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Mile run world record progression: Difference between revisions

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Root racing was obviously not made popular in England in the 17th century. They did it in Athens for the Olympics way back in the day, and probably even before then.
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Accurate times for the [[mile]] run (1.609344 km) were not recorded until after 1850, when the first precisely measured running tracks were built. [[Foot racing]] had become popular in [[England]] by the 17th century, when [[footman|footmen]] would race and their masters would wager on the result. By the 19th century "[[pedestrian#History|pedestrianism]]", as it was called, had become very popular.
Accurate times for the [[mile]] run (1.609344 km) were not recorded until after 1850, when the first precisely measured running tracks were built. [[Foot racing]] had become popular in [[Caves with cave men probably, and then Greece]] by the 17th century, when [[footman|footmen]] would race and their masters would wager on the result. By the 19th century "[[pedestrian#History|pedestrianism]]", as it was called, had become very popular.


The best times recorded in the 19th century were by professionals. Even after professional foot racing died out, it was not until 1915 that the professional record of 4:12¾ set by [[Walter George (athlete)|Walter George]] in 1886 was beaten by an amateur.
The best times recorded in the 19th century were by professionals. Even after professional foot racing died out, it was not until 1915 that the professional record of 4:12¾ set by [[Walter George (athlete)|Walter George]] in 1886 was beaten by an amateur.

Revision as of 00:41, 8 September 2010

Accurate times for the mile run (1.609344 km) were not recorded until after 1850, when the first precisely measured running tracks were built. Foot racing had become popular in Caves with cave men probably, and then Greece by the 17th century, when footmen would race and their masters would wager on the result. By the 19th century "pedestrianism", as it was called, had become very popular.

The best times recorded in the 19th century were by professionals. Even after professional foot racing died out, it was not until 1915 that the professional record of 4:12¾ set by Walter George in 1886 was beaten by an amateur.

Progression of the mile record accelerated in the 1930s, as newsreel coverage greatly popularized the sport, making stars out of milers such as Jules Ladoumègue, Jack Lovelock, and Glenn Cunningham. In the 1940s Swedes Arne Andersson and Gunder Hägg lowered the record to just over four minutes (4:01.4) while racing was curtailed in the combatant countries due to World War II. After the war, it was John Landy of Australia and Britain's Roger Bannister who took up the challenge of being the first to break the fabled four minute mile barrier. Roger Bannister did it first, and John Landy did it 46 days later. By the end of the 20th century, the record had been lowered to 3:43.13, by Hicham El Guerrouj of Morocco in 1999.[1]

On the women's side, the first sub-5:00 mile was achieved by Britain's Diane Leather 23 days after Bannister's first sub-4:00 mile. But the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) did not recognize women's records for the distance until 1967, when Anne Rosemary Smith of Britain ran 4:37.0. The current women's world record is 4:12.56 by Svetlana Masterkova of Russia, set on August 14, 1996.

Since 1976, the mile is the only non-metric distance recognized by the IAAF for record purposes.

The number of high-quality races over the distance is few in recent years as most major international meets concentrate on the "metric mile" distance of 1,500 m (0.932 miles).

Men's record progression

Professionals

Time Athlete Nationality Date Venue
4:28 Charles Westhall  United Kingdom 26 July 1852 London
4:28 Thomas Horspool  United Kingdom 28 September 1857 Manchester
4:23 Thomas Horspool  United Kingdom 12 July 1858 Manchester
4:22¼ Siah Albison  United Kingdom 27 October 1860 Manchester
4:21¾ William Lang  United Kingdom 11 July 1863 Manchester
4:20½ Edward Mills  United Kingdom 23 April 1864 Manchester
4:20 Edward Mills  United Kingdom 25 June 1864 Manchester
4:17¼ William Lang  United Kingdom 19 August 1865 Manchester
4:17¼ William Richards  United Kingdom 19 August 1865 Manchester
4:16 1/5 William Cummings  United Kingdom 14 May 1881 Preston
4:12¾ Walter George  United Kingdom 23 August 1886 London

Amateurs

Time Athlete Nationality Date Venue
4:55 J. Heaviside  United Kingdom 1 April 1861 Dublin
4:49 J. Heaviside  United Kingdom 27 May 1861 Dublin
4:46 Matthew Greene  United Kingdom 27 May 1861 Dublin
4:33 George Farran  United Kingdom 23 May 1862 Dublin
4:29 3/5 Walter Chinnery  United Kingdom 10 March 1868 Cambridge
4:28 4/5 Walter Gibbs  United Kingdom 3 April 1868 London
4:28 3/5 Charles Gunton  United Kingdom 31 March 1873 London
4:26 0/5 Walter Slade  United Kingdom 30 May 1874 London
4:24½ Walter Slade  United Kingdom 1 June 1875 London
4:23 1/5 Walter George  United Kingdom 16 August 1880 London
4:19 2/5 Walter George  United Kingdom 3 June 1882 London
4:18 2/5 Walter George  United Kingdom 21 June 1884 Birmingham
4:17 4/5 Thomas Conneff  United States 26 August 1893 Cambridge, Mass.
4:17 0/5 Fred Bacon  United Kingdom 6 July 1895 London
4:15 3/5 Thomas Conneff  United States 28 August 1895 New York
4:15 2/5 John Paul Jones  United States 27 May 1911 Cambridge, Mass.

