Winter Olympic Games records. World records in athletics. Jason Kenny. Great Britain

World biathlon legend

Photo: © RIA Novosti/Alexey Filippov

Norwegian biathlete Ole Einar Bjoerndalen is a true legend of modern sports. He is the most decorated athlete in the history of the Winter Olympics. He has 13 medals, eight of which are gold. The Norwegian also shares the record for the most Winter Olympics champion titles with skier Björn Deli.

In addition, the husband of Belarusian biathlete Daria Domracheva, after the Games in Salt Lake City, became the world's only absolute Olympic champion in biathlon.

By the way, Bjoerndalen has every chance to go to Pyeongchang. His participation will be announced soon.

Record holder from Russia

Russian luger Albert Demchenko holds the record for the number of participations in the Olympics. He competed at seven Games in a row (1992, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010 and 2014). However, he shares this achievement with the Japanese ski jumper Noriaki Kasai, who also repeated this record in Sochi.

But not everything worked out so perfectly in Demchenko’s career. The luger was involved in a big doping scandal that broke out last year. As a result, the International Olympic Committee found him guilty of violating anti-doping rules and stripped the Russian of two silver medals at the Sochi Games. He was also banned for life from participating in the Olympic Games.

Tikhonov's record

Soviet biathlete, four-time Olympic champion, Olympic silver medalist, Honored Master of Sports of the USSR Alexander Tikhonov is also a record holder. He won gold medals at four Olympics in a row. It was even included in the Guinness Book of Records.

Until 2002, no one managed to break another of his records. He was the only one in biathlon who managed to win the most gold.

Oldest Olympic medalist

Back in 1924 (this date is considered the start of the Winter Olympic Games), Swedish curler Carl August Kronlund went down in history as the oldest medalist. He was 59 years and 155 days old when he won silver with the team.

Youngest Olympic medalist

The youngest medalist in the history of the White Olympics was the athlete from South Korea, Yun Mi Kim. In 1994, at the Olympic Games in the Norwegian city of Lillihammer, the short speed skater won Olympic gold. At that time she was only 13 years and 83 days old.

Longest Olympic torch relay

The Olympic torch relay before the Games in Sochi broke all records and became the longest in the history of the competition. The Olympic flame traveled a total of 65 thousand kilometers, and about 14 thousand people became honorary torchbearers.

True, another record was recorded, which one can hardly be proud of. For the first time in history, the flame went out more than 100 times during the entire relay...

TV presenter Vladimir Pozner.

Record number of Olympic participants

In 1994, sports delegations from 67 countries took part in the Winter Olympic Games in Lillehammer (Norway). 1,737 athletes submitted applications. This became a record in the entire history of the Games.

Marathon – 2:03.38 – Patrick Makau (Kenya)

The legend about the appearance of the marathon says that the Greek warrior Pheidippides ran from the site of the battle of Marathon to Athens with the speed of an arrow fired from a bow. However, he would still be unlikely to compete with modern marathon running professionals. Kenyan Patrick Makau didn't have good news for the spectators waiting for him at the finish line of the 2011 Berlin Marathon, but the athlete tried his best. He broke away from his closest pursuers, who, by the way, were his compatriots, by four minutes, but, most importantly, crossed the finish line, setting a record time for completing the distance - 2:03.38, improving by 21 seconds the achievement of Haile Gebrselassie from Ethiopia, set at the same Berlin Marathon, but three years earlier.

Run, 800 m – 1:40.91 – David Rudisha (Kenya)

Kenya is famous for its endurance runners, but of course it also boasts guys like David Rudisha, an 800m specialist. In 2010, the 22-year-old athlete won the World Cup and the African Championship, simultaneously twice updating the world record, which previously belonged to the Dane Wilson Kipketer and stood for 13 years. However, Rudisha did not stop there; his cherished desire was to win the Olympic Games, and in August 2012, David made his dream come true. It was as if he had no rivals in the final, and Rudisha, without any visible effort, won the gold medal, setting a new world record of 1:40.91. At the same time, it seems that even such an achievement is not the limit for the Kenyan, and hardly anyone will be surprised when the athlete is able to improve the result shown at the Olympics one more time or two.

