The science toppling all athletics records

Is it the 'super shoes' phenomenon? Is it the faster tracks? No world athletics record is safe anymore. These are the reasons why

- Rudraneil Sengupta

On 28 February, in the small city of Clermont-Ferrand at the foothills of the French Alps, Armand "Mondo" Duplantis stood for a moment, looking askance at the crossbar that rose more than 20ft in the air above him. Then he propelled forward, an unwavering grip on the 15ft pole he held in his hands, his hair flying, legs pumping hard, eyes set with a predator's focus at the spot where he wanted to land the pole.

And then there he went, jack-knifing and soaring through the air, clearing the crossbar like a diving dolphin, fists pumping even as he fell backwards towards the cushion, his mouth open in a roar matched by the crowds at the stadium. Duplantis had broken his own world record. For the 11th time. The record now stood at 6.27m or 20ft, 7 inches and some.

It's not just Duplantis—world records in athletics are falling at a remarkable and unprecedented pace. From the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, till now, world records have fallen (in some instances more than once) in the 400m hurdles, half-marathon, 5km (road), 10km (road), 50km (road), 100km (road), 3,000m steeplechase, 2,000m, mile (road), marathon, 3,000m, 20km walk and 35km walk, shot put, discus throw and pole vault in the men's category. In the same time frame, women broke records in the 10km, half-marathon, triple jump, 100m hurdles, 50km, 35km race walk, mile, 5000m, 10km, 5km, 4x200m relay, 10,000m, high jump, 1500m, 2000m, 400m hurdles, and marathon.

In one crazy week in February this year, six world records in athletics fell in the space of nine days, the most important being Ugandan Jacob Kiplimo, who obliterated the half-marathon record by 48 seconds and became the first person in history to drop the time below 57 minutes.