World records and best performances, men’s outdoor
| 100 y | 9.07 / -0.5 | Asafa Powell (JAM) | 27 May 2010 | Ostrava |
| 100 m | 9.58 / 0.9 | Usain Bolt (JAM) | 16 Aug 2009 | Berlin |
| 150 m | 14.35st / 1.1 | Usain Bolt (JAM) | 16 Aug 2009 | Manchester |
| 14.93+ | John Regis (GBR) | 20 Aug 1993 | Stuttgart | |
| 14.97 / 0.9 | Linford Christie ¶ (GBR) | 4 Sep 1994 | Sheffield | |
| 14.8 | Pietro Mennea (ITA) | 22 May 1983 | Cassino | |
| 200 m | 19.19 / -0.3 | Usain Bolt (JAM) | 20 Aug 2009 | Berlin |
| 300 m | 30.85A | Michael Johnson (USA) | 24 Mar 2000 | Pretoria |
| 400 m | 43.18 | Michael Johnson (USA) | 26 Aug 1999 | Seville |
| 500 m | 1:00.08 | Donato Sabia (ITA) | 26 May 1984 | Busto Arsizio |
| 600 m | 1:12.81 | Johnny Gray (USA) | 24 May 1986 | Santa Monica |
| 800 m | 1:40.91 | David Rudisha (KEN) | 9 Aug 2012 | London |
| 1000 m | 2:11.96 | Noah Ngeny (KEN) | 5 Sep 1999 | Rieti |
| 1500 m | 3:26.00 | Hicham El Guerrouj (MAR) | 14 Jul 1998 | Rome |
| 1 mile | 3:43.13 | Hicham El Guerrouj (MAR) | 7 Jul 1999 | Rome |
| 2000 m | 4:44.79 | Hicham El Guerrouj (MAR) | 7 Sep 1999 | Berlin |
| 3000 m | 7:20.67 | Daniel Komen (KEN) | 1 Sep 1996 | Rieti |
| 2 miles | 7:58.61 | Daniel Komen (KEN) | 19 Jul 1997 | Hechtel |
| 5000 m | 12:37.35 | Kenenisa Bekele (ETH) | 31 May 2004 | Hengelo |
| 10000 m | 26:17.53 | Kenenisa Bekele (ETH) | 26 Aug 2005 | Brussels |
| 15000 m | 42:34.0+ | Arturo Barrios (MEX) | 30 Mar 1991 | La Flèche |
| 20000 m | 56:26.0+ | Haile Gebrselassie (ETH) | 27 Jun 2007 | Ostrava |
| 25000 m | 1:12:25.4+ | Moses Mosop (KEN) | 3 Jun 2011 | Eugene |
| 30000 m | 1:26:47.4 | Moses Mosop (KEN) | 3 Jun 2011 | Eugene |
| 50000 m | 2:48:06 | Jeff Norman (GBR) | 7 Jun 1980 | Timperley |
| 40 miles | 3:48:35+ | Don Ritchie (GBR) | 16 Oct 1982 | London |
| 100 km | 6:10:20 | Don Ritchie (GBR) | 28 Oct 1978 | London |
| 100 miles | 11:28:03 | Oleg Kharitonov (RUS) | 20 Oct 2002 | London |
| 1 hour | 21,285m | Haile Gebrselassie (ETH) | 27 Jun 2007 | Ostrava |
| 2 hours | 37,994m | Jim Alder (GBR) | 17 Oct 1964 | Walton-on-Thames |
| 24 hours | 303.506km | Yiannis Kouros (AUS) | 5 Oct 1997 | Adelaide |
| 48 hours | 473.797km | Yiannis Kouros (AUS) | 5 May 1996 | Surgères |
| 2000 m SC | 5:10.68 | Mahiédine Mekhissi (FRA) | 30 Jun 2010 | Reims |
| 3000 m SC | 7:53.63 | Saif Saeed Shaheen (QAT) | 3 Sep 2004 | Brussels |
| 110 m Hurdles | 12.80 / 0.3 | Aries Merritt (USA) | 7 Sep 2012 | Brussels |
| 200 m Hurdles | 22.55 | Laurent Ottoz (ITA) | 31 May 1995 | Milan |
