What is a world record? How a time becomes official

A world record is the best performance ever achieved in an event, measured and officially verified. In sport, records are ratified by the governing body (World Athletics for running, World Aquatics for swimming); outside sport, Guinness World Records and community leaderboards keep them. A fast time that doesn't meet the rules is called a world best instead.

Who decides what counts

How a time becomes a world record

Being fastest is not enough; the performance has to pass checks. In athletics, World Athletics requires, among other things:

• Timing: fully automatic, photo-finish timing on the track.
• Wind: no more than +2.0 m/s of tailwind in sprints up to 200 m (and in the long and triple jump).
• Drug test: a doping test right after the performance.
• Road courses: measured by a certified measurer; the overall drop from start to finish may not exceed 1 in 1,000 (1 m per km), and start and finish may be no more than half the race distance apart, so a strong tailwind or a downhill course can't make the time.
• Paperwork: the meet submits an application, which is reviewed before the record is ratified, often months later.

Until then the record is pending ratification. In our world records list those marks carry a "pending" label, with the record they would replace.

World record vs. world best

A world best is the fastest known time in a race or event that doesn't qualify for an official record. Famous examples:

• Eliud Kipchoge's 1:59:40 marathon (Vienna, October 12, 2019) used rotating pacemakers and a pace car, so it was never eligible. The official record became sub-two only when Sabastian Sawe ran 1:59:30 in London in 2026.
• Boston Marathon times don't count because the course drops too much and runs point to point.
• Usain Bolt's 14.35 for 150 m (Manchester, 2009) is a world best: 150 m isn't an official record event.
• Rowing lists only world best times, because wind and current vary too much from course to course.
• Full-distance triathlon times are world bests because no two courses are alike.

Records outside sport

Guinness World Records began as a book first published on August 27, 1955, after Guinness brewery chief Sir Hugh Beaver wanted a book to settle pub arguments; twins Norris and Ross McWhirter compiled it. Today it verifies records from the longest plank to the fastest marathon in costume.

Speedrunning records are the fastest completions of a video game in a given category. Runs are submitted with video and checked by volunteer moderators. The best-known record, Super Mario Bros. "any%", is 4:54.332 by Niftski (August 2026).

Record breaker, record setter, record holder

• Record holder: the person whose mark is the current record.
• Record setter / record breaker: someone who sets a new record, beating the old one.
• In record time: faster than usual, often said loosely ("we cleaned the house in record time").
• Long-standing record: one that has lasted for decades; the oldest individual athletics record is Jarmila Kratochvílová's 1:53.28 for 800 m from 1983. See long-standing meaning.

See every current record, with dates and sources, on our world record times page, where you can also race any record live.

Sources

• Wikipedia: World record
• Wikipedia: List of world records in athletics (ratification criteria)
• World Athletics: world records
• Wikipedia: Super Mario Bros. speedrunning
• Guinness World Records

Related: world record times · stopwatch · what is time?

Last updated October 21, 2026.