Running, 3000 m steeplechase – 8.58.81 – Gulnara Samitova-Galkina (Russia)

There are many names of our compatriots in the list of world records in athletics; however, new names appear there infrequently, but each world record holder from Russia is all the more valuable to us. The 3000-meter steeplechase is an old discipline, but it only joined the Olympic family in 2008. And this reunion turned out to be triumphant for the athlete from our country. Gulnara Samitova-Galkina finished in splendid isolation at the Beijing Olympic Stadium, setting a record time of 8:58.81. Over the past five years, only Yulia Zaripova has come close to the record; she currently has the second result in history - 9:05.02 - however, it is still quite far from updating the record set by Gulnara.

High jump – 2.09 m – Stefka Kostadinova (Bulgaria)

Not all world records are updated as often. A number of achievements have remained inviolable since the last century. One of these record-breaking pillars of athletics is the achievement of Stefka Kostadinova from Bulgaria, who specialized in the high jump. Throughout her sports career, she had many bright victories, but the athlete probably remembers the 1987 World Championships in Rome with special trepidation. It was there that she set one of the oldest records in athletics today, jumping over the bar set at a height of 2.09. For 26 years, only Blanka Vlasic seriously tried to storm the record of the Bulgarian athlete, but it stood, and it is unknown when the next contender to improve the result will appear.

Pole vault – 6.14 m – Sergey Bubka (Ukraine)

The best world record of the Soviet and Ukrainian track and field athlete Sergei Bubka is not yet 20 years old, but it has already been recorded as “eternal”. If the day ever comes when someone can surpass the incredible 6.14, it will surely be the new record holder's second birthday.

Bubka improved his own record 16 times, and still did not reach his limit. Sergei conquered the height of 6.14 at a competition in Italian Sestriere, and since then no one except the record holder himself has even tried to set the bar even close to this mark. The best after Bubka were Russian Maxim Tarasov and Australian Dmitry Markov, but their result was only 6.05. No one has yet been able to come close to one of the greatest sporting achievements of mankind, and the question of whether this record will ever be broken still remains open.

Pole vault – 5.06 m – (Russia)

Record breakers often have to break through psychological barriers that no one has been able to overcome before them. A striking example of this was demonstrated by one of the most famous Russian athletes -. During her career, she set 28 world records, breaking the bar for the first time at various heights from 4.82 to 5.06. Elena became the first athlete to reach the five-meter mark, and on the day this happened, Isinbayeva was applauded by the whole world. Millions of people applauded the Russian as she won Olympic gold in Beijing with a score of 5.05. A year later, at the Diamond League stage in Zurich, Elena improved her achievement by another centimeter, and since then the mark of 5.06 has been the ultimate dream of all athletes in the jumping sector. However, it is premature to talk about overthrowing the record holder: besides Isinbayeva, only one athlete climbed to the five-meter height - American Jennifer Sur.

Run, 100 m – 9.58 – Usain Bolt (Jamaica)

Of course, we should never forget about the fastest man on the planet – Jamaican Usain Bolt. It makes hearts beat faster and lights a fire in the eyes. His mini-shows on the track receive maximum television ratings. And besides, he also runs very fast. And so fast that no one can keep up with him. Bolt currently holds three world records. At the London Olympics, Usain, as part of the Jamaican 4x100 relay team, won gold with a score of 36.84. His personal bests have not been updated since the World Championships in Berlin, but a crazy 19.19 in the 200m and a simply insane 9.58 in the 100m are the best the athletics world has seen in the new century. We can only hope that Bolt himself decides not to stop there and will be able to improve his amazing records a little more.

In just a month and a half, the Olympics will start in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Woman's Day remembers the most decorated athletes ever to take part in the Summer Games.

Michael Phelps (USA), swimming. 21 gold medals (total 25 medals)

His records are unlikely to be broken in the next fifty years. Unless aliens are allowed to participate in the Olympics. Armchair envious people who are unable to swim even 50 meters like a frog will, of course, say that there are many sets of awards awarded in swimming - only more in athletics. But try to win at least once. Moreover, at the Rio Olympics, Phelps improved his achievement: Michael won three more gold medals. And this despite the fact that for the last few years he has, by and large, not participated in major international tournaments, even announcing his retirement. True, then he returned to the pool again. According to experts, the “Baltimore Bullet” (the swimmer’s nickname) is vying for several more gold medals in Brazil. This will be his fifth Olympic Games, despite the fact that Michael will only turn 31 at the end of June. He competed at his first Olympics in Sydney when he was 15. Young Michael remained, although only fifth in the 200-meter butterfly. But already at the next Games in Athens, Phelps won 6 gold medals at once. Now it is difficult to imagine that this unique person with an arm span of more than 2 meters in childhood was a stunted child who was even suspected of having autism. And then mom brought 7-year-old Michael to the pool...