| 21.9y st | Don Styron (USA) | 2 Apr 1960 | Baton Rouge | |
| 22.5 / 1.5 | Martin Lauer (FRG/GER) | 7 Jul 1959 | Zürich | |
| (straight) | 22.10 / 2.0 | Andy Turner (GBR) | 15 May 2011 | Manchester |
| 300 m Hurdles | 34.48 | Chris Rawlinson (GBR) | 30 Jun 2002 | Sheffield |
| 400 m Hurdles | 46.78 | Kevin Young (USA) | 6 Aug 1992 | Barcelona |
| High Jump | 2.45 | Javier Sotomayor (CUB) | 27 Jul 1993 | Salamanca |
| Pole Vault | 6.14A | Sergey Bubka (UKR) | 31 Jul 1994 | Sestriere |
| Long Jump | 8.95 / 0.3 | Mike Powell (USA) | 30 Aug 1991 | Tokyo |
| Triple Jump | 18.29 / 1.3 | Jonathan Edwards (GBR) | 7 Aug 1995 | Gothenburg |
| Shot | 23.12 | Randy Barnes ¶ (USA) | 20 May 1990 | Los Angeles (Ww) |
| Discus | 74.08 | Jürgen Schult (GDR/GER) | 6 Jun 1986 | Neubrandenburg |
| Hammer | 86.74 | Yuriy Sedykh (URS/RUS) | 30 Aug 1986 | Stuttgart |
| 35 lb Weight | 25.41 | Lance Deal (USA) | 20 Feb 1993 | Azusa |
| Javelin (1986) | 98.48 | Jan Železný (CZE) | 25 May 1996 | Jena |
| Decathlon | 9026 | Roman Šebrle (CZE) | 27 May 2001 | Götzis |
| (10.64 8.11 15.33 2.12 47.79 / 13.92 47.92 4.80 70.16 4:21.98) | ||||
| 1 hour Decathlon | 7897 | Robert Zmelík (TCH/CZE) | 24 Sep 1992 | Ostrava |
| (10.89 7.64 14.52 2.08 55.53 / 14.25 41.92 4.80 60.34 4:55.16) | ||||
| Double Decathlon | 14185 | Kip Janvrin (USA) | 8 Sep 2002 | Turku |
| (11.42 6.79 25.31 13.63 18:23.97 2:02.46 1.87 50.64 34.27 11:22.96 / 15.23 40.91 22.56 4.93 10:13.16 54.40 58.31 4:35.76 13.18 42:37.71) |
||||
| Pentathlon | 4282 h OJ | Bill Toomey (USA) | 16 Aug 1969 | London (CP) |
| (7.58 66.18 21.3 44.52 4:20.3) | ||||
| 4222 OJ | Guido Kratschmer (FRG/GER) | 5 May 1984 | Salzburg | |
| (7.48 65.86 21.58 48.72 4:37.29) | ||||
| 4×100 m Relay | 36.84 | Jamaica | 11 Aug 2012 | London |
| (Nesta Carter, Michael Frater, Yohan Blake, Usain Bolt) | ||||
| 4×200 m Relay | 1:18.68 | Santa Monica T.C. (USA) | 17 Apr 1994 | Walnut |
| (Mike Marsh, Leroy Burrell, Floyd Heard, Carl Lewis) | ||||
| 4×400 m Relay | 2:54.20 | United States | 22 Jul 1998 | Uniondale |
| (Jerome Young ¶, Antonio Pettigrew, Tyree Washington, Michael Johnson) | ||||
| 4×800 m Relay | 7:02.43 | Kenya | 25 Aug 2006 | Brussels |
| (Joseph Mutua, William Yiampoy, Ismael Kombich, Wilfred Bungei) | ||||
| 4×1500 m Relay | 14:36.23 | Kenya | 4 Sep 2009 | Brussels |
| (William Biwott, Gideon Gathimba, Geoffrey Rono, Augustine Choge) | ||||
| 4×1 mile Relay | 15:49.08 | Irish Republic | 17 Aug 1985 | Dublin (S) |
| (Eamonn Coghlan, Marcus O’Sullivan, Frank O’ Mara, Ray Flynn) | ||||
