50 Meters: 5.96 – Irina Privalova (Russia)
Irina Privalova set the world record on February 9, 1995, in Madrid, Spain. Her time of 5.96 seconds, clocked enroute to 60 meters, surpassed the record of 6.00 seconds established by Merlene Ottey, then of Jamaica (now Slovenia), on February 4, 1994, in Moscow, Russia. The only woman to have run 50 meters in less than six seconds indoors, Privalova holds six of history’s ten fastest times.
60 Meters: 6.92 – Irina Privalova (Russia)
Irina Privalova set the world record on February 11, 1993 in Madrid, Spain. Her time of 6.92 seconds bettered the world record of 6.96 seconds established by Merlene Ottey, on February 14, 1992, also in Madrid. Privalova, who equaled her world record on February 9, 1995, again in Madrid, holds six of the ten fastest times, including the top four.
200 Meters: 21.87 – Merlene Ottey (Jamaica)
Merlene Ottey set the world record on February 13, 1993, in Liéven, France. Her time of 21.87 seconds surpassed the world record of 22.24 seconds, which she established on March 3, 1991, in Sindelfingen, Germany. Ottey’s 1991 record setting performance eclipsed the world record of 22.27 seconds set by Heike Drechsler, of the former German Democratic Republic, on March 3, 1987, at the IAAF Indoor Track and Field Championships, in Indianapolis, Indiana. Ottey remains the only woman to have run 200 meters in less than 22 seconds indoors.
400 Meters: 49.59 – Jarmila Kratochvílová (Czechoslovakia)
Jarmila Kratochvílová set the world record on March 7, 1982, at the European Indoor Championships in Milan, Italy. Her time of 49.59 seconds surpassed the world record of 49.64 seconds, which she established on January 29, 1981, in Vienna, Austria. The first woman to run 400 meters in less than 50 seconds indoors, Kratochvílová’s 1981 performance clipped nearly two seconds off the world record of 51.57 seconds established by Marita Koch, of the former German Democratic Republic, on February 24, 1977, also in Milan.
800 Meters: 1:55.82 – Jolanda Ceplak (Slovenia)
Jolanda Ceplak set the world record on March 3, 2002, in Vienna, Austria. Her time of 1:55.82 bettered the world record of 1:56.40 established by Christine Wachtel, of the former German Democratic Republic, on February 13, 1988, also in Vienna.
1,000 Meters: 2:30.94 – Maria Mutola (Mozambique)
Maria Mutola set the world record on February 25, 1999, in Stockholm, Sweden. Her time of 2:30.94 bettered the world record of 2:31.23, which she established on February 25, 1996, also in Stockholm. Mutola’s Stockholm performance came 15 days after she set the world record of 2:32.08 in Birmingham, England. Her Birmingham record setting performance eclipsed the world record of 2:33.03 set by Inna Yevseyeva, of Ukraine, on February 7, 1992, in Moscow, Russia.
1,500 Meters: 3:58.28 – Yelena Soboleva (Russia)
Yelena Soboleva set the world record on February 18, 2006, at the Russian Indoor Championships in Moscow, Russia. Her time of 3:58.28 took more than a second off the world record of 3:59.98 set by Regina Jacobs, of the United States, on February 1, 2003, in Boston, Massachusetts. On February 10, 2008 and March 9, 2008, Soboleva improved the world record to 3:58.05 and 3:57.71, respectively, but these times have not been ratified due to a doping review.
1 Mile: 4:17.14 – Doina Melinte (Romania)
Doine Melinte set the world record on February 9, 1990, in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Her time of 4:17.14 improved the world record of 4:18.86, which she established on March 13, 1988, also in East Rutherford. Melinte’s 1988 performance bettered the world record of 4:20.5 set by Mary Slaney, of the United States, on February 12, 1982, in San Diego, California.
3,000 Meters: 8:23.72 – Meseret Defar (Ethiopia)
Meseret Defar set the world record on February 3, 2007, in Stuttgart, Germany. Her time of 8:23.72 took over four seconds off the world record of 8:27.86 established by Liliya Shobukhova on February 17, 2006, at the Russian Indoor Championships in Moscow. In Defar’s record setting race, her compatriot, Meselech Melkamu, also surpassed the existing world record by more than four seconds in 8:23.74.
5,000 Meters: 14:24.37 – Meseret Defar (Ethiopia)
Meseret Defar set the world record on February 18, 2009, in Stockholm, Sweden. Her time of 14:24.37 bettered the world record of 14:27.42 established by Tirunesh Dibaba, also of Ethiopia, on January 27, 2007, in Boston, Massachusetts, by more than three seconds.
50 Meters Hurdles: 6.58 – Cornelia Oschkenat (German Democratic Republic)
Cornelia Oschkenat set the world record on February 20, 1988, in Berlin. Her time of 6.58 seconds surpassed the record of 6.68 seconds, which she set early that day. On February 20, 1988, Oschkenat and her compatriot and competitor, Gloria Siebert, broke the world record for the 50 meter hurdles four times. In all, Oschkenat established five world records in the event from 1986 to 1988.
60 Meters Hurdles: 7.68 – Susanna Kallur (Sweden)
Susanna Kallur set the world record on February 10, 2008, in Karlsruhe, Germany. Her time of 7.68 seconds bettered the world record of 7.69 seconds set by Ludmila Engquist (then Narozhilenko), of the Soviet Union, on February 4, 1990, in Chelyabinsk, Russia (then the Soviet Union).
High Jump: 2.08 Meters (6 feet 9 3/4 inches) – Kajsa Bergqvist (Sweden)
Kajsa Bergqyist set the world record on February 4, 2006, in Arnstadt, Germany. Her height of 2.08 meters (6 feet 9¾ inches) bettered the world record of 2.07 meters (6 feet 9½ inches) established by Heike Henkel of Germany on February 8, 1992, in Karlsruhe, Germany.
Pole Vault: 5.00 Meters (16 feet 4¾ inches) – Yelena Isinbayeva (Russia)
Yelena Isinbayeva set the world record on February 15, 2009, in Donetsk, Ukraine. Her vault of 5.00 meters (16 feet 4¾ inches) surpassed the world record of 4.95 meters (16 feet 2¾ inches), which she set on February 10, 2008, also in Donetsk. Isinbaeva, the only woman to have exceeded 4.87 meters (16 feet) indoors, holds the top ten vaults of all-time indoors.
Long Jump: 7.37 Meters (24 feet 2 inches) – Heike Drechsler (German Democratic Republic)
Heike Drechsler set the world record on February 13, 1988, in Vienna, Austria. Her jump of 7.37 meters (24 feet 2 inches) improved the existing world record of 7.32 meters (24 feet ¼ inch), which she established on February 27, 1987, in New York, NY. Dreschler’s 1987 performance toppled the world record of 7.25 meters, established by rival Galina Chistyakova, of the Soviet Union, on February 16, 1985, in Chişinău, Moldova (then Kishinyov, Soviet Union).
Triple Jump: 15.36 Meters (50 feet 4¾ inches) – Tatyana Lebedeva (Russia)
Tatyana Lebedeva set the world record on March 6, 2004, in Budapest, Hungary. Her jump of 15.36 meters (50 feet 4¾ inches) improved the world record of 15.16 meters (49 feet 8¾ inches) established by Ashia Hansen, of Great Britain, on February 29, 1998, at the European Indoor Championships, in Valencia, Spain.
Shot Put: 22.50 Meters (73 feet 10 inches) – Helena Fibingerová (Czechoslovakia)
Helena Fibingerová set the world record on February 19, 1977, in Jablonec, Czech Republic (then Czechoslovakia). Her throw of 22.50 meters (73 feet 10 inches) improved the world record of 21.65 meters (71 feet ¾ inch), which she established 17 days earlier in Budapest, Hungary. A four-time world record holder in the shot put indoors, Fibingerová produced the first, 21.13 meters (69 feet 4 inches), in Jablonec, on February 15, 1975, followed by 21.58 meters (70 feet 9 ¾ inches) on January 29, 1977, in Ostrava, Czechoslovakia. Before her assault on the record, it stood at 20.62 meters, established by Nadezhda Chizhova, of the Soviet Union, on March 9, 1978, at the European Indoor Championships in Gothenburg, Sweden.
Pentathlon: 4,991 points – Irina Belova (Russia)
Irina Belova, of Russia, set the world record on February 15, 1992, in Berlin, Germany. Her score of 4,991 points exceeded the existing world record of 4,768 points established by Sabine John, of the former German Democratic Republic on February 15, 1985, in Moscow, Russia (then the Soviet Union).
3,000 Meters Walk: 11:40.33 – Claudia Stef (Romania)
Claudia Stef (then Iovan) set the world record on January 30, 1999, in Bucharest, Romania. Her time of 11:40.33 eclipsed the existing world record of 11:44.0, set by Alina Ivanova, of Russia, on February 7, 1992, in Moscow. Stef owns three of the top five performances, all of which came within a four week period, from January 30 to February 20, 1999. Although Gillian O’Sullivan, of Ireland, surpassed Stef’s world record by nearly five seconds with an 11:35.34 performance on February 15, 2003, in Belfast, Northern Ireland, her performance did not receive world record consideration because of the absence of international judges.
4 X 200 Meter Relay: 1:32.41 – Russia
Irina Khabarova, Yuliya Pechenkina, Yekaterina Kondratyeva, and Yuliya Gushchina of Russia set the world record of 1:32.41, on January 29, 2005, in Glasgow, Scotland. Their time of 1:32.41 improved the existing world record of 1:32.55, set by Helga Arendt, Gisela Kinzel, Silke Knoll, and Mechhild Kluth of the Eintracht Sports Club in Hamm, Germany (then the Federal Republic of Germany) on February 20, 1988, in Dortmund, Germany (then FRG).
4 X 400 Meter Relay: 3:23.37 – Russia
Olesya Forsheva, Olga Zaytseva, Olga Kotlyarova, and Yulia Gushchina of Russia set the world record on January 28, 200, in Glasgow, Scotland. Their time of 3:23.37 surpassed the world record of 3:24.25 established by Tatyana Chebykina, Svetlana Gorcharenko, Olga Kotlyarova, and Natalya Nazarova of Russia on March 7, 1999, at the IAAF World Indoor Track and Field Championships in Maebashi, Japan. The Russians have run history’s six fastest times in this event.
4 X 800 Meter Relay: 8:12.41 – Moskva I
Tatyana Andrianova, Oksana Sukhachova-Spasovkhodskaya, Elena Kofanova, and Yevgeniya Zinurova, of Moskva I, established the world record at the Russian Indoor Track and Field Championships in Moscow on February 28, 2010. Their performance surpassed the existing world record of 8:18.54 set by Nataliya Panteleeva, Olesya Chumakova-Mikheeva, Anna Yemashova, and Anna Balakshina of Moskovskaya Region, Russia, set the world record on February 11, 2007, in Volgograd, Russia. The 2010 mark also supplanted the 8:14.53 performance by Yevgeniya Zinurova, Mariya Savinova, Olga Kotlyarova, Natalya Ignatova of Sverdlovsk at the 2008 Russian Indoor Championships, which was not ratified because of absence of doping controls.
References:
Athletics Weekly, European Indoor Championships, GBR Athletics
Athletics Weekly, IAAF Indoor Track and Field Championships, GBR Athletics
Athletics Weekly, Russian Indoor Championships, GBR Athletics
IAAF, Official Results – 4 X 400 METRES – Women – Final, 7th IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics Maebashi – Japan “99
Mark Butler, ed., 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics, IAAF Statistics Handbook, Berlin 2009, 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics Website (Part 1)
Mark Butler, ed., 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics, IAAF Statistics Handbook, Berlin 2009, 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics Website (Part 2)
Ottavio Castellini, 1 Mile All Time, IAAF – The Official Athletics Website
Ottavio Castellini, 1,000 Metres All Time, IAAF – The Official Athletics Website
Ottavio Castellini, 1,500 Metres All Time, IAAF – The Official Athletics Website
Ottavio Castellini, 200 Metres All Time, IAAF – The Official Athletics Website
Ottavio Castellini, 3,000 Metres All Time, IAAF – The Official Athletics Website
Ottavio Castellini, 3,000 Metres Walk All Time, IAAF – The Official Athletics Website
Ottavio Castellini, 4 X 200 Metres Relay All time, IAAF – The Official Athletics Website
Ottavio Castellini, 4 X 400 Metres Relay All Time, IAAF – The Official Athletics Website
Ottavio Castellini, 4 X 800 Metres Relay All Time, IAAF – The Official Athletics Website
