, 1968
Shot Put	21.78m	Randy Matson	USA	College Station	April 22, 1967
Discus	68.40m	Jay Silvester	USA	Reno	Sept. 18, 1968
Javelin	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Hammer Throw	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Decathlon	8310	Bill Toomey	USA	Los Angeles	Dec. 11, 1969

 

WOMEN’S DECADE RECORDS

2010-2019

Event	Mark	Name	Country	Record Set In	Record Date
100 meters	10.70	Carmelita Jeter	USA	Eugene	June 4, 2011
200 meters	21.63	Dafne Schippers	NED	Beijing	Aug. 28, 2015
400 meters	49.16	Antonina Krivoshapka	RUS	Cheboksary	July 5, 2012
800 meters	1:55.27	Caster Semenya	RSA	Monaco	July 21, 2017
1,500 meters	3:50.07	Genzebe Dibaba	ETH	Monaco	July 17, 2015
Mile	4:14.30	Genzebe Dibaba	ETH	Rovereto	Sept. 6, 2016
3,000 meter steeplechase	8:52.78	Ruth Jebet	BRN	Saint-Denis	Aug. 27, 2016
5,000 meters	14:12.59	Almaz Ayana	ETH	Rome	June 2, 2016
10,000 meters	29:17.45	Almaz Ayana	ETH	Rio de Janeiro	Aug. 12, 2016
Half Marathon	64:52	Joyciline Jepkosgei	KEN	Prague	March 1, 2017
Marathon	2:17:01	Mary Keitany	KEN	London	April 23, 2017
100m hurdles	12.20	Kendra Harrison	USA	London	July 22, 2016
400m hurdles	52.47	Lashinda Demus	USA	Daegu	Sept. 1, 2011
High Jump	2.07m	Anna Chicherova	RUS	Cheboksary	July 22, 2011
Pole Vault	5.00m	Sandi Morris	USA	Brussels	Sept. 9, 2016
Long Jump	7.31m	Brittney Reese	USA	Eugene	July 2, 2016
Triple Jump	15.31m	Cathrine Ibargüen	COL	Monaco	July 18, 2014
Shot Put	21.58m	Nadezha Osapchuk	BLR	Minsk	July 18, 2012
Discus	71.41m	Sandra Perkovic	CRO	Bellinzona	July 18, 2017
Javelin	71.99m	Mariya Abakumova	RUS	Daegu	Sept. 2, 2011
Hammer Throw	82.98m	Anita Wlodarczyk	POL	Warsaw	Aug. 28, 2016
Heptathlon	7013	Nafissatou Thiam	BEL	Götzis	May 28, 2017

 

2000-2009

Event	Mark	Name	Country	Record Set In	Record Date
100 meters	10.64	Carmelita Jeter	USA	Shanghai	Sept. 20, 2009
200 meters	21.74	Veronica Campbell-Brown	JAM	Beijing	Aug. 21, 2008
400 meters	48.70	Sanya Richards-Ross	USA	Athens	Sept. 16, 2006
800 meters	1:54.01	Pamela Jelimo	KEN	Zurich	Aug. 29, 2008
1,500 meters	3:55.33	Sureyya Ayhan-Kop	TUR	Brussels	Sept. 5, 2003
Mile	4:17.75	Maryam Yusuf Jamal	BRN	Brussels	Sept. 14, 2007
3,000 meter steeplechase	8:54.81	Gulnara Galkina	RUS	Beijing	Aug. 17, 2008
5,000 meters	14:11.15	Tirunesh Dibaba	ETH	Oslo	June 6, 2008
10,000 meters	29:53.80	Meselech Melkamu	ETH	Utrecht	June 14, 2009
Half Marathon	64:40A	Paula Radcliffe	GBR	Newcastle-South Shields	Sept. 21, 2003
Marathon	2:15:25	Paula Radcliffe	GBR	London	April 13, 2003
100m hurdles	12.33	Gail Devers	USA	Sacramento	July 23, 2000
400m hurdles	52.34	Yulia Pechonkina	RUS	Tula	Aug. 8, 2003
High Jump	2:08m	Blanka Vlasic	CRO	Zagreb	Aug. 31, 2009
Pole Vault	5.06m	Yelena Isinbayeva	RUS	Zurich	Aug. 28, 2009
Long Jump	7.42m	Tatyana Kotova	RUS	Annecy	June 23, 2002
Triple Jump	15.39m	Françoise Mbango Etone	CMR	Beijing	Aug. 17, 2008
Shot Put	21.46m	Larisa Peleshenko	RUS	Moscow	Aug. 26, 2000
Discus	69.38m	Natalya Sadova	RUS	Halle	May 24, 2003
Javelin	72.28m	Barbora Spotáková	CZE	Stuttgart	Sept. 13, 2008
Hammer Throw	77.96m	Anita Wlodarczyk	POL	Berlin	Aug. 22, 2009
Heptathlon	7032	Carolina Klüft	SWE	Osaka	Aug. 26, 2007

