Before we get into this, it should be noted that some of these records are more competitive than others. Some records, like the mixed relay, haven’t existed very long as events and are thus much easier to break. Some events have less-frequently run short track versions (indoor tracks are often smaller than outdoor tracks and tighter curves make it harder to run fast). Some women’s events have two different records, depending on whether the race was run with men in the field (who can act like rabbits to help a woman set a record). Despite all these disclaimers, it would be hard to imagine that there have been many years with more world records set than this year, especially in a non-Olympic year.

Format:

Record holder—Event—Time—Country represented by record holder

Men
Khaleb McRae—Short track 400m—44.52—USA
Josh Hoey—Short track 800m—1:42.5—USA
Emmanuel Wanyoni—1000m—2:11.83—Kenya
Josh Kerr—Mile—3:41.66—GBR
Jacob Kiplimo—Half marathon—57:20—Uganda (record was rebroken)
Yomif Kejelcha—Half marathon—56:51—Ethiopia
Sabastian Sawe—Marathon—1:59:30—Kenya
Ja’Kobe Tharp—110m Hurdles—12.75—USA
Alison dos Santos—400m Hurdles—45.80—Brazil
Armand Duplantis—Pole vault—6.31m—Sweden
Simon Ehammer—Short track heptathlon—6670 pts—SUI
Francesco Fortunato—Short track 5000m walk—17:54.48—Italy
Toshikazu Yamanishi—Half marathon walk—1:20:34—Japan
Pender/Houser/Fiore/Dolan—4x800m relay—7:10.29—USA

Women
Keely Hodgkinson—Short track 800m—1:54.87—GBR
Agnes Ngetich—Half marathon (Women-only race)—1:05.15
Tigst Assefa—Marathon (Women-only race)—2:15.41—Ethiopia
Devynne Charlton—60m Hurdles—7.65—Bahamas
Masai Russel—100m Hurdles—12.09—USA
Maria Perez—Half marathon walk—1:30:06—Spain
Sofia Fiorini—Marathon walk—3:15:11—Italy
Blake/Clayton/Goldson/Clayton—4x100m relay—39.62—Jamaca

Only included are WRs in disciplines officially ratified by World Athletics.