Mile run world record progression

Template:Short description The world record in the mile run is the fastest time set by a runner in the middle-distance track and field event. World Athletics is the official body which oversees the records. Hicham El Guerrouj is the current men's record holder with his time of 3:43.13, while Faith Kipyegon has the women's record of 4:07.64. Since 1976, the mile has been the only non-metric distance recognized by the IAAF for record purposes. In international competitions such as the Olympics the term "metric mile" is sometimes used to refer to a distance of 1,500 meters, which is 109.344 meters shorter than an Imperial mile, even though four "full" laps of a 400 meter track is equal to 1,600 meters.

Accurate times for the mile run (1.609344 km) have been recorded since 1850, when the first precisely measured running tracks were built. Foot racing had become popular in England by the 17th century, when footmen would race and their masters would wager on the result. By the 19th century "pedestrianism", as it was called, had become extremely popular and the best times recorded in the period were by professionals. Even after professional foot racing died out, it was not until 1915 that the professional record of 4:123⁄4 (set by Walter George in 1886) was surpassed by an amateur.

Progression of the mile record accelerated in the 1930s as newsreel coverage greatly popularized the sport, making stars out of milers such as Jules Ladoumègue, Jack Lovelock, and Glenn Cunningham. In the 1940s, Swedes Arne Andersson and Gunder Hägg lowered the record to 4:01.4 while racing was curtailed during World War II in the combatant countries. After the war, Roger Bannister of the United Kingdom and John Landy of Australia vied to be the first to break the fabled four-minute mile barrier. Roger Bannister did it first on May 6, 1954, and John Landy followed 46 days later.

On the women's side, the first sub-5:00 mile was achieved by the UK's Diane Leather 23 days after Bannister's first sub-4:00 mile. However, the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) did not recognize women's records for the distance until 1967, when Anne Smith of the UK ran 4:37.0.

Men

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Professionals

Time	Athlete	Nationality	Date	Venue
4:28	Charles Westhall		26 July 1855	London
4:28	Thomas Horspool		28 September 1857	Manchester
4:23	Thomas Horspool		12 July 1858	Manchester
4:221⁄4	Siah Albison		27 October 1860	Manchester
4:213⁄4	William Lang		11 July 1863	Manchester
4:201⁄2	Edward Mills		23 April 1864	Manchester
4:20	Edward Mills		25 June 1864	Manchester
4:171⁄4	William Lang		19 August 1865	Manchester
4:171⁄4	William Richards		19 August 1865	Manchester
4:161⁄5	William Cummings		14 May 1881	Preston
4:123⁄4	Walter George		23 August 1886	London

Amateurs

Time	Athlete	Nationality	Date	Venue
4:55	J. Heaviside		1 April 1861	Dublin
4:49	J. Heaviside		27 May 1861	Dublin
4:46	Matthew Greene		27 May 1861	Dublin
4:33	George Farran		23 May 1862	Dublin
4:293⁄5	Walter Chinnery		10 March 1868	Cambridge
4:284⁄5	Walter Gibbs		3 April 1868	London
4:283⁄5	Charles Gunton		31 March 1873	London
4:260⁄5	Walter Slade		30 May 1874	London
4:241⁄2	Walter Slade		1 June 1875	London
4:231⁄5	Walter George		16 August 1880	London
4:192⁄5	Walter George		3 June 1882	London
4:182⁄5	Walter George		21 June 1884	Birmingham
4:174⁄5	Thomas Conneff		26 August 1893	Cambridge
4:170⁄5	Fred Bacon		6 July 1895	London
4:153⁄5	Thomas Conneff		28 August 1895	New York City
4:152⁄5	John Paul Jones	Template:Country data United States	27 May 1911	Cambridge

As there was no recognized official sanctioning body until 1912, there are several versions of the mile progression before that year. One version starts with Richard Webster (GBR) who ran 4:36.5 in 1865, surpassed by Chinnery in 1868.

Another variation of the amateur record progression pre-1862 is as follows:

Time	Athlete	Nationality	Date	Venue
4:52	Cadet Marshall		2 September 1852	Addiscome
4:45	Thomas Finch		3 November 1858	Oxford
4:45	St. Vincent Hammick		15 November 1858	Oxford
4:40	Gerald Surman		24 November 1859	Oxford
4:33	George Farran		23 May 1862	Dublin

IAAF / World Athletics era

The first world record in the mile for men (athletics) was recognized by the International Amateur Athletics Federation (later known as the International Association of Athletics Federations and currently known as World Athletics) in 1913.

To June 21, 2009, the IAAF has ratified 32 world records in the event.