Two months ago, Michael became a father himself for the first time. His girlfriend, model and Miss California 2010 Nicole Johnson gave birth to his son Boomer Robert. Probably the boy will also become a swimmer.

Larisa Latynina (USSR), artistic gymnastics. 9 gold medals (total 18 medals)

It was our gymnast who for a long time held the record for the most medals at the Olympics, until Phelps swam. Latynina won her awards at three Games - from 1956 to 1964. Then she worked as the senior coach of the USSR national team. Larisa admits that she is a leader by nature, a champion. I even graduated from school with a gold medal. Here is a story that perfectly characterizes it. When Latynina found out about the pregnancy, she burst into tears. The doctor asked: “Out of happiness?” To which the Olympic champion replied: “No, I have the World Championships in two months. How will I perform there? The doctor allowed it, only advised not to tell anyone except her husband. Latynina performed and became a champion. And five months later she gave birth to a daughter.

But not everything in her life was so smooth: two not very successful marriages, and only now, in the third, the Olympic champion is happy.

Paavo Nurmi (Finland), athletics. 9 gold medals (total 12 medals)

Mark Spitz (USA), swimming. 9 gold medals (total 11 awards)

Another nine-time Olympic champion. Moreover, this American swimmer won seven awards at one Olympics in Munich in 1972. Only Phelps could repeat his achievement many years later. Mark was 22 years old at the time, and immediately after the competition he decided to end his career. In 1991, American film director and producer Bud Greenspan offered 41-year-old Spitz a million dollars if he could qualify for the US team at the Barcelona Olympics. Under the camera lenses, Mark began training and managed to get closer to his Olympic results from 20 years ago, and even surpass them at certain distances. But swimming had gone far ahead during this time, and Spitz was unable to keep up with it.

Carl Lewis (USA), athletics. 9 gold medals (total 10 awards)

He is considered an outstanding sprinter, but he also won the long jump at four Olympics in a row. And this despite the fact that when Karl was 12 years old, while playing with other children, he accidentally seriously injured his right knee. The doctor said the boy would never be able to jump due to a tendon injury. Lewis denied his diagnosis.

He probably could have won more medals, but the Americans boycotted the 1980 Olympics in Moscow. True, he got one gold in the 100-meter race after Canadian Ben Johnson was disqualified due to doping. Lewis was so popular in the United States that they even wanted Karl to join the Chicago Bulls basketball team and the Dallas Cowboys American football club, although he never played these sports.

Brigitte Fischer (Germany), kayaking. 8 gold medals (total 12 awards)

The expression “get out of here” is not about Brigid. You can get an oar from her for this. She rowed superbly though. She won her first gold in Moscow in 1980 at the age of 18. And then she took away titles from the six Olympics in which she took part. And this despite the fact that Fischer, speaking for the GDR, missed the Games in Los Angeles due to a boycott by socialist countries. In 1988, Brigitte announced her retirement from sports for the first time. But she returned in triumph. In 2000, she once again hinted at retiring from her career. And again she deceived me. She came back and won again. Brigit eventually became the youngest and oldest Olympic champion in rowing. Fischer became a world championship medalist 35 times. 46-year-old Fisher was planning to go to her seventh Olympics in Beijing in 2008, but, according to her, she did not have time to prepare.

Sawao Kato (Japan), artistic gymnastics. 8 gold medals (total 12 awards)

The most titled gymnast in the history of the Olympics, although he is far from Larisa Latynina. He won the team championship three times with the Japanese team: first in Mexico City in 1968, then in Munich and Montreal. The Soviet gymnast Nikolai Andrianov prevented him from achieving a “hat-trick” in the overall championship. Sawao's older brother Takeshi was also a gymnast. He competed at the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City. Together with his brother, he won gold in the team championship, but lost to him, becoming only third in the floor exercise

Jenny Thompson (USA), swimming. 8 gold medals (total 12 awards)

Jenny is a unique swimmer. People like her are called “team players.” And this is in swimming, where individualists are at a premium. Jenny, who specialized in both butterfly and freestyle, perfectly covered these events in all kinds of relay races. It was in them that she won all her gold. American women reigned in these disciplines from 1992 to 2000. But he has only one personal medal – silver in the 100-meter freestyle in Barcelona 1992. In 2006, Jenny received her medical degree and currently works as an anesthesiologist in a Boston hospital, saving people.

