World Athletics has officially ratified six new world records, including three set during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, along with record-breaking performances in endurance events by Kenya’s Beatrice Chebet and Ruth Chepngetich, and Japan’s Masatora Kawano.
A year of unparalleled Athletic achievements
These records showcase the incredible evolution in athletic performance across disciplines. For Kenya, the achievements of Chebet and Chepngetich underline the nation’s continued legacy in long-distance running. Meanwhile, the Paris Olympics delivered groundbreaking performances, reaffirming the global diversity of talent in athletics.
Kenya’s Historic Milestones
- Beatrice Chebet – Women’s 10,000m
- Time: 28:54.14
- Event: Eugene Diamond League, 25 May 2024
- Chebet smashed the world record previously held by Ethiopia’s Letesenbet Gidey (29:01.03) by an impressive seven seconds. This feat preceded her dominance at the Paris Olympics, where she became the only athlete to win two individual gold medals.
- Ruth Chepngetich – Women’s Marathon
- Time: 2:09:56 (mixed race)
- Event: Chicago Marathon, 13 October 2024
- Chepngetich made history as the first woman to run the marathon distance in under 2:10, obliterating the previous record of 2:11:53, set by Tigist Assefa in 2023.
Records Set at the Paris 2024 Olympics
- Mixed 4x400m Relay – United States
- Time: 3:07.41
- The U.S. team delivered a thrilling record-breaking performance in this unique relay format, which has become a highlight of major championships.
- Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone – Women’s 400m Hurdles (USA)
- Time: 50.37
- McLaughlin-Levrone once again shattered her own world record, continuing to redefine the limits of the 400m hurdles event.
- Mondo Duplantis – Men’s Pole Vault (Sweden)
- Height: 6.25m
- Sweden’s Duplantis raised the bar—literally—breaking his own world record for the seventh time with an extraordinary vault at the Paris Olympics.
Endurance Excellence
- Masatora Kawano – Men’s 35km Race Walk (Japan)
- Time: 2:21:47
- Kawano’s record-breaking performance in Wajima, Japan, set a new benchmark for the 35km race walk discipline.
These ratified records inspire future athletes and highlight the extraordinary potential of human achievement on the world stage.
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