	Ratified
	Not ratified
	Ratified but later rescinded
	Pending ratification

Time	Auto	Athlete	Nationality	Date	Venue
4:14.4		John Paul Jones	Template:Country data United States	31 May 1913	Allston, Mass.
4:12.6		Norman Taber	Template:Country data United States	16 July 1915	Allston, Mass.
4:10.4		Paavo Nurmi		23 August 1923	Stockholm
4:09.2		Jules Ladoumègue		4 October 1931	Paris
4:07.6		Jack Lovelock		15 July 1933	Princeton, N.J.
4:06.8		Glenn Cunningham	Template:Country data United States	16 June 1934	Princeton, N.J.
4:06.4		Sydney Wooderson		28 August 1937	Motspur Park
4:06.2		Gunder Hägg		1 July 1942	Gothenburg
4:06.2		Arne Andersson		10 July 1942	Stockholm
4:04.6		Gunder Hägg (2)		4 September 1942	Stockholm
4:02.6		Arne Andersson (2)		1 July 1943	Gothenburg
4:01.6		Arne Andersson (3)		18 July 1944	Malmö
4:01.4		Gunder Hägg (3)		17 July 1945	Malmö
3:59.4		Roger Bannister		6 May 1954	Oxford
3:58.0		John Landy		21 June 1954	Turku
3:57.2		Derek Ibbotson		19 July 1957	London
3:54.5		Herb Elliott		6 August 1958	Dublin
3:54.4		Peter Snell		27 January 1962	Wanganui
3:54.1	3:54.04	Peter Snell (2)		17 November 1964	Auckland
3:53.6		Michel Jazy		9 June 1965	Rennes
3:51.3		Jim Ryun		17 July 1966	Berkeley, Cal.
3:51.1		Jim Ryun (2)		23 June 1967	Bakersfield, Cal.
3:51.0		Filbert Bayi		17 May 1975	Kingston
3:49.4		John Walker		12 August 1975	Gothenburg
3:49.0	3:48.95	Sebastian Coe		17 July 1979	Oslo
3:48.8		Steve Ovett		1 July 1980	Oslo
3:48.53		Sebastian Coe (2)		19 August 1981	Zürich
3:48.40		Steve Ovett (2)		26 August 1981	Koblenz
3:47.33		Sebastian Coe (3)		28 August 1981	Brussels
3:46.32		Steve Cram		27 July 1985	Oslo
3:44.39		Noureddine Morceli		5 September 1993	Rieti
3:43.13		Hicham El Guerrouj		7 July 1999	Rome

The "Time" column indicates the ratified mark; the "Auto" column indicates a fully automatic time that was also recorded in the event when hand-timed marks were used for official records, or which was the basis for the official mark, rounded to the 10th of a second, depending on the rules then in place.

Records for the mile were rounded up to the nearest tenth of a second commencing January 1, 1957. Previously, records were rounded up to the nearest fifth of a second. Those rounded-up marks were: Cunningham's 4:06.8 (timed at 4:06.7); Hägg's 4:06.2 (4:06.1); Hägg's 4:01.4 (4:01.3); Landy's 3:58.0 (3:57.9). Landy's mark was not retroactively adjusted when the new rule came into effect.Template:Rp Auto times to the hundredth of a second were accepted by the IAAF for events up to and including 10,000 m beginning in 1981.

During the most recent world record setting race in 1999, Noah Ngeny came in second place to Hicham El Guerrouj with a time of 3:43.40, which continues to be the second fastest mile run in history, beating out the old world record set in 1993 by Noureddine Morceli. No-one else approached the record in the 21st century until September 16, 2023, when Jakob Ingebrigtsen and Yared Nuguse recorded the third and fourth fastest times in history, with 3:43.73 and 3:43.97 respectively.

