Olympic records. World records in athletics

As a rule, each Games bring records. If the world record can be surpassed in a very short time and at any major competition, then the Olympic record can only be improved at the Games. Thus, the record recorded during the Olympic competition, if not improved at the same Games, will remain unbeaten for at least four years.

At the Games, records are set only for those sports in which there are objective methods sports refereeing, i.e. where the result can be determined with a measuring device: in cycling competitions on the track (round and pursuit), in athletics, swimming, speed skating, shooting (bullet, trap, archery), weightlifting. In total, 128 highest achievements of the Games were recorded in the table of Olympic records.

The improvement of records has been especially intense since the 1956 XVI Games. Then in Melbourne, 77 new Olympic records were set, of which 18 surpassed the world records. Next Games- in Rome - brought 74 Olympic records and 27 world records. In Tokyo, 77 Olympic and 35 world records were set. The 1968 Mexico City Olympics brought 74 Olympic and 29 world records. Even greater success was achieved by the participants of the XX Games in Munich: 94 Olympic records were set here, of which 46 were higher than world records. At competitions in Montreal, the judges recorded 82 Olympic records, of which 34 were world records.

The Moscow Olympiad brought 61 Olympic and 36 world records. Significantly lower were the performance at the XXIII Games in Los Angeles, where 36 Olympic and 11 world records were set. At the Games in Seoul, Olympic records improved 104 times and in 30 cases were recorded as world achievements.

On winter Olympic Games In 1976, eight world records out of nine distances were set in speed skating competitions. During the XIII White Olympiad, the outstanding American runner Eric Hayden set new records at all five (!) distances played.

During their participation in the Games (since 1952), athletes of the USSR improved Olympic records 201 times. Today, the athletes of our country own 25 Olympic records. Envoys from Leningrad improved Olympic records 33 times.

The oldest Olympic record is the phenomenal achievement of the American long jumper Robert Beamon, who jumped 8 meters 90 centimeters in 1968 in Mexico City. The magnificent achievement of Vladimir Salnikov, who swam 1500 meters at the Moscow Olympics in 14 minutes 58.27 seconds, also remains unbeaten.

In the competitions held at the Olympic Games cycling(in track racing - gytes and pursuit), athletics, swimming, speed run in skating, shooting and weightlifting, the highest achievements of athletes are recorded as Olympic records.

At present, athletes of the Soviet Union hold 26 Olympic records.

Athletes who have shown best result for the entire time of the Olympic Games becomes the Olympic record holder. True, for this he needs to engage in one of the following sports: athletics or weightlifting, shooting, including archery, swimming, speed skating (including short track) and cycling. In total, 128 highest achievements of the Games were recorded in the table of Olympic records.

Unfortunately, in other types of International Olympic Committee does not recognize records. But those who, in their childhood, were carried away by the appropriate and achieved outstanding success in their homeland, have every chance to write off their name in the history of the Olympic Games not just by attending them. Due to the large number of disciplines, it is easiest for athletes to do this, and therefore there are always more of them in the corresponding lists.

Usain Bolt. Jamaica

In the 100m at the 2012 London Games, the athlete set Olympic record, covering the distance in 9.63 s. The previous record, set in 2008 in Beijing, also belonged to him - 9.69 s. Then he ran 200 m in 19.30 s. It is noteworthy that the world records at these distances also belong to him - 9.58 and 19.19 s. Throughout his career, the athlete set a total of 8 world records, 6 times became the Olympic champion and 11 times the world champion.

Sven Kramer. Norway

At the Olympics in Sochi in 2014, the skater spent only 6 minutes 10.76 seconds on a distance of 5000 meters. He is one of the most titled athletes in the history of this sport, three-time Olympic champion, eight-time world champion in classical all-around, 17-time world champion in individual distances.

Elena Isinbayeva, Russia

In Beijing in 2008, she overcame a height of 5.05 m in the pole vault. Throughout her career, she set about 30 records in this discipline, including the current one - 5.06 m (2009). She twice became Olympic champion, has won the World Championships three times and the World Indoor Championships four times.

Kenenisa Bekele. Ethiopia

At the Olympic Games in Beijing in 2008, he set two records at once for 5000 m and 10000 m, running the first distance in 12 min 57.82 s, the second in 27 min 1.17 s. Triple Olympic champion, he won 22 world championships (6 times in classical running and 16 times in cross country running).

Michael Phelps. USA

At the Beijing Games, he overcame a distance of 400 m in individual swimming in 4 minutes 3.84 s. Known as the "Baltimore Bullet" and "Flying Fish", he set 39 world records during his career. At the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, he won five gold medals and is now a 23-time Olympic champion (according to total In 2012, he surpassed Larisa Latynina in Olympic awards, now he has 27 medals) and a 26-time world champion.