The concept of world records in athletics means obtaining and achieving the highest results, which can be shown either by one individual athlete or by an entire team of several athletes, while the conditions must be comparable and repeatable. All world records are ratified based on the IAAF score. New records can also be set directly during IAAF world competitions in full accordance with the list of disciplines available for this sport.

The concept of the highest world achievement is also quite widespread. This achievement belongs to the category of those achievements that do not belong to the list of athletics disciplines that are on the list of athletics disciplines that are approved by the IAAF. Track and field sports that do not belong to the IAAF list include disciplines such as 50-meter running and throwing of various weights.

In all disciplines that are approved by the IAAF, records are measured in accordance with the metric system, which includes meters and seconds. The only exception to this rule is the mile run.

The first highest world achievements historically date back to the middle of the 19th century. Then an institute of professional athletes appeared in England and for the first time they began to measure the best time in a 1-mile run. Beginning in 1914 and the emergence of the IAAF, a centralized procedure for recording records was established, and a list of disciplines in which world records were registered was determined.

The 1968 Mexico City Olympics saw the first use of a fully automated timing system accurate to hundredths of a second (Jim Hines, 9.95 seconds in the 100m dash). Since 1976, the IAAF has made the use of automatic sprint timing mandatory.

The oldest world record in the athletics disciplines included in the Olympic Games program is the women's 800-meter outdoor record (1:53.28), set on July 26, 1983 by Jaromila Kratokhvilova (Czechoslovakia).

The oldest world record recorded in the disciplines included in the World Championships program is the winter record in women's shot put (22.50 m), set on February 19, 1977 by Helena Fibingerova (Czechoslovakia).

The IAAF practices the payment of bonuses for setting a world record. So, in 2007, the prize money was 50,000 USD. Organizers of commercial races can set additional prizes for breaking the world record, which attracts spectators and sponsors.

Athletics fans often debate records in vertical jumps, especially in the pole vault. In this discipline, athletes have the opportunity to add centimeters to the previous result, which is impossible in other sports. The record holder for the number of records is pole vaulter Sergei Bubka (USSR, Ukraine), who set 35 world records between 1984 and 1994.

Elena Isinbaeva, the owner of 27 world records, was the first in the world to conquer a height of 5 meters in 2005.

American Dick Fosbury won in 1968 in Mexico City, jumping in an unprecedented way (flying over the bar with his back, not his stomach); the world record in this event was broken only in 1973 by the efforts of Dwight Stones, who cleared 2 meters 30 centimeters. Then the world record was broken by the old flip-flop method only by one person - the phenomenally talented Vladimir Yashchenko. Undoubtedly, the technique of pole vaulters and throwers of all four types - hammer, shot, javelin and discus - has improved. But the technique of long and triple jumpers has improved to a lesser extent over the past 20-40 years, and that of runners - even less. For example, Michael Johnson held the 200m world record for 12 years (Usain Bolt broke his 200m world record in Beijing in 2008), and in the 400m his unbeaten achievement is now 10 years old.

On the one hand: more and more countries and athletes are becoming involved in athletics at a high level. In pre-war times, more than 80 percent of the world records in sprinting, jumping and throwing belonged to Americans. It was only in endurance running that they were surpassed by the Europeans. Moreover, the Americans themselves, some 40 years ago, believed that short-distance running was for dark-skinned people, and middle- and long-distance running was for white people. In those years, the world record for 800 meters was held by the blond New Zealander Peter Snell, and for 1500, the phenomenal record of the Australian Herb Elliott lasted 7 years until it was broken by the white American Jim Ryan.