Men's Indoor

Men Indoor Pre-IAAF

Time	Auto	Athlete	Nationality	Date	Venue
4:39.2		Lawrence Myers	Template:Country data United States	April 25, 1885	New York
4:39.2		Ernest Hjertberg	Template:Country data United States	May 10, 1889	New York
4:31.4		William Day	Template:Country data United States	February 5, 1890	Brooklyn
4:28.4		Ernest Hjertberg	Template:Country data United States	February 13, 1892	Boston
4:26.0		Andrew Walsh	Template:Country data United States	November 30, 1895	Brooklyn
4:25.2		Melvin Sheppard	Template:Country data United States	January 26, 1906	New York
4:23.8		Melvin Sheppard	Template:Country data United States	March 30, 1906	New York
4:19.8		Herbert Trube	Template:Country data United States	February 13, 1909	New York
4:19.8		Oscar Hedlund	Template:Country data United States	February 22, 1912	Troy
4:18.8		Oscar Hedlund	Template:Country data United States	February 12, 1913	New York
4:18.2		Abel Kiviat	Template:Country data United States	February 15, 1913	New York
4:16.0		John Overton	Template:Country data United States	March 10, 1917	Philadelphia
4:14.6		Joseph Ray	Template:Country data United States	April 12, 1919	Chicago
4:13.6		Paavo Nurmi		January 6, 1925	New York
4:13.4		Lloyd Hahn	Template:Country data United States	February 14, 1925	New York
4:12.0		Paavo Nurmi		March 7, 1925	Buffalo
4:12.0		Joseph Ray	Template:Country data United States	March 17, 1925	New York
4:11.2		Gene Venzke	Template:Country data United States	February 6, 1932	New York
4:10.0		Gene Venzke	Template:Country data United States	February 17, 1932	New York
4:09.8		Glenn Cunningham	Template:Country data United States	March 25, 1933	Chicago
4:08.4		Glenn Cunningham	Template:Country data United States	March 17, 1934	New York
4:04.4 oversized track		Glenn Cunningham	Template:Country data United States	March 3, 1938	Hanover
4:07.4		Glenn Cunningham	Template:Country data United States	March 12, 1938	New York
4:07.4		Charles Fenske	Template:Country data United States	February 3, 1940	New York
4:07.4		Charles Fenske	Template:Country data United States	February 17, 1940	New York
4:07.4		Leslie MacMitchell	Template:Country data United States	February 15, 1941	New York
4:07.4		Walter Mehl	Template:Country data United States	February 15, 1941	New York
4:07.3		Gilbert Dodds	Template:Country data United States	March 11, 1944	New York
4:06.4		Gilbert Dodds	Template:Country data United States	March 18, 1944	Chicago
4:05.3		Gilbert Dodds	Template:Country data United States	January 31, 1948	New York
4:04.9		Wes Santee	Template:Country data United States	February 15, 1954	East Lansing
4:03.8		Wes Santee	Template:Country data United States	January 29, 1955	Boston
4:03.6		Gunnar Nielsen		February 5, 1955	New York
4:03.4		Ron Delany		March 14, 1958	Chicago
4:02.5		Ron Delany		February 21, 1959	New York
4:01.4		Ron Delany		March 7, 1959	New York
3:58.9		Jim Beatty		February 10, 1962	Los Angeles
3:58.6		Jim Beatty		February 15, 1963	New York
3:56.6		Tom O'Hara		February 13, 1964	New York
3:56.4		Tom O'Hara		March 6, 1964	Chicago
3:56.4		Jim Ryun		February 19, 1971	San Diego
3:55.0		Tony Waldrop		February 17, 1974	San Diego
3:55.0	3:54.93	Dick Buerkle		January 13, 1978	College Park
3:52.6		Eamonn Coghlan		February 16, 1979	San Diego
3:50.6		Eamonn Coghlan		February 20, 1981	San Diego

Men Indoor IAAF era

The IAAF started to recognize indoor world records in 1987, with the then world's best time, Coghlan's 3:49.78, ratified as the inaugural record for the mile.

Time	Athlete	Nationality	Date	Venue
3:49.78	Eamonn Coghlan		February 27, 1983	East Rutherford
3:48.45	Hicham El Guerrouj		February 12, 1997	Ghent
3:47.01	Yomif Kejelcha		March 3, 2019	Boston
3:46.63	Yared Nuguse		February 8, 2025	New York
3:45.14	Jakob Ingebrigtsen		February 13, 2025	Liévin

Road Men

IAAF Era

Note: The Road Mile became an official world record event after September 1, 2023, on World Athletics Certified Courses only (i.e: elevation gradient must not exceed one meter per kilometer, start and finish line must not be more than half a mile apart). The winning times from the 2023 U.S. Road Mile Championships, on 25 April, were ratified by World Athletics as the inaugural road mile world records.

Key:

  Awaiting ratification

h = hand-timed

Source:

Time	Athlete	Nationality	Date	Venue
4:01.21	Samuel Prakel		April 25, 2023	Des Moines
3:56.13	Hobbs Kessler		October 1, 2023	Riga
3:54.6h	Emmanuel Wanyonyi	Template:Country data Kenya	April 27, 2024	Herzogenaurach
3:51.3h	Elliot Giles		September 1, 2024	Düsseldorf

Women

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Pre-IAAF

Time	Athlete	Nationality	Date	Venue
6:13.2	Elizabeth Atkinson		24 June 1921	Manchester
5:27.5	Ruth Christmas		20 August 1932	London
5:24.0	Gladys Lunn		1 June 1936	Brentwood
5:23.0	Gladys Lunn		18 July 1936	London
5:20.8	Gladys Lunn		8 May 1937	Dudley
5:17.0	Gladys Lunn		7 August 1937	London
5:15.3	Evelyn Forster		22 July 1939	London
5:11.0	Anne Oliver		14 June 1952	London
5:09.8	Enid Harding		4 June 1953	London
5:08.0	Anne Oliver		12 September 1953	Consett
5:02.6	Diane Leather		30 September 1953	London
5:00.3	Edith Treybal	Template:Country data Romania	1 November 1953	Timișoara
5:00.2	Diane Leather		26 May 1954	Birmingham
4:59.6	Diane Leather		29 May 1954	Birmingham
4:50.8	Diane Leather		24 May 1955	London
4:45.0	Diane Leather		21 September 1955	London
4:41.4	Marise Chamberlain		8 December 1962	Perth
4:39.2	Anne Smith		13 May 1967	London