As there was no recognized official sanctioning body until 1912, there are several versions of the mile progression before that year. One version starts with Richard Webster (GBR) who ran 4:36.5 in 1865, surpassed by Chinnery in 1868.[2]

Another variation of the amateur record progression pre-1862 is as follows[3]:

Time Athlete Nationality Date Venue
4:52 Cadet Marshall  United Kingdom 2 September 1852 Addiscome
4:45 Thomas Finch  United Kingdom 3 November 1858 Oxford
4:45 St. Vincent Hammick  United Kingdom 15 November 1858 Oxford
4:40 Gerald Surman  United Kingdom 24 November 1859 Oxford
4:33 George Farran  United Kingdom 23 May 1862 Dublin

IAAF era

The first world record in the mile for men (athletics) was recognized by the International Amateur Athletics Federation, now known as the International Association of Athletics Federations, in 1913.

To June 21, 2009, the IAAF has ratified 32 world records in the event.[4]

Time Athlete Nationality Date Venue
4:14.4 John Paul Jones  United States 31 May 1913[4] Allston, Mass.
4:12.6 Norman Taber  United States 16 July 1915[4] Allston, Mass.
4:10.4 Paavo Nurmi  Finland 23 August 1923[4] Stockholm
4:09.2 Jules Ladoumègue  France 4 October 1931[4] Paris
4:07.6 Jack Lovelock  New Zealand 15 July 1933[4] Princeton, N.J.
4:06.7* Glenn Cunningham  United States 16 June 1934[4] Princeton, N.J.
4:06.4 Sydney Wooderson  United Kingdom 28 August 1937[4] Motspur Park
4:06.1* Gunder Hägg  Sweden 1 July 1942[4] Göteborg
4:06.2 Arne Andersson  Sweden 10 July 1942[4] Stockholm
4:04.6 Gunder Hägg  Sweden 4 September 1942[4] Stockholm
4:02.6 Arne Andersson  Sweden 1 July 1943[4] Göteborg
4:01.6 Arne Andersson  Sweden 18 July 1944[4] Malmö
4:01.3* Gunder Hägg  Sweden 17 July 1945[4] Malmö
3:59.4 Roger Bannister  United Kingdom 6 May 1954[4] Oxford
3:57.9* John Landy  Australia 21 June 1954[4] Turku
3:57.2 Derek Ibbotson  United Kingdom 19 July 1957[4] London
3:54.5 Herb Elliott  Australia 6 August 1958[4] Santry, Dublin
3:54.4 Peter Snell  New Zealand 27 January 1962[4] Wanganui
3:54.04* Peter Snell  New Zealand 17 November 1964[4] Auckland
3:53.6 Michel Jazy  France 9 June 1965[4] Rennes
3:51.3 Jim Ryun  United States 17 July 1966[4] Berkeley, Cal.
3:51.1 Jim Ryun  United States 23 June 1967[4] Bakersfield, Cal.
3:51.0 Filbert Bayi  Tanzania 17 May 1975[4] Kingston
3:49.4 John Walker  New Zealand 12 August 1975[4] Göteborg
3:48.95* Sebastian Coe  United Kingdom 17 July 1979[4] Oslo
3:48.8 Steve Ovett  United Kingdom 1 July 1980[4] Oslo
3:48.53 Sebastian Coe  United Kingdom 19 August 1981[4] Zürich
3:48.40 Steve Ovett  United Kingdom 26 August 1981[4] Koblenz
3:47.33 Sebastian Coe  United Kingdom 28 August 1981[4] Bruxelles
3:46.32 Steve Cram  United Kingdom 27 July 1985[4] Oslo
3:44.39 Noureddine Morceli  Algeria 5 September 1993[4] Rieti
3:43.13 Hicham El Guerrouj  Morocco 7 July 1999[4] Rome

Asterisks indicate actual times run. The IAAF ratified rounded times in these cases.

Over the decades, the IAAF has had evolving rules on rounding times when ratifying records. Into the 1950s, times were rounded up to the nearest 0.2 of a second, as most races were timed with manual stopwatches. Into the 1960s, as electronic timing started to become more widespread, records were rounded to the nearest 0.1 of a second. This was further refined in 1981 to the current level of accuracy, to 0.01 of a second.

