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Athletics has been part of the Olympics since the inaugural edition in 1896. For over 120 years, these events have hogged the limelight without fail, with the best athletes around the world competing to claim a coveted Olympic medal.
Read: What makes Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce so fast?
The quadrennial event is also known for creating world records across different sporting events, including athletics.
In athletics, the likes of Usain Bolt, Florence Griffith Joyner, Michael Johnson, Jarmila Kratochvilova, Charles Austin, Steven Hooker, Kenny Harrison, Kevin Young, Joanna Hayes and Melanie Walker, to name a few, have set world records in their respective individual events at the Olympics over the years.
Read: A look at the greatest achievements of Carl Lewis
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List of athletics world records set at the Olympics
#5 Kevin Young (men's 400m hurdles)
At the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, the then 26-year-old American hurdler Kevin Young shattered the world record in 400m hurdles by clocking 46.78 seconds. By achirving this, he became the first 400m hurdler to break the 47-second barrier.
Kevin Young’s world record stood for 19 years until Karsten Warlom broke it with a timing 46.70 seconds at the Oslo Diamond League in July 2021, just 0.08 seconds ahead of an American hurdler. Young still holds the Olympic record.
#4 Lee Evans (men's 400m sprint)
Lee Evans was regarded as one of the best sprinters in US track and field history. At the 1968 Mexico Olympics, Lee set a world record in a 400m sprint with a timing of 43.86 seconds. As a result, he became the first sprinter to to run 400m under 44 seconds.
Lee Evans's world record remained intact for 20 years until his fellow countryman Butch Reynolds broke it by clocking 43.29 seconds in 1988 in Zurich, Switzerland. The current world record holder in the men's 400m sprint is Wayde Van Niekerk of South Africa (43.03s) who set the mark at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Lee Evans and Wayde Van Niekerk are the only 400m sprinters to set a world record at the Summer Olympics.
Read: 5 athletics world records broken ahead of Tokyo Olympics 2020
#3 Almaz Ayana (women's 10000m)
Almaz Ayana is an Ethiopian middle-distance runner specializing in 3000m, 5000m, and 10000m. At the 2016 Rio Olympics, Almas Ayana shattered the 23-year-old women's world record in the 10000m set by Wang Junxia, clocking 29:17.45 seconds while clinching the gold medal.
Almaz Ayana's 10000m world record was broken by Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands with a timing of 29:06.82 seconds in June 2021. The record stood for only two days until Ethiopia's Letesenbet Gidey surpassed it by clocking 29:01.03 seconds.
Almaz Ayana is one of three Ethiopian woman 10000m runners to win a gold medal at the Olympics. The other two are Derartu Tulu (2000 Sydney Olympics) and Tirunesh Dibaba (2012 London Olympics).
Read: 4 current World Athletics Champions who failed to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics
#2 Florence Griffith Joyner (women's 200m)
Legendary sprinter the late Florence Griffith Joyner set two world records. 'Flo Jo' set a 200m world record twice at the 1988 Seoul Olympics.
Florence Griffith Joyner set the women's 200m world record by clocking 21.56 seconds in the semi-finals, shattering Germany's Heike Gabriela Drechsler's record of 21.71s. In the final, she improved her own world record with a timing of 21.34 seconds.
Prior to the 1988 Seoul Olympics, Griffith Joyner set a women's 100m world record at the US Olympic Trials that year. Both her world records have remained untouched for 33 years and she remains the fastest woman in history.
Read: Athletes who almost broke the world records at US Olympic Track and Field Trials 2021
#1 Usain Bolt (men's 100m and 200m)
Usain Bolt is one of the most decorated sprinters in Olympic history and is often regarded as the fastest man on the planet. The Jamaican has two world records to his name.
At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the sprint legend shattered the 100m and 200m world records. In the men's 100m, Usain Bolt shattered his own record of 10.72 seconds by clocking 10.69 seconds, while he also set the 200m world record with a timing of 19.30 seconds, breaking US sprint star Michael Johnson's record of 19.32 seconds.
Later, Usain Bolt surpassed both his 100m and 200m world records at the 2009 World Athletics Championships in Berlin, Germany.