At 5,000 and 10,000 meters, world records first passed from the British to the Russians Vladimir Kuts and Pyotr Bolotnikov, and then to the Australian Ron Clark. But now the records have been taken over by natives of Africa, where physical education and modern training methods are gradually penetrating. What is surprising: not all countries of the Black Continent produce record holders, but only a few. Moreover, in that multi-ethnic Kenya with a population of 30 million, all the famous runners, including numerous record holders and Olympic winners, represent only one Kalenjin people. There are less than 10% of the population in the country, although 70% of Kenyans live in the middle and highlands. Even more interesting is that most of the Kenyan record holders were born in the highland town of Eldoret with a population of 80 thousand people, or in the villages closest to it. And many of them are related to each other. As Beijing Olympic champion in the 800m sprint Wilfred Bungei told our correspondent, his cousins are world record holder Wilson Kipketer and multiple world record holder Henry Rono, distant relatives of Kepchogo Keino, Pamela Jelimo. Moroccan record holders and ex-world record holders Khalid Skah, Said Aouita and El Gerouj also come from the same small mountainous province.

The world elite of endurance running still includes young natives of Sudan. Well, our Yuri Borzakovsky, contrary to all logic, has been defeating talented natives of Africa (more precisely, some of its regions) for 10 years, who also accept citizenship of the USA, Denmark, Turkey, the Emirates, France, Sweden.

The situation is similar for sprinters. In the 100m race, the last white world record holder was German Armin Hari half a century ago. After him (plus another 30 years before him), only black Americans invariably improved the record for the fastest distance. Recently, they have been increasingly competing with dark-skinned residents of the islands near the American continent - mainly Jamaica. Usain Bolt is proof of this. He covered 100m in 9.58 seconds. This is a phenomenal result. Athletes who have won the most gold medals in Olympic history: Carl Lewis (USA) and Paavo Nurmi (Finland) - 9 gold medals.

As you know, the main Olympic motto is “faster, higher, stronger!” First uttered by the French priest Henri Didon and taken up by the founder of the modern Olympic movement, Pierre de Coubertin, it became a reflection of the main goal of all athletes in the world.

Perhaps these three words are perfectly applicable to athletics. Judge for yourself: faster - about running, higher - about jumping, stronger - about throwing (and pushing). And there is a category of people in this sport that corresponds to this motto to the maximum. We are talking about world record holders. And although the IAAF may deprive some of them of this status (), their names are forever inscribed in history.

On the eve of the World Championships in London, XSPORT decided to recall the most famous world records in athletics. Since it is not possible to talk about everyone due to the huge number of disciplines in the “queen of sports”, we decided to highlight the records, so we created several nominations. The only note is that our competition program included achievements only in those events that are included in the program of the Olympic Games and World Cups (in London, for the first time in the history of the World Championships, a 50 km walking competition among women will be held, so we are also considering this record).

YOUNGEST RECORD

Anita Wlodarczyk

Here our prize goes to the Polish hammer thrower Anita Wlodarczyk. In total, she broke the world record 6 times, and her last achievement dates back to August 28, 2016. A week after the closing of the Olympic Games in Rio, at which the athlete, by the way, also Wlodarczyk in her native Warsaw at the Kamila Skolimowska Memorial. The Polish woman remains the only girl who managed to clear the 80-meter mark. And what’s most interesting is that at the same Games in Rio, her result was 4 meters further than that of Dilshod Nazarov, the Olympic champion among men.

The youngest also had every chance of becoming a record Ruth Jebet. On August 27, at the Diamond League stage in Paris, an athlete from Bahrain surpassed the achievement of Gulnara Galkina in steeplechase. However, just two days later, Wlodarczyk set her next record. At the World Championships in London, Jebet has a chance to get even with Anita, since her final will be 4 days later.

OLDEST RECORD

Jarmila Kratokhvilova (in first position)

Jarmila Kratokhvilova reached the peak of her career only at the age of 32. An athlete from the now defunct country of Czechoslovakia remained for a long time in the shadow of her rivals from the GDR at her favorite distance of 400 meters. In 1983, she came to a tournament in Munich, where she entered the 800-meter race. Jarmila ran two laps around the stadium in a record 1:53:28.

Two weeks later, Kratokhvilova competed at the first ever World Athletics Championships, which was hosted by Helsinki. In Finland, the Czech, despite an incredibly busy schedule, won gold in both the 400-meter and 800-meter events. Moreover, in the first event she again broke the world record, becoming the first athlete to run under 48 seconds (47.99). And although Marita Koch surpassed that achievement two years later (47.60 seconds), the 800-meter record has not been surpassed by anyone for 34 years, making it the longest standing.