Andreas Thorkildsen. Norway

At the Beijing Games in 2008, he threw a 90.57 m javelin. He is the first javelin thrower in history to win gold medals at the Olympic Games, the World Championships, and the European Championships. The world record among juniors (83.87 m), set by him back in 2001, has not yet been broken.

Jason Kenny. Great Britain

During the home Games in London, while still in qualification, the cyclist set a record in the sprint race (200 m from a standstill), covering the distance in 9.713 s and developing average speed 74.127 km/h. After that, he easily won the gold medal.

Lim Dong Hyun. South Korea

At the London Olympics in archery (12 series of 6 arrows from a distance of 70 m), he scored 699 points out of 720 possible, setting a new record. Interestingly, the athlete suffers from severe myopia, but does not wear contact lenses or glasses. The Korean focuses only on bright colors targets.

Katerina Emmons, Czech Republic

At the 2008 Olympics in shooting from air rifle from 10m scored 503.5 points. At the same time, in qualifying, she repeated the world record, knocking out 400 points out of 400 possible. Only 11 athletes can boast of this all over the world.

Tatyana Lysenko. Russia

At the 2012 Olympic Games in London, she set an Olympic record in the hammer throw, sending the shell to 77.56 m in her first attempt. In the fifth attempt, she improved the result to 78.18 m and became the Olympic champion. A year later, she also updated the world record - 78.80 m.

Marathon - 2:03.38 - Patrick Makau (Kenya)

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

Running, 800 m - 1.40.91 - David Rudisha (Kenya)

Kenya is famous for its hardy runners long distances, but, of course, he cannot but be proud of such guys as, for example, David Rudisha - an expert in 800-meter races. In 2010, the 22-year-old athlete won the World Cup and the African Championship, twice updating the world record that had previously belonged to the Dane Wilson Kipketer and held for 13 years. However, Rudisha did not stop there, his cherished desire was to win the Olympic Games, and in August 2012, David made the dream come true. He seemed to have no opponents in the final, and Rudisha effortlessly won the gold medal, setting a new world record - 1:40.91. At the same time, it seems that even such an achievement is not the limit for a Kenyan, and it is unlikely that anyone will be surprised when an athlete can improve the result shown at the Olympics once or twice.

Run, 3000 m hurdles - 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 every world record holder from Russia is all the more valuable to us. The 3000-meter steeplechase is an old discipline, but it joined the Olympic family only in 2008. And this reunion turned out to be a triumph for an athlete from our country. Gulnara Samitova-Galkina finished at Olympic Stadium Beijing in splendid isolation, while setting a record time of 8:58.81. Over the past five years, only Yulia Zaripova has come close to the record, she has this moment 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 retained their inviolability since the last century. One of such record-breaking pillars of athletics is the achievement of Stefka Kostadinova from Bulgaria, who specialized in the high jump. For the entire sports career she had many bright victories, but the athlete probably remembers the 1987 World Cup in Rome with special trepidation. It was there that she set one of the oldest records in athletics to date, 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 he resisted, and when the next contender for improving the result appears is unknown.

Pole vault - 6.14 m - Sergey Bubka (Ukraine)

The best world record of the Soviet and Ukrainian athlete Sergei Bubka is not yet 20 years old, but he has already been recorded in the category of "eternal". If the day ever comes when someone can surpass the incredible 6.14, it will surely be a second birthday for the new record holder.

Bubka improved his own record 16 times, and still did not reach his limit. The height of 6.14 was submitted to Sergey at the competitions in the 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. To one of the greatest sports achievements no one has yet been able to come close to humanity, and the question of whether this record will ever be broken at all is still open.

Pole vault - 5.06 m - (Russia)

Record holders often have to break through psychological barriers that no one could 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 a five-meter result, and on the day when this happened, the whole world applauded Isinbayeva. Millions of people applauded the Russian when she won the Beijing Olympic gold 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 the overthrow of 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, in no case should we forget about the fast man planet - Jamaican Usain Bolte. It makes hearts beat faster and lights fire in the eyes. His mini-shows on the track get top TV ratings. In addition, 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 an insane 9.58 in the 100m are the best I've seen athletics world in the new century. One can only hope that Bolt himself decides not to stop there and will be able to improve his amazing records a little more.

The concept of world records in athletics means obtaining and achieving the most high results, which can be shown either by one individual athlete, or by a whole team of several athletes, while the conditions must be comparable and repeatable. All world records are ratified depending on the IAAF score. New records can also be set directly during the 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 common. 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. Such track and field sports that do not belong to the IAAF list include such disciplines as running 50 meters and throwing 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 running the mile.

