Paula Radcliffe crosses the finish at the 2003 London Marathon (© Getty Images)
MonteCarloAs approved by the 44th IAAF Congress in Paris, as of today official IAAF Road World Records are recognised, under the same conditions as the previous IAAF World Bests, in the following events: Running for both men and women - 10km, 15km, 20km, Half Marathon, 25km, 30km, Marathon, 100km and Road Relay (with stages of 5-10-5-10-5-7.195km); Race Walking - Men: 20km and 50km, Women: 20km, Juniors: 10km.
Welcoming the new status are two of the star names from the road disciplines, Britain’s Paula Radcliffe, now the World Record holder for the women’s 10km, 20km, and Marathon, and Poland’s Robert Korzeniowski who becomes the inaugural World Record holder for the men’s 50km Race Walk.
How do you feel now that your best athletics achievement(s) have been recognised official World Record(s)?
Radcliffe - “I am really pleased that the IAAF has decided to recognise performances achieved on the roads as World Records. I think that this is a big step forward and is important for the sport of athletics to have records and not just track and field.”
Korzeniowski - "It’s a great pleasure for me, that in athletics there are no more the “even” and the “more even” disciplines. The euphemism “all-time best result” did more harm than good to the reception of our results by the public. This category concerned only walkers and marathon runners but finally, we all are in the land of common sense.”
Both as an individual athlete and for the sport in general, what will be the promotional and publicity benefits gained for road running / race walking by their new World Record status?
Radcliffe – “I think road running has caught the public’s imagination as a lot more people participate in road events than in track events in general. People can relate to a 10k road race or a Marathon, so it is important to get rid of the confusion over World records and World Bests.”
Korzeniowski – “Being a World record holder or organising an event with an attempt to break a World record is very clear. The previous ‘World best’ was just a substitute for a world record and falsified the image. People expect that the barriers of human endurance will be beaten and the name “record” does not leave a trace of doubt that this barrier was overcome….I’m sure that in 20 years time only experts will remember that in Race Walking and in the Marathon there were no “real” World records until now.”
Also starting next year, the IAAF will add performances from road events to its World Ranking system. Is knowing that your road performances could help you become Athlete of the Year an added motivation?
Radcliffe – “It is not really a motivation per se, as my motivation is to perform as well as I can for myself, but it is nice to see that the “Athletics Families” are coming together.”
Korzeniowski – “All I can say is – finally together! This is a result of IAAF policy, which during the last years has been to help walkers reach equality in the great world of athletics….”
New World Records (Road events) – as of 1 January 2004
Senior Men
10km
27:02 Haile Gebrselassie ETH Doha, QAT 11 Dec 02
15km
41:29 Felix Limo KEN Nijmegen, NED 11 Nov 01
20km
56:18 Paul Tergat KEN Milan, ITA 4 Apr 98
Half Marathon
59:17 Paul Tergat KEN Milan, ITA 4 Apr 98
25km
1:13:14 Rodgers Rop KEN Berlin, GER 6 May 01
30km
1:28.36 Takayuki Matsumiya JPN Kumamoto, JPN 16 Feb 03
Marathon
2:04.55 Paul Tergat KEN Berlin, GER 28 Sep 03
100km
6:13:33 Takahiro Sunada JPN Lake Saroma, JPN 21 Jun 98
20km Walk
1:17:21 Jefferson Perez ECU Paris, FRA 23 Aug 03
50km Walk
3:36:03 Robert Korzeniowski POL Paris, FRA 27 Aug 03
Road Relay 42.195km
1:57:56 Jabbour, Khattabi, El Guerrouj, Hissou, Boutayeb, Skah MAR Litochoro, GRE 17 Apr 94
Senior Women
10km
30:21 Paula Radcliffe GBR San Juan, PUR 23 Feb 03
15km
46:57 Elena Meyer RSA Cape Town, RSA 2 Nov 91
20km
1:03:26 Paula Radcliffe GBR Bristol, GBR 6 Oct 01
Half Marathon
66:44 Elena Meyer RSA Tokyo, JPN 15 Jan 99
25km
1:22:31 Naoko Takahashi JPN Berlin, GER 30 Sep 01
30km
1:39:02 Naoko Takahashi JPN Berlin, GER 30 Sep 01
Marathon
2:15:25 Paula Radcliffe GBR London, GBR 13 Apr 03
100km
6:33:11 Tomoe Abe JPN Lake Saroma, JPN 25 Jun 00
20km Walk
1:26:22 Yan Wang CHN Guangzhou, CHN 19 Nov 01
and
1:26:22 Yelena Nikolayeva RUS Cheboksary 18 May 03
Road Relay 42.195km
2:11:41 Jiang, Dong, Zhao, Ma, Lan, Lin CHN Beijing, CHN 28 Feb 98
Junior Men
10km Walk
To be confirmed at a later date.
Junior Women
10km Walk
41.57 Hongmiao Gao 74 CHN Beijing, CHN 8 Sep 93
IAAF
