50 Metres - Wikipedia

Sprint race

Athletics50 metres
World records
Men	Donovan Bailey 5.56 A (1996)
Women	Irina Privalova 5.96 (1995)

50 metres, or 50-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field, featured as an alternative to the 60 metres running event. It is a relatively uncommon non-championship event for indoor track and field, normally dominated by the best outdoor 100 metres runners. At outdoor athletics competitions it is used in the Special Olympics but otherwise a rare distance. The World Masters Rankings has recorded the event since the 2010s.[1]

Records and personal bests in the 50 metres are frequently achieved in February and March as these dates coincide with the indoor athletics season.

All-time top 25

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Indoor results only + = en route to a longer distance A = affected by altitude

Men

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• Updated February 2025.[2]

Rank	Time	Athlete	Nation	Date	Place	Ref
1	5.56 A [B]	Donovan Bailey	Canada	9 February 1996	Reno
	5.56	Maurice Greene	United States	13 February 1999	Los Angeles
3	5.58+	Leonard Scott	United States	26 February 2005	Liévin	[citation needed]
4	5.60+	Michael Green	Jamaica	16 February 1997	Liévin
5	5.61	Manfred Kokot	East Germany	4 February 1973	Berlin
		James Sanford	United States	20 February 1981	San Diego
	5.61+	Deji Aliu	Nigeria	21 February 1999	Liévin
		Freddy Mayola	Cuba	16 February 2000	Madrid
		Jason Gardener	United Kingdom
10	5.62	Emmit King	United States	5 March 1986	Kobe
		Andre Cason	United States	15 February 1992	Los Angeles
	5.62+	Eric Nkansah	Ghana	21 February 1999	Liévin
		Morné Nagel	South Africa	24 February 2002	Liévin
14	5.63	Stanley Floyd	United States	20 February 1981	San Diego
	5.63 A	Henry Neal	United States	10 February 1995	Reno
	5.63	Jon Drummond	United States	13 February 1999	Los Angeles
	5.63+	Lerone Clarke	Jamaica	14 February 2012	Liévin	[3]
		Ronnie Baker	United States	4 February 2025	Ostrava	[4]
19	5.64	Davidson Ezinwa	Nigeria	15 February 1992	Los Angeles
		Aleksandr Porkhomovskiy	Russia	4 February 1994	Moscow
		Bruny Surin	Canada	27 January 1995	Moscow
	5.64+	Donovan Powell	Jamaica	21 February 1999	Liévin	[citation needed]
		Leonard Myles-Mills	Ghana	13 February 2000	Liévin	[citation needed]
		Ato Boldon	Trinidad and Tobago	16 February 2000	Madrid
		Tim Harden	United States			[citation needed]
	5.64	Gerald Williams	United States	19 February 2000	Los Angeles
		Jeff Laynes	United States	20 January 2001	Los Angeles
		Asafa Powell	Jamaica	28 January 2012	New York City

• B Ben Johnson of Canada ran 5.55 at Ottawa, Canada on 31 January 1987, but this time was rescinded after Johnson admitted to using steroids between 1981 and 1988.

Notes

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Below is a list of other times equal or superior to 5.63:

• Maurice Greene also ran 5.59+ (1999).
• Michael Green also ran 5.62+ (1997).
• Donovan Bailey also ran 5.62 (1996).
• Deji Aliu also ran 5.63+ (1999).
• Freddy Mayola also ran 5.63+ (2001).

Outdoor best performances

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This sports-related list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. (October 2021)

+ = en route to 100m mark. N.B. The Seville marks listed are excluding the athlete's reaction times. Bolt's & Su's times are inclusive.

Rank	Time	Wind (m/s)	Athlete	Nation	Date	Place	Ref
1	5.40+ (calculated; add 0.127, or 0.13)	+0.2	Bruny Surin	Canada	22 August 1999	Seville	[5]
2	5.42+ (calculated; add 0.132, or 0.14)		Maurice Greene	United States
3	5.43+ (calculated; add 0.140)		Dwain Chambers	Great Britain
4	5.45+	+0.9	Su Bingtian	China	1 August 2021	Tokyo	[6]
5	5.46+ (calculated; add 0.136, or 0.14)	+0.2	Tim Harden	United States	22 August 1999	Seville	[7]
6	5.47+ (calculated)	+0.9	Usain Bolt	Jamaica	16 August 2009	Berlin	[8]