 

1990-1999

Event	Mark	Name	Country	Record Set In	Record Date
100 meters	10.65A	Marion Jones	USA	Johannesburg	Sept. 12, 1998
200 meters	21.62A	Marion Jones	USA	Johannesburg	Sept. 11, 1998
400 meters	49.25	Marie-Jose Perec	FRA	Atlanta	July 29, 1996
800 meters	1:54.82	Ana Fidelia Quirot	CUB	Cologne	Aug. 24, 1997
1,500 meters	3:50.46	Qu Yunxia	CHN	Beijing	Sept. 11, 1993
Mile	4:12.56	Svetlana Masterkova	RUS	Zurich	Aug. 14, 1996
3,000 meter steeplechase	9:48.88	Yelena Motalova	RUS	Tula	Aug. 31, 1999
5,000 meters	14:28.09	Jiango Bo	CHN	Shanghai	Oct. 23,1997
10,000 meters	29:31.78	Wang Junxia	CHN	Beijing	Sept.8, 1993
Half Marathon	66:43A	Masako Chiba	JPN	Tokyo	Jan. 19, 1997
Marathon	2:20:43	Tegla Loroupe	KEN	Berlin	Sept. 26,1999
100m hurdles	12.26	Ludmilla Engquist	RUS	Sevilla	June 6, 1992
400m hurdles	52.61	Kim Batten	USA	Gothenburg	Aug. 11, 1995
High Jump	2.05m	Heike Henkel Stefka Kostadinova Inga Babakova Stefka Kostadinova	GER BUL UKR BUL	Tokyo San Marino Tokyo Atlanta	Aug. 21, 1991 July 4, 1992 Sept. 18, 1993 Sept. 15, 1995 Aug. 3, 1996
Pole Vault	4.60m 4.60m	Emma George Stacy Dragila	AUS USA	Sydney Sevilla	Feb. 20, 1999 Aug. 21, 1999
Long Jump	7.49m	Jackie Joyner-Kersee	USA	New York City	May 22, 1994
Triple Jump	15.50m	Inessa Kravets	UKR	Gothenburg	Aug. 10, 1995
Shot Put	21.69m	Viktoriya Pavlysh	UKR	Budapest	Aug. 20, 1998
Discus	71.68m	Xiao Yanling	CHN	Beijing	March 14, 1992
Javelin	68.19m	Trine Hattestad	NOR	Fana	July 28,1999
Hammer Throw	76.07m	Mihaela Melinte	ROU	Rüdlingen	Aug. 29, 1999
Heptathlon	7044	Jackie Joyner-Kersee	USA	Barcelona	Aug. 2, 1992

 