Thus, Cunningham's 4:06.7, Hägg's 4:06.1 and 4:01.3, Landy's 3:57.9, Snell's 3:54.03 and Coe's 3:48.95 were ratified by the IAAF as 4:06.8, 4:06.2, 4:01.4, 3:58.0, 3:54.1 and 3:49.0 respectively.[4]

Women's record progression

Pre-IAAF

Time Athlete Nationality Date Venue
6:13.2 Elizabeth Atkinson  United Kingdom 24 June 1921 Manchester
5:27.5 Ruth Christmas  United Kingdom 20 August 1932 London
5:24.0 Gladys Lunn  United Kingdom 1 June 1936 Brentwood
5:23.0 Gladys Lunn  United Kingdom 18 July 1936 London
5:20.8 Gladys Lunn  United Kingdom 8 May 1937 Dudley
5:17.0 Gladys Lunn  United Kingdom 7 August 1937 London
5:15.3 Evelyn Forster  United Kingdom 22 July 1939 London
5:11.0 Anne Oliver  United Kingdom 14 June 1952 London
5:09.8 Enid Harding  United Kingdom 4 June 1953 London
5:08.0 Anne Oliver  United Kingdom 12 September 1953 Consett
5:02.6 Diane Leather  United Kingdom 30 September 1953 London
5:00.3 Edith Treybal  Romania 1 November 1953 Timisoara
5:00.2 Diane Leather  United Kingdom 26 May 1954 Birmingham
4:59.6 Diane Leather  United Kingdom 29 May 1954 Birmingham
4:50.8 Diane Leather  United Kingdom 24 May 1955 London
4:45.0 Diane Leather  United Kingdom 21 September 1955 London
4:41.4 Marise Chamberlain  New Zealand 8 December 1962 Perth
4:39.2 Anne Rosemary Smith  United Kingdom 13 May 1967 London

IAAF era

The first world record in the mile for women (athletics) was recognized by the International Amateur Athletics Federation, now known as the International Association of Athletics Federations, in 1967.

To June 21, 2009, the IAAF has ratified 13 world records in the event.[5]

Time Athlete Nationality Date Venue
4:37.0 Anne Rosemary Smith  United Kingdom 3 June 1967[5] London
4:36.8 Maria Gommers  Netherlands 14 June 1969[5] Leicester
4:35.3 Ellen Tittel  West Germany 20 August 1971[5] Sittard
4:29.5 Paola Pigni  Italy 8 August 1973[5] Viareggio
4:23.8 Natalia Marasescu  Romania 21 May 1977[5] Bucharest
4:22.09* Natalia Marasescu  Romania 27 January 1979[5] Auckland
4:21.68* Mary Slaney  United States 26 January 1980[5] Auckland
4:20.89 Lyudmila Veselkova  Soviet Union 12 September 1981[5] Bologna
4:18.08 Mary Slaney  United States 9 July 1982[5] Paris
4:17.44 Maricica Puică  Romania 9 September 1982[5] Rieti
4:16.71 Mary Slaney  United States 21 August 1985[5] Zürich
4:15.61 Paula Ivan  Romania 10 July 1989[5] Nice
4:12.56 Svetlana Masterkova  Russia 14 August 1996[5] Zürich

Actual times run are noted above. Those times with an asterisk were not the times ratified by the IAAF. Marasescu's 4:22.09 was ratified as 4:22.1. Slaney's 4:21.68 was initially ratified as 4:21.7 until the IAAF recognized times to the hundredth of a second in 1981.[5]

Mary Slaney ran 4:17.55 in Houston on 16 February 1980, and Natalya Artyomova (Soviet Union) ran 4:15.8 in Leningrad on 6 August 1984, but neither time was ratified by the IAAF.

See also

References

  1. ^ IAAF International Association of Athletics Federations - IAAF.org - Statistics - Records
  2. ^ Berkshire Sports - World Mile Record Progression
  3. ^ http://www.stat.colostate.edu/~jah/teach/st540/data/mile.info
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah "12th IAAF World Championships In Athletics: IAAF Statistics Handbook. Berlin 2009" (pdf). Monte Carlo: IAAF Media & Public Relations Department. 2009. pp. Pages 546, 549–50. Retrieved August 4, 2009.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o "12th IAAF World Championships In Athletics: IAAF Statistics Handbook. Berlin 2009" (pdf). Monte Carlo: IAAF Media & Public Relations Department. 2009. pp. Pages 546, 642. Retrieved August 4, 2009.

Further reading

  • Cordner Nelson and Roberto Quercetani, The Milers, Tafnews Press, 1985, ISBN 0-911521-15-1
  • Bascomb Neal, "The Perfect Mile", Houghton Mifflin, 2004, ISBN 0-618391-12-6

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mile_run_world_record_progression&oldid=383554681"