Athletics in 2023: Six world records that could be broken this year
Find out which athletes are aiming to become history makers in their events as they set their sights on qualifying for Paris 2024.
Athletics
Can anyone run faster than Usain Bolt? Is it possible to break a world record every year or run a marathon in under two hours? This year, athletes such as Noah Lyles, Yulimar Rojas and Eliud Kipchoge want to prove they have no limits.
The 2023 Athletics season has begun with the first international indoor competitions of the year and the world’s best athletes have set themselves some targets: firstly, to qualify for Paris 2024 but secondly to break a world record and solidify their status as legends of their sport a year before Paris 2024.
Find out below some of the athletes aiming to break a world record in 2023.
Yulimar Rojas
Venezuela, triple jump
After breaking the world record at Tokyo 2020, Rojas jumped even farther at the 2022 Belgrade Indoor World Championships.
So what can we expect from her in 2023?
The Venezuelan athlete is the undisputed queen of the triple jump. Her biggest rival in 2023 will arguably be herself, and right now she holds the triple jump world record after a leap of 15.74 metres. But she wants more: she wants to jump farther than 16 metres.
"It's my most important goal for now and I know I'm close. I feel like it's on my legs," she told Olympics.com after winning gold at the 2022 World Athletics Championships in Oregon.
Eliud Kipchoge
Kenya, marathon
Eliud Kipchoge set a new world record of 2:01:09 hours in the 2022 Berlin Marathon, but his goal is to go even faster and set a mark of under two hours.
He has of course done so before, however the 1:59:40.2 at the Ineos challenge in 2019 doesn't count as an official record due to the conditions it was run under. Now he's aiming to set an official sub two-hour time, and has the chance to do so at this year's Boston Marathon on 17 April.
Among his ambitious targets there's also one that would be just as special - winning his third Olympic marathon gold at Paris 2024, something that no one in history has achieved.
Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone
USA, 400m hurdles
Voted the World Athletics Female Athlete of the Year in 2022, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone broke her own world record in the 400 metre hurdles event to win gold at the 2022 World Championships in Oregon in a time of 50.68 seconds.
Back then McLaughlin-Levrone told BBC World Service that breaking the world record "wasn't a huge surprise."
"That was our goal all along. But it was a sigh of relief being able to accomplish it," added the Olympic champion.
However, she may not get the chance to break her own hurdles record again, as the American is currently testing herself in the 400m flat, a race she may yet decide to concentrate on exclusively this year.
Marileidy Paulino
Dominican Republic, 400m
If McLaughlin-Levrone decides to continue competing in the 400 metres flat, she will have a strong rival in Dominican Republic's Marileidy Paulino.
The current Diamond League champion and two-time silver medallist at Tokyo 2020 (400m and 4x400m mixed relay) broke the Dominican national record at the Diamond League Finals in Zurich with a time of 48.99 seconds.
But that's not enough for her.
"My dream is to be able to break the 48-second barrier and let young people know it is possible. If I can achieve great things, they can do better," Paulino told Red Sport.
If she is to fulfil her goal in 2023, she will need to progress rapidly to beat the world record of 47.60 seconds set by Germany's Marita Koch. She would also become only the third woman in history to run the 400m in under 48 seconds.
Mondo Duplantis
Sweden, pole vault
Mondo Duplantis has begun the 2023 season with his own world record already within his sights.
The World Athletics Male Athlete of the Year won gold at the 2022 World Championships with a history-making leap of 6.21 metres - a mark he is determined to beat it in 2023.
In his 2023 season opener at the Mondo Classic in Stockholm, Duplantis failed on three attempts at 6.22 metres. But with a whole season ahead of him, he is in confident mood he will achieve his aims this year.
"I feel close, I can do it, 100 per cent," he told the Swedish television channel SVT.
Noah Lyles
USA, 200m
The 2019 and 2022 world champion in the 200m, the USA's Noah Lyles didn't lose a single race in which he participated last year.
He defended his world championship title by beating Michael Johnson's national record after stopping the clock in 19.31 seconds. Johnson's American record had been set 26 years before, and Lyles' new mark was the third fastest by any man in history.
Now he has his heart set on improving on his time and even has Usain Bolt's world record over the distance in his crosshairs.
"Personally, I know it's crazy to say, but I don't think it will be that hard," he told the BBC.
The time to beat is 19.19 seconds, which the Jamaican legend set in 2009.