National Geographic

Men``````AnnualaverageIndividualperformanceWomen100 -meter dashMarathonShot put``````Darker colorsindicate overlappingperformances``````40%``````60%``````80%of currentworld record``````Currentworld record``````Percentageachievedof currentworld record``````1920 1930 1940 1950``````The war effectAthletic records were rareduring World War II. Manyelite athletes were calledto military duty, and mostinternational competitionswere canceled.``````World’s 10 bestperformances by year1921-2016``````Athletic achievementsimproved for decades, in partbecause of new technologyand the use of performance-enhancing steroids. Withathletes under increasedscrutiny, world records are stillgetting broken—but moreincrementally. This could sug-gest that we are pushing thelimits of our athletic potential.ASGOODAS ITGETS?JASON TREAT, NGM STAFF; MEG ROOSEVELTSOURCES: ADRIEN MARCK, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF SPORT,EXPERTISE AND PERFORMANCE, FRANCE; IAAF``````Women’s marathon data available only from 1980