FASTEST RECORD

Usain Bolt

At the 2009 World Championships in Berlin Usain Bolt ran the 100-meter dash in 9.58 seconds. The very next day, experts published data on the speed that Lightning developed. He covered the 60-80 meter section in 1.61 seconds, accelerating in this segment to 44.72 km/h. No one has ever run faster.

SLOWEST RECORD

Ines Enriquez (foreground)

As we have already said, the women's 50 km walk will make its debut at the world championships. This view will be the longest in London. Judge for yourself - the world record for a distance that approximately corresponds to the length of Kyiv from north to south is 4 hours 08 minutes 26 seconds. Its author is Ines Enriquez from Portugal. She established her achievement in the village of Porto de Mos in her homeland. Its average speed was 12 km/h.

HIGHEST RECORD

Sergey Bubka and Renaud Lavillenie

Since we agreed to consider only Olympic disciplines, our championship in this nomination goes to Sergey Bubka. Exactly 23 years ago, in the Italian highlands, a Ukrainian set his last world record in the pole vault - 6 m 14 cm. A year earlier in Donetsk, the Olympic champion of Seoul cleared the bar at a height of 6 m 15 cm. However, the Pole Stars tournament, which, as is known , always took place at the Druzhba Sports Palace, that is, indoors, but at the Games and World Championships they compete outdoors.

Bubka's Donetsk record was broken in 2014 Renault Lavillenie. At the same “Pole Stars” tournament and in front of Sergei Nazarovich himself, the Frenchman conquered 6.16 m. But let’s make a reservation once again, it was indoors. But Lavillenie’s personal best in stadiums is only 6.05 m.

Well, one last thing about this nomination. In 1991, Bubka won the last world championship gold as part of the USSR national team (the athlete won the world championships for Ukraine three more times). In Tokyo, he won with a modest result of 5.95 m. But thanks to computers, it was possible to establish that in his winning attempt he jumped with such a margin that he would have conquered the bar at a height of 6.37 m.

LONGEST RECORD

Uwe Hohn and Jan Zelezny

Here we immediately need to tell the background story. In the mid-1980s, the IAAF had to redesign the men's javelin. The center of gravity was shifted forward, causing the projectile to descend earlier than the older version with a center of gravity in the middle. The culprit of such changes was Uwe Hohn. In 1984, an athlete from the GDR threw the javelin 104.80 m, just two meters from the edge of the field. Such long-distance attempts endangered the safety of other athletes who were on the treadmill.

The projectile was changed, but several years passed, and the IAAF again began to think about the safety of this discipline. On May 25, 1996, at a competition in the German city of Jena, an outstanding Czech Jan Zelezny threw the javelin at 98.48 m. It is this achievement that is listed as the official world record, however, with the note “according to the new rules.” The farthest is Uwe Hohn's attempt at 104.80 meters.

THE MOST SENSATIONAL RECORD

This is, of course, the most subjective nomination in our ranking. And the championship here goes to the record set at the Olympic Games in Rio. The men's 400m final had no clear favorite. Before the start Kirani James, Lashawn Merritt And Weide van Niekerk were equally considered as contenders for gold. However, what the latter did became a real sensation. The South African produced a phenomenal run that lasted 17 years. Moreover, van Niekerk immediately took 15 hundredths from the result of the famous American. And in general, he almost ran out of 43 seconds - the chronometers recorded a result of 43.03 seconds.

Vaide is generally a unique athlete. He is the only athlete in history to run under 10 seconds in the 100m (9.98 seconds), under 20 seconds in the 200m (19.84 seconds) and under 44 seconds in the 400m. It’s funny that the athlete himself doesn’t really like the last distance. He once stated that...

Weide van Niekerk in front of his achievement

THE MOST AFFECTING RECORD

Kendra Harrison failed to qualify for the 2016 Olympics in Rio in the 100m hurdles. At the national qualifying tournament in the USA, the American showed only the fourth result. There were only three trips to Brazil. This was a real blow for the athlete. She was able to take out all her anger at the Diamond League stage in London, which took place a month before the 2016 Games. Harrison not only outperformed her teammates, but also. Kendra covered the distance in 12.20 seconds. But I still didn’t go to Brazil.