The first highest world achievements are historically attributed to the middle of the 19th century. Then in England there was an institute professional athletes and for the first time began to measure best time in a 1 mile run. Beginning in 1914 and the advent of the IAAF, a centralized procedure for recording records was established, and a list of disciplines in which world records were recorded was determined.

At the Olympics in Mexico City in 1968, they first began to use a fully automated timekeeping system with an accuracy of hundredths of a second (Jim Hines, 9.95 s in the 100 m run). Since 1976, the IAAF has made the use of automatic sprint timing mandatory.

The oldest world record in the disciplines of athletics included in the program of the Olympic Games is the record in the 800 meters at outdoor stadiums in women (1:53.28), established on July 26, 1983 by Jaromila Kratokhvilova (Czechoslovakia).

The oldest world record recorded in the disciplines included in the program of the world championships is winter record in the women's shot put (22.50 m), established 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. The organizers of commercial starts can set additional prize money for breaking the world record, which attracts spectators and sponsors.

Athletics enthusiasts often discuss records in vertical jumps especially in pole vault. In this discipline, athletes have the opportunity to add one centimeter to the previous result, which is impossible in other types. 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 Isinbayeva - the owner of 27 world records, for the first time in the world in 2005 conquered a height of 5 meters.

American Dick Fosbury won in 1968 in Mexico City, jumping in a hitherto unknown way (flying over the bar with his back, not his stomach), the world record in this form was only broken in 1973 by the efforts of Dwight Stones, who took 2 meters 30 centimeters. Then only one person beat the world record in the old toggle way - the phenomenally talented Vladimir Yashchenko. Undoubtedly, the technique has improved among pole vaulters, among throwers of all four types - hammer, shot, spear and discus. But the technique of long jumpers and triple jumpers has improved over the past 20-40 years to a lesser extent, among 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 his 400m record is already 10 years old.

On the one hand: there is an increasing number of countries and athletes involved in light occupation athletics on high level. In pre-war times, more than 80 percent of world records in sprinting, jumping, and throwing were held by Americans. And only in the endurance race they were pressed by the Europeans. Moreover, the Americans themselves, some 40 years ago, thought: running on short distances- the lot of dark-skinned, medium and long - white. In those years, blond New Zealander Peter Snell owned world records for 800 meters, for 1500 - the phenomenal record of Australian Herb Elliot lasted 7 years, until he was beaten by white American Jim Ryan.

At 5000 and 10000 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 natives of Africa have taken the records to their hands, where the Physical Culture And modern methods workouts. What is surprising: not all countries of the Black Continent supply the champions, but only some. Moreover, in that multinational Kenya with a population of 30 million, everyone famous runners, including numerous champions and winners of the Olympics, represent only one Kalenjin people. There are less than 10% of the population in the country, although 70% of Kenyans live in the midlands and highlands. Even more interesting is that most of the Kenyan champions 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 the Beijing Olympic champion in the 800 run Wilfred Bungei told our correspondent, his cousins are world record holder Wilson Kipketer and multiple world record holder Henry Rono, distant relatives of Kepchoy Keino, Pamela Dzhelimo. Moroccan record holders and ex-world record holders Khalid Skah, Said Aouita and El Gerouj also come from the same small mountainous province.

IN world elite Endurance racing 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 take citizenship of the USA, Denmark, Turkey, the Emirates, France, Sweden.

The situation is similar for sprinters. In the 100 meters, the last white world record holder was the 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 the dark-skinned inhabitants of the islands near the American continent - mainly Jamaica. Usain Bolt is proof of that. He covered the 100m in 9.58 seconds. This is a phenomenal result. Athletes who have won the most gold medals in the history of the Olympic Games: Carl Lewis (USA) and Paavo Nurmi (Finland) - 9 gold medals.

The legend of the world biathlon

Norwegian biathlete Ole Einar Bjoerndalen is a true legend 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 number of winter Olympic titles with skier Bjorn Delhi.

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

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

Record holder from Russia

Russian luger Albert Demchenko holds the record for the number of participations in the Olympics. He appeared in seven consecutive Games (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 erupted last year. As a result, the International Olympic Committee found him guilty of violating anti-doping rules and deprived the Russian of two silver medals of the Sochi Games. He was also banned for life from participation in the Olympics.

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 four Olympic gold medals 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 Karl 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 an athlete from South Korea Yoon Mi Kim. In 1994, at the Olympic Games in the Norwegian city of Lillihammer, the short track 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 covered a total of 65 thousand kilometers, and about 14 thousand people became honorary torchbearers.

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

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). Applications were sent by 1737 athletes. This was a record in the history of the Games.