• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Click here to download the  free ebook of Alberto Juantorena’s  detailed training workouts leading up to the 1976 Montreal Olympics

SpeedEndurance.com

Success in Track & Field ... and Life

  • Home
    • About
    • Contact
  • Track & Field
    • 400 meters
    • 800m & Mile
    • 1/2 & Full Marathons
    • Long & Triple Jump
    • Hurdles
  • Training
    • Weight Training
    • Abs & Core
    • Injury Prevention
    • Shoes & Spikes
    • Masters
  • Coaching
    • Freelap Friday Five
    • Interviews
    • Sports Nutrition
    • Sport Psychology
  • Archives
  • Shop
    • My account
    • Checkout
    • Basket

We Need to do Something about the Women’s World Records

You are here: Home / Coaching / We Need to do Something about the Women’s World Records
46
SHARES
FacebookTwitter

August 2, 2016 by Jimson Lee Leave a Comment

I’ve been a Track & Field fanboy for a very long time, and I have to admit, it was great to see a new World Record for a women’s strength power and speed event.

Keni Harrison’s 12.20 WR in London was all the proof we need. The excitement, the media frenzy, the joy… everyone was so happy for her. (Mind you, the backside story of her missing the Games was a plus for journalists looking for a rags-to-riches feel-good story!)

T&F Women's World Record List

If you take at the look at the strength, power and speed events listed above, you can see several, if not most, of the records occurred during the 1980’s era of Track & Field.   Note there are 5 new events that were recently added that didn’t exist 30 years ago: Women’s pole vault, triple jump, hammer throw and 400mH.  The javelin changed its specifications, so that “reset” the World Record. More on “resetting WR’s” later :)

I’ll be the first to admit we are in a very challenging time in terms of gaining popularity for the Track & Field or Athletics audience.  The doping scandals, zika virus, transgender fairness issues, Paralympic advantages… all don’t help the case!

Meet Directors and Television commentators have tried to avoid the WR topic by using MR (meet records), WL (world lead) or even CR (championship record) to make the event “more exciting”.  Nice camouflage, but people still want to see a WR!

So other than the “new” events listed above, Keni Harrison’s 100mH WR, and the 4x100m relay in London with 3 sprinters running at near full speed to take advantage of the “fast track”, we have not seen a WR in strength, power and speed events in a very long time.

See also  Bud Winter’s “So You Want to be a Sprinter” now re-released

I talked about resetting the WR in my recent podcast on Joel Smith’s Just Fly Sports Blog.  If we want to make T&F more exciting for the fans outside of the 16 days every 4 years, I think we need to do something about the WRs.

I don’t think we should wipe them, but we do need something, just like a baseball Home Run record going from a 158 to 162 game season.  (Okay, maybe HR’s are a bad example :)

My suggestion is to change the weights of the implements (shot & discus) still hold true. For hurdles, you could raise the heights, but we don’t have to now.

But for running events, I think an arbitrary Year 2000 list can be implemented.  Take a look at T&F news listing from 2013:

https://www.trackandfieldnews.com/images/stories/tfn_pdfs/millennium-wr.pdf

  • 100 …….. 10.64 …….. Carmelita Jeter (US) ’09
  • 200 …….. 21.63 …….. Dafne Schippers (NED) ’15 (updated)
  • 400 …….. 48.70 …….. Sanya Richards (US) ’06
  • 800 …….. 1:54.01 …… Pamela Jelimo (Kenya) ’08
  • 4×400 …… 3:16.87 …… United States ’12
  • HJ ….. 6-9¾ (2.08)i ….. Kajsa Bergqvist (Sweden) ’06 & Blanka Vlaši? (Croatia) ’09
  • LJ ….. 24-4¼ (7.42) ….. Tatyana Kotova (Russia) ’02
  • SP ….. 70-5 (21.46) ….. Larisa Peleshenko (Russia) ’00
  • DT ….. 227-7 (69.38) …. Natalya Sadova (Russia) ’03
  • Hept ……. 7032 ……… Carolina Klüft (Sweden) ’07

Now these numbers look more attainable, don’t you think?  If we choose to do nothing, then 10.49 and 21.34 for the 100/200 won’t be broken for a very very long time.

Category iconCoaching,  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.

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Primary Sidebar

Recommended

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xbs-aWxyLk

Shop Our Store

  • Bud Winter (9)
  • Championship Productions (6)
  • Clyde Hart (2)
  • Derek Hansen (1)
  • Electrical Muscle Stimulation (2)
  • Jim Hiserman (6)
  • Jimson Lee (4)
  • Uncategorised (0)

Articles by Category

Products

  • Jim Hiserman - Developing 800m Runners: Identifying, Categorizing and Developing 400m-800m Type Athletes $42.99 $39.99
  • Private Coaching - Monthly Plan $600.00 $525.00
  • Jim Hiserman-Developing-Distance-Runnersv2 Jim Hiserman - Developing Distance Runners Volume 2: A Systematic Approach to Developing Individual Success within a Dynamic Team Culture $34.95 $29.95
  • Feed-the-Cats-Clinic-3-Pack-701 'Feed the Cats' Clinic 3-Pack $64.99
  • Tony Holler's Feed the Cats": A Complete Sprint Training Program Tony Holler's "Feed the Cats" Complete Sprint Training Program $49.99
  • Bud Winter and Speed City presents Arthur Lydiard 509x716 Bud Winter & Arthur Lydiard MP3 [Download only] $9.99

RECENT POSTS

  • IFAC 2022: The Return of In-Person Conferences (with Virtual option)
  • Here is our 400m Discussion Recording… over 2 Hours Long
  • The Best Free Coaching Book – post Beijing 2022 Olympics
  • The Ultimate 400m Track Webinar for Coaches & Athletes
  • NACAC Athletics Coaching Science Series 2022
  • Top Six 400m Predictor Workouts (Number 4 is my Favourite)
  • Best 6 Podcasts for 2021 (and Beyond)
  • Why Karsten Warholm’s 45.94 400mH WR is my Highlight of 2021
  • Sprinting: 10 Research Articles for Effective Sprint Training [Part 23]
  • Pressure in Sports – Reflections from Tokyo 2020 Olympics

Copyright © 2023. SpeedEndurance.com is owned and operated by Aryta Ltd. Privacy Policy
Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy