Records in the World, World Junior, American and American Junior categories are as ratified by World Athletics (WA) and USATF; all other sections—and selected non-federation events—are as recognized by the T&FN record committee.

In the early days of the sport, records were divided into Outdoor and Indoor, but modern protocols no longer consider the presence of the roof to be a reason to deny a performance ultimate record status (although some statisticians do disagree).

Accordingly, in all the records sections here except those controlled by USATF, which has reverted to the archaic in/out distinction, the two categories are Absolute (marks made indoors or out) and Indoor. For an indoor mark to be considered for Absolute Record status, banked tracks of larger than 200m in circumference are not considered legal.

Although neither World Athletics nor USATF officially recognize the concept of high elevation in their record-keeping, altitude plays a very significant part in aiding the sprints, hurdles and jumps. Accordingly, in all sections we additionally list low-altitude records in those events if the actual record was made at an altitude of more than 1000 meters (3281 feet).

Dominique Eisold’s International Age Records Compilation

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