Track & Field
SPORTS
MOST VICTORIES IN IAAF DIAMOND LEAGUE
ATHLETICS MEETINGS
The International Association of Athletics
Federations (IAAF) Diamond League, which
began in 2010, involves 14 meetings each year
featuring 32 disciplines (16 for men and 16 for
women). No athlete, male or female, has had
more victories in Diamond League meetings than
Sandra Perkovi (HRV). She enjoyed 34 wins in
the discus between 12 Jun 2010 and 1 Sep 2016.MOST CONSECUTIVE OLYMPIC
LONG-DISTANCE DOUBLES
At the London 2012 and Rio 2016 Games, Mo Farah
(UK, b. SOM) won two consecutive Olympic
long-distance doubles (5,000 m and 10,000 m).
This matched the feat of Lasse Virn (FIN) at
Munich 1972 and Montreal 1976. By winning the
5,000 m at two Olympics in a row, Farah and
Virn share the record for the most consecutive
Olympic 5,000 m gold medals (male).
Farah’s medal collection also includes the
most European Athletics Championships
gold medals (male)DZ five. He won the 5,000 m
at Barcelona 2010, Helsinki 2012 and ~urich
2014, and added the 10,000 m in 2010 and 2014.
In recognition of his achievements, Farah was
knighted in the UK’s 2017 New year Honours list.mio Ņ01ʼn was the ĸrst quèèer Oáĩèpic .aèes heád whoááĩ
during winter in the host countrĩ, and the ĸrst in qouth èerica.USAIN BOLT
At Rio 2016, this legendary Jamaican
sprinter won the Olympic 100 m and
200 m events for the third successive
time, following his victories at Beijing
2008 and London 2012. His three wins in
each event gives him the records for the
most (and most consecutive) Olympic
100 m and 200 m gold medals.
Bolt has also run the fastest 100 m
and 200 m, with times of 9.58 sec and
19.19 sec respectively.Fastest one mile (female, indoors)
On 17 Feb 2016, Genzebe Dibaba (ETH) won the
women’s indoor mile at the Globen Galan IAAF
World Indoor Tour event in Stockholm, Sweden,
in a time of 4 min 13.31 sec. The previous best of
4 min 17.14 sec by Doina Melinte (ROM) had stood
for 26 years, and had been set 12 months before
Dibaba was born.
On a record-breaking night at the Globen
Galan, Djibouti’s Ayanleh Souleiman ran the
fastest 1,000 m (male, indoors): 2 min
14.20 sec. He beat the time of 2 min 14.96 sec,
set by Wilson Kipketer (DEN) on 20 Feb 2000.Fastest 10,000 m (female)
Almaz Ayana (ETH) won the women’s 10,000 m- and her first Olympic gold medal – in 29 min
17.45 sec on 12 Aug 2016. The previous best of
29 min 31.78 sec, set by Wang Junxia (CHN) on
8 Sep 1993, had stood for 23 years.
Fastest 3,000 m steeplechase (female)
On 27 Aug 2016, Ruth Jebet (BHR) smashed an
eight-year-old record for this distance, winning
in 8 min 52.78 sec at the IAAF Diamond League
meeting in Paris, France. The Kenyan-born
distance runner had won Olympic gold in the
event just 12 days earlier in Rio.Fastest 100, 200 and 400 m (aggregate)
Wade van Niekerk (~AF) made history in 2016
by recording the first “sub-10, 20,
44” races (see p.216). However, the
sprinter with the fastest combined
times for the 100 m, 200 m and
400 m is Michael Johnson
(USA), with an aggregate of
72.59 sec, achieved between
1994 and 1999. Van Niekerk has
a total of 72.95 sec, while 100 m
and 200 m world record holder Usain
Bolt has a time of 74.05 sec.Most Olympic 3,000 m
steeplechase medals
Mahiedine Mekhissi-Benabbad (FRA) gained his
third medal in the Olympic 3,000 m steeplechase
at Rio 2016. He picked up a bronze, having
previously won silver in 2 008 and 2 012.FASTEST WHEELCHAIR 800 M (T52, MALE)
Raymond Martin (USA) finished the T52-
classification 800 m in a wheelchair in a time
of 1 min 51.64 sec at the US trials in Charlotte,
North Carolina, USA, on 2 Jul 2016. He is shown
above competing in the 1,500 m trial, which took
place on the same day.
Four years earlier, on 1 Jul 2012, Martin had
achieved the fastest men’s wheelchair 200 m
(T52, male), in 30.18 sec in Indianapolis, USA.Q: What was different
about the Paralympics
medals for Rio 2016?
A: They were filled with steel balls,
so that they rattled and made
the “sound of victory” for visually
impaired athletes
Jamaica’s
victory in the 4
x
100 m relay at Beijing
2008 was rescinded in
2017 after Nesta
Carter
failed a drug test. Had it
stood, Bolt would also have
recorded the first Olympic
track sprint triple treble,
with 100^ m, 200
m and
4 x 100^ m wins at
three Games.