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You are here: Home / Track & Field / What is the Real 60 meter World Record? and 50 meter?
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What is the Real 60 meter World Record? and 50 meter?

February 3, 2016 by Jimson Lee Leave a Comment

While most of you know the Men’s 50m and 60m indoor WR were set by Mo Greene with times of 5.56 and 6.39 respectively, did you ever wonder who had the fastest official recorded splits for the outdoor equivalents?

By the way, I’m not counting the 5.56 of Donovan Bailey because that was set in altitude.  And possibly a false start that was never called back :)

Mo Greene 6.39 60m world record

Photo credits: IAAF and SpikesMag

I talked about the 50 meter and 50 yard world records in this article.

Without those crash pads that can psychologically slow you down in an indoor 50 or 60, surely the times would be faster? (Okay, I will stop calling you Shirley).

Who peaks in March when you peak for August when it really matters!

The Outdoor 50/60m WR

The answer for the fastest outdoor official recorded splits for 50 and 60 meters is 5.53 and 6.38 (+0.2 m/s) set by Bruny Surin at the 1999 WC in Seville, Spain.

[Tweet “Official recorded splits for 50/60m is 5.53 / 6.38 (+0.2 m/s) set by Bruny Surin at the 1999 WC”]

Of course, these splits are funeral compared to the unofficial splits of Usain Bolt’s 5.47 and 6.29 set in Berlin 2009 WC.

[Tweet “Unofficial splits of Usain Bolt’s 50/60m times were 5.47 / 6.29 set at the 2009 WC.”]

I am surprised we don’t see more split times at track meets, like the 100 yards, because the timing equipment would come from the official timekeepers.

If you love track trivia and all the obscure world records, see:

  1. Usain Bolt misses 100 Yard World Record
  2. How to Increase Indoor Track Attendance & TV Coverage
  3. Shortest and Fastest World Records: 50 meter and 50 Yards
  4. How to Race the Indoor 600 meters
  5. What is a Swedish Relay?
See also  Dwayne Miller - Coach of LaShawn Merritt


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Filed Under: Track & Field

About Jimson Lee

I am a Masters Athlete and Coach currently based in London UK. My other projects include the Bud Winter Foundation, writer for the IAAF New Studies in Athletics Journal (NSA) and a member of the Track & Field Writers of America.

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