The world record in the mile run is the fastest time set by a runner in the middle-distance track and field event. World Athletics is the official body which oversees the records. Hicham El Guerrouj is the current men's record holder with his time of 3:43.13, while Faith Kipyegon has the women's record of 4:07.64. Since 1976, the mile has been the only non-metric distance recognized by World Athletics (formerly the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF)) for record purposes. In international competitions such as the Olympics the term "metric mile" is sometimes used to refer to a distance of 1,500 meters, which is 109.344 meters shorter than an Imperial mile, even though four "full" laps of a 400 meter track is equal to 1,600 meters.
Accurate times for the mile run (1.609344 km) have been recorded since 1850, when the first precisely measured running tracks were built. Foot racing had become popular in England by the 17th century, when footmen would race and their masters would wager on the result. By the 19th century "pedestrianism", as it was called, had become extremely popular and the best times recorded in the period were by professionals. Even after professional foot racing died out, it was not until 1915 that the professional record of 4:12 (set by Walter George in 1886) was surpassed by an amateur.
Progression of the mile record accelerated in the 1930s as newsreel coverage greatly popularized the sport, making stars out of milers such as Jules Ladoumègue, Jack Lovelock, and Glenn Cunningham. In the 1940s, Swedes Arne Andersson and Gunder Hägg lowered the record to 4:01.4 while racing was curtailed during World War II in the combatant countries. After the war, Roger Bannister of the United Kingdom and John Landy of Australia vied to be the first to break the fabled four-minute mile barrier. Roger Bannister did it first on May 6, 1954, and John Landy followed 46 days later.
On the women's side, the first sub-5:00 mile was achieved by the UK's Diane Leather 23 days after Bannister's first sub-4:00 mile. However, the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) did not recognize women's records for the distance until 1967, when Anne Smith of the UK ran 4:37.0.
Men
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at: 17/11/1964 tillpos: 102.3
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at: 17/07/1966 tillpos: 93.9
at: 23/06/1967 tillpos: 93.3
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at: 17/07/1979 tillpos: 87.0
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at: 19/08/1981 tillpos: 85.59
at: 26/08/1981 tillpos: 85.2
at: 28/08/1981 tillpos: 81.99
at: 27/07/1985 tillpos: 78.96
at: 05/09/1993 tillpos: 73.17
at: 07/07/1999 tillpos: 69.39
</timeline>
Pre-IAAF
Professionals
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Time !!Athlete !!Nationality !!Date !!Venue
|-
|4:28|| Charles Westhall|| || 26 July 1855|| London
|-
|4:28|| Thomas Horspool || || 28 September 1857 || Manchester
|-
|4:23|| Thomas Horspool || || 12 July 1858|| Manchester
|-
|4:22|| Siah Albison || || 27 October 1860|| Manchester
|-
|4:21|| William Lang|| || 11 July 1863 || Manchester
|-
|4:20|| Edward Mills|| || 23 April 1864 || Manchester
|-
|4:20|| Edward Mills|| || 25 June 1864|| Manchester
|-
|4:17|| William Lang|| || 19 August 1865|| Manchester
|-
|4:17|| William Richards|| || 19 August 1865|| Manchester
|-
|4:16|| William Cummings || || 14 May 1881|| Preston
|-
|4:12|| Walter George|| || 23 August 1886|| London
|}
Amateurs
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Time !!Athlete !!Nationality !!Date !!Venue
|-
|4:55|| J. Heaviside|| || 1 April 1861|| Dublin
|-
|4:49|| J. Heaviside || || 27 May 1861|| Dublin
|-
|4:46|| Matthew Greene|| || 27 May 1861|| Dublin
|-
|4:33|| George Farran|| || 23 May 1862|| Dublin
|-
|4:29|| Walter Chinnery|| || 10 March 1868|| London
|-
|4:28|| Walter Gibbs|| || 3 April 1868|| London
|-
|4:28|| Charles Gunton|| || 31 March 1873|| London
|-
|4:26|| Walter Slade || || 30 May 1874 || London
|-
|4:24|| Walter Slade || || 1 June 1875|| London
|-
|4:23|| Walter George || || 16 August 1880|| London
|-
|4:19|| Walter George || || 3 June 1882|| London
|-
|4:18|| Walter George || || 21 June 1884|| Birmingham
|-
|4:17|| Thomas Conneff || || 26 August 1893|| Cambridge
|-
|4:17|| Fred Bacon || || 6 July 1895|| London
|-
|4:15|| Thomas Conneff || || 28 August 1895|| New York City
|-
|4:15|| John Paul Jones || || 27 May 1911|| Cambridge
|}
As there was no recognized official sanctioning body until 1912, there are several versions of the mile progression before that year. One version starts with Richard Webster (GBR) who ran 4:36.5 in 1865, surpassed by Chinnery in 1868.
