Track and field: Which world records can be broken at the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest?
From Yulimar Rojas to Ryan Crouser, find out which athletes are aiming for more than just a world title at the National Athletics Centre in Budapest.
Athletics
It’s been a record-breaking season in track and field athletics, led by Faith Kipyegon's three world records in three different events, all achieved in under 50 days.
Eight months into the season, seven world records have already been broken.
And with the track and field focus now on the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest, from 19 to 27 August, athletes are angling to hit their peaks again.
As the best acts line up in Budapest, are any records seriously under threat at this year’s Worlds?
We believe so. Olympics.com looks at some of the world marks that could be surpassed at the National Athletics Centre.
- Faith Kipyegon on pushing her legacy beyond titles and going for the 800m world record "if the chance comes"
- Yulimar Rojas lays down her new focus: “I was born to jump 16 meters”
- Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone: The race for Marita Koch's 400m world record
- Athletics: All track and field world records at a glance
Faith Kipyegon, women’s 1500m and 5000m
- Personal best: 3:49.11 (1500 m, WR) / 14:05.20 (5000 m, WR)
- Current world record: 3:49.11 (1500 m, Kipyegon, since 2023) / 14:05.20 (5000 m, Kipyegon, since 2023)
Faith Kipyegon will be eager to showcase her red-hot record-breaking form on the World Championships platform when she lines up on the opening day of the event for the women’s 1500m.
Being her first of two events in Budapest, the Kenyan's primary objective will be to defend her title and then conserve her energy for a shot at her first-ever 5000m global championship.
While the idea of surpassing her recent world records might not be at the forefront of her mind as she prepares for the races, the Kipyegon, in the best shape of her life at 29 years old, could potentially shave off a few more seconds from either of the two marks she set last June.
Jakob Ingebrigsten, men's 1500m
- Personal best: 3:27.14
- Current world record: 3:26.00 (Hicham El Guerrouj, since 1998)
For a quarter of a century, athletes have been chasing Hicham El Guerrouj’s iconic 3:26.00 mark from his remarkable 1500m run at the 1998 Golden Gala in Rome.
This world record has withstood the test of time, with multiple Olympic and world champions chasing it or coming agonisingly close.
Jakob Ingebrigtsen, the fourth-fastest man in history, has already claimed the world indoor 1500m and the European outdoor 1500m records. Now, he is merely two seconds shy of El Guerrouj's mark.
The 22-year-old Norwegian improved his personal best to 3:27.14 in Silesia just a month ago and it's likely that he will seize any chance to challenge the Moroccan’s record at the upcoming Worlds.
Karsten Warholm, men’s 400m hurdles
- Personal best: 45.94 (WR)
- Current world record: 45.94 (Warholm, since 2021)
Another exciting contender for a world record in Budapest is Karsten Warholm.
The 400m world record holder is back to his pre-Olympic form as he approaches his fourth World Championships. Having not experienced a loss in 12 starts, the Norwegian could further improve his mark of 45.94 seconds in Budapest.
Athletics fans would love to watch Warlhom reproduce another magic moment in the hurdles as he did when he smashed the world record at the Tokyo Olympics.
Now fully fit after shrugging off the hamstring injury that hampered his title defence last year in Oregon, the world record is firmly back on his radar.
Mondo Duplantis, men’s pole vault
- Personal best: 6.22m (WR)
- Current world record: 6.22m (Duplantis, since 2023)
Olympic champion Armand 'Mondo' Duplantis thrives on being at the top and trying to reach ever-greater heights.
The 23-year-old has already broken the men’s world record six times during his career: his latest achievement came at the 2023 World Athletics Indoor Tour event in Clermont-Ferrand, where he cleared an astounding 6.22m.
The Swedish superstar has improved his own record five times, two of them at a major championship.
He first set a record at the 2022 World Indoors in Belgrade when he cleared 6.20m, before raising that mark by a centimetre a few months later at the World Athletics Championships in Eugene.
With 11 world records under his belt already, Mondo is tipped to set the bar even higher in Budapest.
Yulimar Rojas, women’s triple jump
- Personal best: 15.74m (WR)
- Current world record: 15.74m (Rojas, since 2022)
Continuing with the field events, another athlete who seems to perform well under pressure is Yulimar Rojas.
When the Venezuelan world and Olympic gold medallist competed at her first Worlds at London 2017, she was a sub-15m jumper. However, she’s since improved immensely as she targets the legendary barrier of 16m.
Rojas raised the world triple jump record to 15.67m with her gold medal performance at the Olympics in Tokyo and captured her third successive world indoor title by leaping to 15.74m in March 2022.
Can the current world leader jump to yet another world record? She would love to, especially since she wasn’t 100 per cent satisfied with merely clinching a third consecutive world gold in Eugene last year.
Ryan Crouser, men’s shot put
- Personal best: 23.56m (WR)
- Current world record: 23.56m (Crouser, since 2023)
The talented thrower is not only the man to beat in the shot put as he seeks to defend his world title, but also one to watch when it comes to pushing the limit of his sport.
Ryan Crouser owns 10 of the 14 biggest throws in shot put history with his latest being a huge 23.56m from May, which was nearly 20cm further than his previous mark he set at the U.S. Olympic Trials in Eugene in 2021.
Having polished his new throwing technique that he calls the ‘step across’ or the ‘Crouser slide’, the 30-year-old is heaving the shot far and is excited that it could help him get past the mythical 24m barrier.
Lamecha Girma and Soufiane El Bakkali, men’s 3000m steeplechase
- Personal best: Lamecha Girma 7:52.11 (WR); Sofiane El Bakkali 7:56.68
- Current world record: 7:52.11 (Girma, since 2023)
The 3000m men's steeplechase world record had been one of the marks that was difficult to beat.
The previous record of 7:53.63, set by Qatar's Saif Saaeed Shaheen in 2004, stood for nearly 20 years until Olympic and world silver medallist Lamecha Girma powered to a new mark at June's Paris Diamond League of 7:52.11.
Earlier in the season, Soufiane El Bakkhali, the Moroccan reigning gold medallist who was tipped to lower the world record, just missed the mark with a 7:56.68 at the Rabat Diamond League meet on 28 May.
The race for the gold medal in Budapest could turn out to be a race for the world record with the two best men lining up for the third consecutive time after the Tokyo Olympics and last year's Worlds in Eugene.
María Pérez and Kimberly García, women’s 35km race walk
- Personal best: María Pérez 2:37:15 (WR); Kimberly García 2:37:44
- Current world record: 2:37.15 (Pérez, since 2023)
Five months into the new season, the women’s 35km walk world record had been shattered twice.
First was the defending world champion, Peruvian Kimberly Garcia, who took two seconds off the previous mark at the first World Race Walking Tour A-category event of the season in Dudince with her 2:37:44.
Then Spain’s Maria Perez obliterated that world record by nearly half a minute at May’s European Race Walking Team Championships.
The two top race walkers are set to clash in Budapest in what could be one of the key competitions in which a record could fall.
How fast can they push each other to the finish line?