Ottavio Castellini, 400 Metres All Time, IAAF – The Official Athletics Website
Ottavio Castellini, 5,000 Metres All Time, IAAF – The Official Athletics Website
Ottavio Castellini, 50 Metres All Time, IAAF – The Official Athletics Website
Ottavio Castellini, 50 Metres Hurdles All Time, IAAF – The Official Athletics Website
Ottavio Castellini, 60 Metres All Time, IAAF – The Official Athletics Website
Ottavio Castellini, 60 Metres Hurdles All Time, IAAF – The Official Athletics Website
Ottavio Castellini, 800 Metres All Time, IAAF – The Official Athletics Website
Ottavio Castellini, Alina Ivanova, IAAF – The Official Athletics Website
Ottavio Castellini, Ashia Hansen, IAAF – The Official Athletics Website
Ottavio Castellini, Christine Wachtel, IAAF – The Official Athletics Website
Ottavio Castellini, Claudia Stef, IAAF – The Official Athletics Website
Ottavio Castellini, Cornelia Oschkenat, IAAF – The Official Athletics Website
Ottavio Castellini, Doine Melinte, IAAF – The Official Athletics Website
Ottavio Castellini, Elena Isinbaeva, IAAF – The Official Athletics Website
Ottavio Castellini, Elena Soboleva, IAAF – The Official Athletics Website
Ottavio Castellini, Galina Chistyakova, IAAF – The Official Athletics Website
Ottavio Castellini, Gillian O’Sullivan, IAAF – The Official Athletics Website
Ottavio Castellini, Gloria Siebert, IAAF – The Official Athletics Website
Ottavio Castellini, Heike Drechsler, IAAF – The Official Athletics Website
Ottavio Castellini, Heike Henkel, IAAF – The Official Athletics Website
Ottavio Castellini, Helena Fibingerová, IAAF – The Official Athletics Website
Ottavio Castellini, High Jump All Time, IAAF – The Official Athletics Website
Ottavio Castellini, Inna Yevseyeva, IAAF – The Official Athletics Website
Ottavio Castellini, Irina Belova, IAAF – The Official Athletics Website
Ottavio Castellini, Irina Privalova, IAAF – The Official Athletics Website
Ottavio Castellini, Jarmila Kratochvílová, IAAF – The Official Athletics Website
Ottavio Castellini, Jolanda Ceplak, IAAF – The Official Athletics Website
Ottavio Castellini, Kajsa Bergqyist, IAAF – The Official Athletics Website
Ottavio Castellini, Liliya Shobukhova, IAAF – The Official Athletics Website
Ottavio Castellini, Long Jump All Time, IAAF – The Official Athletics Website
Ottavio Castellini, Ludmila Engquist, IAAF – The Official Athletics Website
Ottavio Castellini, Maria Mutola, IAAF – The Official Athletics Website
Ottavio Castellini, Mary Slaney, IAAF – The Official Athletics Website
Ottavio Castellini, Merlene Ottey, IAAF – The Official Athletics Website
Ottavio Castellini, Meselech Melkamu, IAAF – The Official Athletics Website
Ottavio Castellini, Meseret Defar, IAAF – The Official Athletics Website
Ottavio Castellini, Moskovskaya Region, IAAF – The Official Athletics Website
Ottavio Castellini, Nadezhda Chizhova, IAAF – The Official Athletics Website
Ottavio Castellini, Pentathlon All Time, IAAF – The Official Athletics Website
Ottavio Castellini, Pole Vault All Time, IAAF – The Official Athletics Website
Ottavio Castellini, Regina Jacobs, IAAF – The Official Athletics Website
Ottavio Castellini, Russia, IAAF – The Official Athletics Website
Ottavio Castellini, Sabine John, IAAF – The Official Athletics Website
Ottavio Castellini, SC Eintracht Hamm, IAAF – The Official Athletics Website
Ottavio Castellini, Shot Put All Time, IAAF – The Official Athletics Website
Ottavio Castellini, Susanna Kallur, IAAF – The Official Athletics Website
Ottavio Castellini, Sverdlovsk, IAAF – The Official Athletics Website
Ottavio Castellini, Tatyana Lebedeva, IAAF – The Official Athletics Website
Ottavio Castellini, Tirunesh Dibaba, IAAF – The Official Athletics Website
Ottavio Castellini, Triple Jump All Time, IAAF – The Official Athletics Website
Track and Field News, eTrack Newsletter, March 4, 2010