Women's IAAF era

The first world record in the mile for women (athletics) was recognized by the International Amateur Athletics Federation (later known as the International Association of Athletics Federations and currently known as World Athletics), in 1967. To June 21, 2009, the IAAF has ratified 13 world records in the event.

Time	Auto	Athlete	Nationality	Date	Venue
4:37.0		Anne Smith		3 June 1967	London
4:36.8		Maria Gommers		14 June 1969	Leicester
4:35.3		Ellen Tittel		20 August 1971	Sittard
4:29.5		Paola Pigni		8 August 1973	Viareggio
4:23.8		Natalia Mărășescu	Template:Country data Romania	21 May 1977	Bucharest
4:22.1	4:22.09	Natalia Mărășescu	Template:Country data Romania	27 January 1979	Auckland
4:21.7	4:21.68	Mary Decker		26 January 1980	Auckland
4:20.89		Lyudmila Veselkova		12 September 1981	Bologna
4:18.08		Mary Decker-Tabb		9 July 1982	Paris
4:17.44		Maricica Puică	Template:Country data Romania	9 September 1982	Rieti
4:16.71		Mary Decker-Slaney		21 August 1985	Zürich
4:15.61		Paula Ivan	Template:Country data Romania	10 July 1989	Nice
4:12.56		Svetlana Masterkova		14 August 1996	Zürich
4:12.33		Sifan Hassan		12 July 2019	Monaco
4:07.64		Faith Kipyegon		21 July 2023	Monaco

The "Time" column indicates the ratified mark; the "Auto" column indicates a fully automatic time that was also recorded in the event when hand-timed marks were used for official records, or which was the basis for the official mark, rounded to the 10th of a second, depending on the rules then in place.

The IAAF recognized times to the hundredth of a second starting in 1981.

Note:

• Decker ran 4:17.55 indoors in Houston on 16 February 1980, but this time was rejected as a record due to an oversized track.
• Natalya Artyomova (Soviet Union) ran 4:15.8 in Leningrad on 6 August 1984, but this time was rejected as a record due to there being no international judges.

Women's Indoor

Women Indoor Pre-IAAF

Time	Athlete	Nationality	Date	Venue
5:17.2	Brenda Cook		February 5, 1966	Cosford
5:03.6	Joyce Smith		February 12, 1966	Cosford
4:52.0	Doris Brown		February 19, 1966	Vancouver
4:40.4	Doris Brown		February 18, 1967	Vancouver
4:38.5	Debbie Heald		March 17, 1972	Richmond
4:35.6	Francie Larrieu		February 17, 1973	San Diego
4:34.6	Francie Larrieu		February 2, 1974	Seattle
4:29.0	Francie Larrieu		February 15, 1975	San Diego
4:28.5	Francie Larrieu		March 3, 1975	Richmond
4:24.6	Mary Decker		January 22, 1982	Los Angeles
4:21.47	Mary Decker		February 12, 1982	New York

Women Indoor IAAF era

Time	Athlete	Nationality	Date	Venue
4:20.5	Mary Decker		February 19, 1982	San Diego
4:18.86	Doina Melinte		February 13, 1988	East Rutherford
4:17.14	Doina Melinte		February 9, 1990	East Rutherford
4:13.31	Genzebe Dibaba		February 17, 2016	Stockholm

Road Women

IAAF Era

Note: The Road Mile became an official world record event after September 1, 2023, on World Athletics Certified Courses only (i.e: elevation gradient must not exceed one meter per kilometer, start and finish line must not be more than half a mile apart). The winning times from the 2023 U.S. Road Mile Championships, on 25 April, were ratified by World Athletics as the inaugural road mile world records.

Key:

  Awaiting ratification

Wo = Women Only Race

Source:

Time	Athlete	Nationality	Date	Venue
4:27.97 Wo	Nikki Hiltz		April 25, 2023	Des Moines
4:20.98 Wo	Deribe Welteji		October 1, 2023	Riga

See also

• 1500 metres world record progression

External links

• Runner's World data
• Running Times Magazine data
• Frankfurt University Template:In lang (Internet Archive)
• Women's progression
• Another women's mile progression
• Frankfurt University (Women's progression) Template:In lang (Internet Archive)
• Clips of Bannister's 4 minute mile
• Video of current Men's world record by Hicham El Guerrouj