THE MOST TRAGIC RECORD

It's not often that world records are set at small local tournaments. But the achievement of the American Florence Griffith-Joyner just one of those. On one July day in 1988, at the Olympic qualifying competitions held in Indianapolis, she ran 100 meters in 10.49 seconds and broke the world record. And she did it at the 1/4 final stage. On the same day, but a little earlier, Florence covered the same distance in 10.60 seconds. But that time, which at that time was the fastest in history, was not counted as a record due to a strong tailwind. Interestingly, already in the quarterfinals, Griffith-Joyner was running in almost still air.

At the 1988 Games in Seoul, for which the athlete successfully qualified, she won three gold medals - in the 100-meter, 200-meter and 4x100-meter relay. Moreover, she covered 200 meters with a world record, which also holds to this day (21.34 seconds).

What made Griffith-Joyner's achievements tragic was her subsequent fate. Already in 1989, the athlete left professional sports at the peak of her fame. Even before this event, many colleagues and experts said that Florence was taking doping, and after the sudden end of her career, these conversations became more frequent. In 1990, the athlete began to have health problems and suffered heart attacks. Griffith-Joyner's sudden death at age 38 only added to the suspicion. However, her name is still on the list of world record holders. Moreover, in those sports that are considered elite in athletics.

Florence Griffith-Joyner after success at the Seoul Olympics

RECORD BREAKER

Another nomination in which the palm goes to Sergey Bubka. The Ukrainian pole vaulter became the first to clear the 6-meter bar. In total, the current NOC president has broken world records 35 times. And of course you can complain that each time he added one centimeter to the previous achievement. But just think about this number. For comparison, Elena Isinbaeva, who also pole vaulted, stopped at 20 world records.

OUR RECORD BREAKERS

Sergey Bubka, Inessa Kravets, Yuri Sedykh

Another nomination for Sergei Bubka. But here he must share the prize with two more colleagues. We talked a lot about the achievement of a pole vaulter above, but about Inessa Kravets haven't spoken yet. The athlete, born in Dnepr, specialized in the triple jump - the event that brought our country three Olympic awards (1 gold and 2 bronze). Kravets set her world record at the World Championships in Gothenburg in 1995. In the third attempt of the final, she landed at 15.50 meters with a tailwind of 0.9 m/s. A year later, Inessa became the first woman to win Olympic gold in the triple jump.

Partly ours can be considered Yuri Sedykh. A native of the city of Novocherkassk, Rostov region, he is a graduate of the Kyiv hammer throwing school. In 1986, at the European Championships, he sent the projectile to 86.74 m, and since then no one has surpassed the achievement of the two-time world champion.

BONUS RECORD

Here we just want to tell a beautiful story associated with the name Bob Beamon. His record in the long jump ceased to be relevant in 1991. However, at the Olympic Games in Mexico City in 1968, he shocked the whole world. The American took a run and landed at 8.90 meters (Mike Powell's current highest achievement is only 5 cm further). He broke the previous world record by as much as 55 cm. Lynn Davis, defending his Olympic title, approached Beamon and said: “You destroyed this discipline.”

Bob Beamon at the Mexico City Olympics

When the stadium announcer announced the numbers, the culprit himself fell to his knees, covered his face with his hands and could not get up without outside help. It is interesting that the automatic range meters that existed at that time were not designed for such a result, and the distance had to be measured manually. After that event, a new adjective beamonesque appeared in the English language, which means some unthinkable feat.

Scientists have found explanations for Beamon's record. Firstly, the competition took place at a significant altitude above sea level, which, due to the characteristics of the air, contributed to long jumps. After that, elite level tournaments were not held at such a high level. Secondly, Bob was helped by a strong tailwind, and its strength was the maximum permissible - about 2 m/s. Well, after the American’s jump there was a heavy downpour, which created not the most favorable conditions for the rest of the participants. However, all these factors do not make Binom’s record any less legendary.

In recent years, breaking world records has become commonplace. For example, in 2016 this was done five times. Often the highest achievements are celebrated at major tournaments. At the Olympic Games of different years, nine current world records were set, and at the World Championships - eight. Therefore, at the upcoming World Cup in London, we may well see the WR mark next to some result. Moreover, 13 world record holders will perform in London.

Current record holders who will compete at the 2017 World Championships: