Track and field athletes have not slowed down in December – even world records have been broken during the darkest month


December is usually a quiet season when it comes to track and field sports. In the northern hemisphere, athletes are preparing for the indoor season, whereas in the southern hemisphere the summer’s competitive season is approaching. However, some great track and field results have been made in December.
Etusuora: 24.12.2022 11:18Athletics
Track and field athletes have not slowed down in December – even world records have been broken during the darkest month
Due to the weather conditions, the best outdoor track & field results have naturally been achieved in southern countries. Most of these records were made in the Asian Games in Bangkok in 1998 and during the summer’s competitive seasons in Australia.

Throughout history, 11 world records have been broken in December. The latest of these is the world record of half marathon by Kibiwott Kandie in 2020. Haile Gebrselassie also took to the streets in Doha in December 2002, and broke the world record of 10 km road running with a time of 27.02.

The first world record made in December went to Jack Metcalfe for triple jump in 1935. Emma George from Australia is the only one to set a world record on an indoor track in December. George set the world record in pole jumping first outdoors in 1995 (428), and then, year later, she set a new record of 440 in a sports hall.

World Records made in December


DisciplineResultAthleteDate & Place
Triple jump15.78Jack Metcalfe AUS14.12.1935 Sydney
Triple jump16.00Adhemar Ferreira da Silva BRA03.12.1950 São Paulo
Hammer throw64.05Stanislav Nenashev URS12.12.1954 Baku
High jump1.76Mildred McDaniel USA01.12.1956 Melbourne
10 000 m28:15.6hRon Clarke AUS18.12.1963 Melbourne
Heptathlon8309Bill Toomey USA11.12.1969 Los Angeles CA
Pole vault4.28Emma George AUS17.12.1995 Perth
Pole vault (ind)4.40Emma George AUS10.12.1996 Melbourne
10 km road27:02Haile Gebrselassie ETH13.12.2002 Doha
50 km race walk3:35:47Nathan Deakes AUS02.12.2006 Geelong
Half marathon57:32Kibiwott Kandie KEN06.12.2020 Valencia


The best track and field results of both men and women come from some of the best athletes. For example, the master hammer thrower Koji Murofushi emerged from winter hibernation by throwing a nice result of 78.57 in the Asian Games in Bangkok in 1998. Ibrahim Jeilan and Ayanleh Souleiman have been familiar sights in world championship arenas of long-distance running in recent years, and they achieved good times on 1 500 and 5 000 metres.

In women’s sports, the Russian ladies Anna Chicherova and Maria Lasitskene have made mockery of the two-metre bar in high jump. The top shot putter Valerie Adams from New Zealand visited her home country and putted Christmas greetings of 19.44 metres. In hundred metre run, Sally Pearson, better known as a hurdler, set the Christmas season’s record of 11.17 seconds.

Best Results in December


Miehet

DisciplineResultAthleteDate & Place
60 m (ind.)6.56Nicolas Macrozonaris CAN14.12.2002 Montréal
 6.56Joe Morris USA13.12.2013 Air Force Academy CO
100 m10.00Koji Ito JPN13.12.1998 Bangkok
 9.7h (+6.6)Rod Mapstone AUS21.12.1996 Perth
 9.8h (+6.6)Shane Hearn AUS21.12.1996 Perth
200 m20.1hKennedy Ondiek KEN23.12.1989 Nairobi
 20.25Koji Ito JPN18.12.1998 Bangkok
400 m44.99R.A. Sugath Thilakaratne SRI14.12.1998 Bangkok
800 m1:44.3hASamuel Tirop KEN23.12.1989 Nairobi
1500 m3:34.32Ayanleh Souleiman DJI20.12.2011 Doha
Mile3:51.99Johan Fourie RSA10.12.1984 Port Elizabeth
3 000 m (ind.)7:44.34Julian Oakley NZL16.12.2017 Boston MA
5 000 m13:15.18Ibrahim Jeilan ETH05.12.2010 Yokohama
10 000 m27:17.75.54Akira Aizawa JPN04.12.2020 Osaka
Half marathon57:32Kibiwott Kandie KEN06.12.2020 Valencia
Marathon2:03:00Evans Chebet KEN06.12.2020 Valencia
60 m H. (ind.)7.62Spencer Adams USA01.12.2012 Clemson SC
 7.62Greggmar Swift BAR12.12.2014 Bloomington IN
110 m H13.15Liu Xiang CHN12.12.2006 Doha
400 m H48.78Kenji Narisako JPN10.12.2006 Doha
3 000 m steepl.8:18.3hJulius M. Korir KEN09.12.1990 Formia
High jump (ind.)2.35Ivan Ukhov RUS28.12.2016 Yekaterinburg
High jump2.34AJavier Sotomayor CUB02.12.1990 Ciudad de México
Pole vault (halli)5.93Renaud Lavillenie FRA21.12.2013 Aulnay-sous-Bois
Pole vault5.85Paul Burgess AUS30.12.2006 Perth
Long jump (ind.)8.33Reggie Kelly USA03.12.1983 Jackson
Long jump8.23Luis Felipe Méliz CUB01.12.2002 La Habana
Triple jump17.32Pedro Pablo Pichardo CUB20.12.2013 La Habana
Shot put (ind.)22.58Ryan Crouser USA05.12.2020 Manhattan KS
Shot put21.05Jacko Gill NZL08.12.2020 Auckland
Discus69.40Art Swarts USA08.12.1979 Scotch Plains
 65.94Frantz Kruger RSA28.12.2001 Parow
Hammer78.57Koji Murofushi JPN13.12.1998 Bangkok
Javelin83.04R.M.S.J. Ranasinghe SRI03.12.2015 Diyagama
Decathlon8552Kevin Mayer FRA19.12.2020 Saint-Paul
4 x 100 m38.95Thaimaa10.12.2007 Nakhon Ratchasima
4 x 400 m3:02.62Intia19.12.1998 Bangkok
20 km race walk1:19:33Nick A'Hern AUS15.12.1990 Melbourne
50 km race walk3:35:47Nathan Deakes AUS02.12.2006 Geelong


Naiset

LajiTulosUrheilijaPvm Paikka
60 m (ind)7.17Irina Khabarova RUS24.12.2005 Omsk
 7.17Javianne Oliver USA08.12.2017 Bloomington IN
100 m11.17Sally Pearson AUS16.12.2017 Brisbane
 10.99 (+2.7)Li Xuemei CHN13.12.1998 Bangkok
200 m22.48Damayanthi Dharsha SRI18.12.1998 Bangkok
400 m50.42Beatrice Masilingi NAM14.12.2020 Pretoria (ei vahvistettu)
800 m1:59.85Shiny Wilson IND20.12.1995 Madras
1 500 m4:08.63Maryam Jamal BRN12.12.2006 Doha
3 000 m8:51.20Linden Hall AUS22.12.2020 Melbourne
5 000 m14:50.43Elana Meyer RSA19.12.1991 Port Elizabeth
10 000 m30:20.44Hitomi Niiya JPN04.12.2020 Osaka
 31:17.28Grace Kimanzi KEN08.12.2018 Yamaguchi
Half marathon1:05:18Genzebe Dibaba ETH06.12.2020 Valencia
Marathon2:17:16Peres Jepchirchir KEN06.12.2020 Valencia
60 m H (ind.)8.04Jasmine Camacho-Quinn PUR08.12.2017 Bloomington IN
100 m H12.63Olga Shishigina KAZ19.12.1998 Bangkok
400 m H55.09Sarah Carli AUS19.12.2020 Sydney
3 000 m steepl.9:45.06Cheryl Chan Xue Rou SGP12.12.2020 Sydney
High jump (ind)2.00Anna Chicherova RUS25.12.2002 Bryansk
 2.00Mariya Lasitskene RUS23.12.2017 Minsk
High jump1.97Juana Arrendel DOM02.12.2002 San Salvador
Pole vault (ind)4.80Jenn Suhr USA05.12.2015 Brockport NY
Pole vault4.72Nina Kennedy AUS16.12.2020 Perth
Long jump6.89Guan Yingnan CHN17.12.1998 Bangkok
Long jump (ind)6.88Irina Meleshina RUS23.12.2007 Ryazan
Triple jump14.37Xie Limei CHN11.12.2006 Doha
Triple jump (ind)14.34Yelena Ivanova RUS29.12.2002 Sankt Peterburg
Shot put (ind)21.60Valentina Fedjuschina UKR28.12.1991 Simferopol
Shot put19.44Valerie Adams NZL17.12.2005 Auckland
Discus64.66Li Yanfeng CHN11.12.2009 Hongkong
Hammer74.15Zhang Wenxiu CHN08.12.2006 Doha
Havelin62.60Sonia Bisset CUB01.12.2002 La Habana
Javelin (old)65.74Pam Matthews AUS16.12.1979 Brisbane
Heptathlon6055Evelyn Aguilar COL19.12.2020 Saint-Paul
4 x 100 m43.34Kuuba01.12.2002 La Habana
4 x 400 m3:31.24Meksiko06.12.2002 San Salvador
20 km race walk1:30:45Regan Lamble AUS13.12.2015 Melbourne