Another variation of the amateur record progression pre-1862 is as follows:
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Time !!Athlete !!Nationality !!Date !!Venue
|-
|4:52|| Cadet Marshall|| || 2 September 1852|| Addiscome
|-
|4:45|| Thomas Finch|| || 3 November 1858|| Oxford
|-
|4:45|| St. Vincent Hammick|| || 15 November 1858|| Oxford
|-
|4:40|| Gerald Surman|| || 24 November 1859|| Oxford
|-
|4:33|| George Farran|| || 23 May 1862|| Dublin
|}
IAAF / World Athletics era
The first world record in the mile for men (athletics) was recognized by the International Amateur Athletics Federation (later known as the International Association of Athletics Federations and currently known as World Athletics) in 1913.
To June 21, 2009, the IAAF has ratified 32 world records in the event.
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: left;"
|-
| style="width:10px;"| || Ratified
|-
| style="width:10px; background:#fef6e7;"| || Not ratified
|-
| style="width:10px; background:#fee7e6;"| || Ratified but later rescinded
|-
| style="width:10px; background:#cef6f5;"| || Pending ratification
|}
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Time !!Auto !!Athlete !!Nationality !!Date !!Venue
|-
|4:14.4|| || John Paul Jones || || 31 May 1913 || Princeton, N.J.
|-
|4:06.8|| || Glenn Cunningham || || 16 June 1934 || Princeton, N.J.
|-
|4:06.4|| || Sydney Wooderson || || 28 August 1937 || Motspur Park
|-
|4:06.2|| || Gunder Hägg || || 1 July 1942|| Oxford
|-
|3:58.0|| || John Landy || || 21 June 1954 || Turku
|-
|3:57.2|| || Derek Ibbotson || || 19 July 1957 || London
|-
|3:54.5|| || Herb Elliott || || 6 August 1958 || Dublin
|-
|3:54.4|| || Peter Snell || || 27 January 1962 || Wanganui
|-
|3:54.1|| 3:54.04 || Peter Snell (2) || || 17 November 1964 || Auckland
|-
|3:53.6|| || Michel Jazy || || 9 June 1965 || Rennes
|-
|3:51.3|| || Jim Ryun || || 17 July 1966|| Berkeley, Cal.
|-
|3:51.1|| || Jim Ryun (2) || || 23 June 1967 || Bakersfield, Cal.
|-
|3:51.0|| || Filbert Bayi || || 17 May 1975 || Kingston
|-
|3:49.4|| || John Walker || || 12 August 1975|| Gothenburg
|-
|3:49.0|| 3:48.95 || Sebastian Coe || || 17 July 1979 || Oslo
|-
|3:48.8|| || Steve Ovett || || 1 July 1980 || Oslo
|-
|3:48.53|| || Sebastian Coe (2) || || 19 August 1981|| Zürich
|-
|3:48.40|| || Steve Ovett (2) || || 26 August 1981 || Koblenz
|-
|3:47.33|| || Sebastian Coe (3) || || 28 August 1981|| Brussels
|-
|3:46.32|| || Steve Cram || || 27 July 1985|| Oslo
|-
|3:44.39|| || Noureddine Morceli || || 5 September 1993 || Rieti
|-
|3:43.13|| || Hicham El Guerrouj || || 7 July 1999 || Rome
|}
The "Time" column indicates the ratified mark; the "Auto" column indicates a fully automatic time that was also recorded in the event when hand-timed marks were used for official records, or which was the basis for the official mark, rounded to the 10th of a second, depending on the rules then in place.
Records for the mile were rounded up to the nearest tenth of a second commencing January 1, 1957. Previously, records were rounded up to the nearest fifth of a second. Those rounded-up marks were: Cunningham's 4:06.8 (timed at 4:06.7); Hägg's 4:06.2 (4:06.1); Hägg's 4:01.4 (4:01.3); Landy's 3:58.0 (3:57.9). Landy's mark was not retroactively adjusted when the new rule came into effect. Auto times to the hundredth of a second were accepted by the IAAF for events up to and including 10,000 m beginning in 1981. No-one else approached the record in the 21st century until September 16, 2023, when Jakob Ingebrigtsen and Yared Nuguse recorded the third and fourth fastest times in history, with 3:43.73 and 3:43.97 respectively.
Men's Indoor
Men Indoor Pre-IAAF
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Time !!Auto !!Athlete !!Nationality !!Date !!Venue
|-
|4:39.2|| || Lawrence Myers || || April 25, 1885 || New York
|-
|4:39.2|| || Ernest Hjertberg|| || May 10, 1889 || New York
|-
|4:31.4|| || William Day|| || February 5, 1890 || Brooklyn
|-
|4:28.4|| || Ernest Hjertberg|| || February 13, 1892 || Boston
|-
|4:26.0|| || Andrew Walsh|| || November 30, 1895 || Brooklyn
|-
|4:25.2|| || Melvin Sheppard || || January 26, 1906 || New York
|-
|4:23.8|| || Melvin Sheppard || || March 30, 1906 || New York
|-
|4:19.8|| || Herbert Trube || || February 13, 1909 || New York
|-
|4:19.8|| || Oscar Hedlund || || February 22, 1912 || Troy
|-
|4:18.8|| || Oscar Hedlund || || February 12, 1913 || New York
|-
|4:18.2|| || Abel Kiviat || || February 15, 1913 || New York
|-
|4:16.0|| || John Overton || || March 10, 1917 || Philadelphia
|-
|4:14.6|| || Joseph Ray || || April 12, 1919 || Chicago
|-
|4:13.6|| || Paavo Nurmi || || January 6, 1925 || New York
|-
|4:13.4|| || Lloyd Hahn || || February 14, 1925 || New York
|-
|4:12.0|| || Paavo Nurmi || || March 7, 1925 || Buffalo
|-
|4:12.0|| || Joseph Ray || || March 17, 1925 || New York
|-
|4:11.2|| || Gene Venzke || || February 6, 1932 || New York
|-
|4:10.0|| || Gene Venzke || || February 17, 1932 || New York
|-
|4:09.8|| || Glenn Cunningham || || March 25, 1933 || Chicago
|-
|4:08.4|| || Glenn Cunningham || || March 17, 1934 || New York
|-bgcolor=pink
|colspan=2|4:04.4<br /><small>oversized track</small> || Glenn Cunningham || || March 3, 1938
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Time !!Athlete !!Nationality !!Date !!Venue
|-
|3:49.78 || Eamonn Coghlan || || February 27, 1983 || East Rutherford
|-
|3:48.45 || Hicham El Guerrouj || || February 12, 1997 || Ghent
|-
|3:47.01 || Yomif Kejelcha || || March 3, 2019 || Boston
|-
|3:46.63 || Yared Nuguse || || February 8, 2025 || New York
|-
|3:45.14
|Jakob Ingebrigtsen
|
|February 13, 2025
|Liévin
|}
Road Men
IAAF Era
The Road Mile became an official world record event after September 1, 2023, on World Athletics Certified Courses only (i.e: elevation gradient must not exceed one meter per kilometer, start and finish line must not be more than half a mile apart). Faster times have been recorded in non-compliant events such as the Fifth Avenue Mile. The winning times from the 2023 U.S. Road Mile Championships, on 25 April, were ratified by World Athletics as the inaugural road mile world records.
Key:
h = hand-timed
Source:
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Time !!Athlete !!Nationality !!Date !!Venue !!Ref
|-
|4:01.21|| Samuel Prakel || || April 25, 2023 || Des Moines
|-
|3:56.13 || Hobbs Kessler || || October 1, 2023 || Riga
|-
|3:54.6h || Emmanuel Wanyonyi || || April 27, 2024 || Herzogenaurach
|-
|3:51.3h || Elliot Giles || || September 1, 2024 || Düsseldorf ||
|}
Women
<timeline>
- >
The chart is clipped at 4:00 (240 seconds), and magnified by 3 (three pixels height equal 1 second)
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</timeline>
Pre-IAAF
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Time !!Athlete !!Nationality !!Date !!Venue
|-
|6:13.2|| Elizabeth Atkinson || || 24 June 1921 || Manchester
|-
|5:27.5|| Ruth Christmas || || 20 August 1932 || London
|-
|5:24.0 || Gladys Lunn || || 1 June 1936 || Brentwood
|-
|5:23.0 || Gladys Lunn || || 18 July 1936 || London
|-
|5:20.8 || Gladys Lunn || || 8 May 1937 || Dudley
|-
|5:17.0 || Gladys Lunn || || 7 August 1937 || London
|-
|5:15.3 || Evelyn Forster || || 22 July 1939 || London
|-
|5:11.0 || Anne Oliver || || 14 June 1952 || London
|-
|5:09.8 || Enid Harding || || 4 June 1953 || London
|-
|5:08.0 || Anne Oliver || || 12 September 1953 || Consett
|-
|5:02.6 || Diane Leather || || 30 September 1953 || London
|-
|5:00.3 || Edith Treybal|| || 1 November 1953 || Timișoara
|-
|5:00.2 ||Diane Leather || || 26 May 1954 || Birmingham
|-
|4:59.6 || Diane Leather || || 29 May 1954 || Birmingham
|-
|4:50.8 || Diane Leather || || 24 May 1955 || London
|-
|4:45.0 || Diane Leather || || 21 September 1955 || London
|-
|4:41.4 || Marise Chamberlain || || 8 December 1962 || Perth
|-
|4:39.2 || Anne Smith || || 13 May 1967 || London
|}
Women's IAAF era
The first world record in the mile for women (athletics) was recognized by the International Amateur Athletics Federation (later known as the International Association of Athletics Federations and currently known as World Athletics), in 1967. To June 21, 2009, the IAAF has ratified 13 world records in the event.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Time !!Auto !!Athlete !!Nationality !!Date !!Venue
|-
|4:37.0|| || Anne Smith || || 3 June 1967 || Monaco
|- style="background: #fec"
|4:06.42|| || Faith Kipyegon || || 26 June 2025 || Paris
|}
The "Time" column indicates the ratified mark; the "Auto" column indicates a fully automatic time that was also recorded in the event when hand-timed marks were used for official records, or which was the basis for the official mark, rounded to the 10th of a second, depending on the rules then in place.
The IAAF recognized times to the hundredth of a second starting in 1981.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Time !!Athlete !!Nationality !!Date !!Venue
|-
|4:27.97 Wo|| Nikki Hiltz || || April 25, 2023 || Des Moines
|-
|4:20.98 Wo || Deribe Welteji || || October 1, 2023 || Riga
|}
See also
- 1500 metres world record progression
Notes
References
Further reading
External links
- Runner's World data
- Running Times Magazine data
- Frankfurt University (Internet Archive)
- Women's progression
- Another women's mile progression
- Frankfurt University (Women's progression) (Internet Archive)
- Clips of Bannister's 4 minute mile
- Video of current Men's world record by Hicham El Guerrouj