1980-1989

Event	Mark	Name	Country	Record Set In	Record Date
100 meters	10.49	Florence Griffith-Joyner	USA	Indianapolis	July 16, 1988
200 meters	21.34	Florence Griffith-Joyner	USA	Seoul	Sept. 29, 1988
400 meters	47.60	Marita Koch	GDR	Canberra	Oct. 6, 1985
800 meters	1:53.28	Jarmila Kratochvílová	CZE	Munich	July 26, 1983
1,500 meters	3:52.47	Tatyana Kazankina	RUS	Zurich	Aug. 13, 1980
Mile	4:15.61	Paula Ivan	ROU	Nice	July 10, 1989
3,000 meter steeplechase	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
5,000 meters	14:37.33	Ingrid Kristiansen	NOR	Stockholm	Aug. 5, 1986
10,000 meters	30:13.74	Ingrid Kristiansen	NOR	Oslo	July 5, 1986
Half Marathon	66:40@ 68:23+	Ingrid Kristiansen Joan Benoit	NOR USA	Sandnes Boston	April 5, 1987 April 18,1983
Marathon	2:21:06	Ingrid Kristiansen	NOR	London	April 21,1985
100m hurdles	12.21	Yordanka Donkova	BUL	Stara Zagora	Aug. 20, 1988
400m hurdles	52.94	Marina Stepanova	RUS	Tashkent	Sept. 17, 1986
High Jump	2.09m	Stefka Kostadinova	BUL	Rome	Aug. 30, 1987
Pole Vault	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Long Jump	7.52m	Galina Christyakova	RUS	Leningrad	June 11, 1988
Triple Jump	14.52m	Galina Chistyakova	RUS	Stockholm	July 3, 1989
Shot Put	22.63m	Natalya Lisovskaya	RUS	Moscow	June 7, 1987
Discus	76.80m	Gabriele Reinsch	GER	Neubrandenburg	July 9, 1988
Javelin	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Hammer Throw	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Heptathlon	7291	Jackie Joyner-Kersee	USA	Seoul	Sept. 24, 1988

 

1970-1979

Event	Mark	Name	Country	Record Set In	Record Date
100 meters	10.88	Marlies Gohr	GDR	Dresden	July 1, 1977
200 meters	21.71	Marita Koch	GDR	Karl-Marx-Stadt	June 10, 1979
400 meters	48.60	Marita Koch	GDR	Torino	Aug. 4, 1979
800 meters	1:54.94	Tatyana Kazankina	RUS	Montreal	July 26, 1976
1,500 meters	3:56.0	Tatyana Kazankina	RUS	Podolsk	June 28, 1976
Mile	4:22.09	Natalia Marasecu	ROU	Auckland	Jan. 27, 1979
3,000 meter steeplechase	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
5,000 meters	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
10,000 meters	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Half Marathon	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Marathon	2:27:33	Grete Waitz	NOR	New York City	Oct. 21, 1979
100m hurdles	12.48	Grazyna Rabztyn	POL	Fürth	June 10, 1978
400m hurdles	54.78	Marina Stepanova	RUS	Moscow	July 27,1979
High Jump	2.01m	Sara Simeoni	ITA	Brescia	Aug. 4, 1978
Pole Vault	7.09m	Vilma Bardauskiené	LTU	Prague	Aug. 29, 1978
Long Jump	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Triple Jump	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Shot Put	22.32m	Helena Fibingerová	CZE	Nitra	Aug. 20, 1977
Discus	70.22m	Evelin Jahl	GDR	Dresden	Aug. 12, 1978
Javelin	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Hammer Throw	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Heptathlon	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

 

1960-1969

Event	Mark	Name	Country	Record Set In	Record Date
100 meters	11.08A	Wyomia Tyus	USA	Mexico City	Oct. 15, 1968
200 meters	22.58A	Irena Szewinska	POL	Mexico City	Oct.18, 1968
400 meters	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
800 meters	1:58.0	Sin Geum Dan	PRK	Pyonyang	Sept. 5, 1964
1,500 meters	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Mile	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
3,000 meter steeplechase	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
5,000 meters	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
10,000 meters	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Half Marathon	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Marathon	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
100m hurdles	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
400m hurdles	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
High Jump	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Pole Vault	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Long Jump	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Triple Jump	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Shot Put	20.43m	Nadezha Chizova	RUS	Athens	Sept. 16, 1969
Discus	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Javelin	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Hammer Throw	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Heptathlon	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

 

Some observations:

• Sebastian Coe has the most decade records with four but that’s because we happened to throw in the mile so that gives him the upperhand over several others with three.
• The most recent decade record set was just a few weeks ago by Caster Semenya with the women’s 800 meter win at the Monaco Diamond League.
• The women’s 70s are truly the decade with the most controversy.
• We have an appearance by North Korea with the decade record for the women’s 800 meters in the 60s.
• If it wasn’t for the Mexico City Olympics than results and marks from the 60s would be more difficult to come by.
• It just seems wild that the best shot put performance by a woman in this current decade only falls into the 79th all-time best performance slot.