Women

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• Correct as of February 2026.[9]

Rank	Time	Athlete	Nation	Date	Place	Ref
1	5.96+	Irina Privalova	Russia	9 February 1995	Madrid
2	6.00	Merlene Ottey	Jamaica	4 February 1994	Moscow
3	6.02+	Gail Devers	United States	21 February 1999	Liévin
4	6.04+	Chioma Ajunwa	Nigeria	22 February 1998	Liévin
5	6.05+	Savatheda Fynes	Bahamas	13 February 2000	Liévin
		Philomena Mensah	Canada
7	6.07 A	Gwen Torrence	United States	9 February 1996	Reno
8	6.08+	Christy Opara-Thompson	Nigeria	16 February 1997	Liévin
	6.08	Veronica Campbell-Brown	Jamaica	28 January 2012	New York City
10	6.09	Zhanna Block	Ukraine	2 February 1993	Moscow
	6.09+	Zaynab Dosso	Italy	3 February 2026	Ostrava	[10]
12	6.11	Marita Koch	East Germany	2 February 1980	Grenoble
	6.11+	Liliana Allen	Mexico	13 February 2000	Liévin
		Christine Arron	France	26 February 2006	Aubière
15	6.12	Marlies Göhr	East Germany	2 February 1980	Grenoble
		Silke Möller	East Germany	19 February 1988	Berlin
		Anelia Nuneva	Bulgaria	27 January 1995	Moscow
	6.12+	Ewa Swoboda	Poland	4 February 2025	Ostrava	[11]
		Patrizia van der Weken	Luxembourg			[12]
20	6.13	Jeanette Bolden	United States	21 February 1981	Edmonton
		Michelle Finn-Burrell	United States	15 February 1992	Los Angeles
		Natalya Merzlyakova	Russia	4 February 1994	Moscow
		Ekaterina Grigorieva	Russia
	6.13+	Mercy Nku	Nigeria	25 February 2001	Liévin
25	6.14+	Frédérique Bangué	France	16 February 1997	Liévin
		Petya Pendareva	Bulgaria	21 February 1999	Liévin
		Muriel Hurtis	France	23 February 2003	Liévin
		LaVerne Jones-Ferrette	United States Virgin Islands	24 February 2012	Liévin

Note: Angella Issajenko of Canada ran a world record 6.06 in Ottawa on 13 January 1987, this performance was rescinded after Issajenko's admittance of long term drug use at the Dubin Inquiry in 1989.

Notes

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Below is a list of other times equal or superior to 6.11:

• Irina Privalova also ran 6.01 (1994), 6.03 (1994), 6.04 (1993), 6.05+ (1993, 1997), 6.07 (1994), 6.08 (1994), 6.08+ (1997), 6.09 (1994) and 6.11+ (1996).
• Gail Devers also ran 6.03 (1999) and 6.10 (1993).
• Merlene Ottey also ran 6.06+ (1999), 6.08+ (1999) and 6.11+ (1996).
• Savatheda Fynes also ran 6.07+ (1999).
• Philomena Mensah also ran 6.07+ (1999).
• Christy Opara-Thompson also ran 6.11+ (1997).

Outdoor best performances

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+ = en route to 100m mark

Time	Wind (m/s)	Athlete	Nation	Date	Place	Ref
5.93+ (calculated)	−0.1	Marion Jones	United States	22 August 1999	Seville

Season's bests

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Men [edit] Year Mark Athlete Place 1968 5.70  Jobst Hirscht (FRG) Madrid 1971 5.79  Jobst Hirscht (FRG) Kiel 1972 5.75  Valeriy Borzov (USSR) Grenoble 1973 5.61  Manfred Kokot (GDR) Berlin 1974 5.68  Wolfgang Lobe (GDR) Berlin 1976 5.75  Eugen Ray (GDR) Berlin 1977 5.74  Klaus-Dieter Kurrat (GDR) Berlin 1978 5.77  Aleksandr Aksinin (USSR) Berlin 1979 5.76  Houston McTear (USA) Daly City 1980 5.72  Ray James (USA) Syracuse 1981 5.61  James Sanford (USA) San Diego 1982 5.76  Emmit King (USA) Sherbrooke 1983 5.72  Stanley Floyd (USA) Chicago 1984 5.69  Ron Brown (USA) San Diego 1985 5.73  František Ptacnik (TCH) Prague  Albert Lawrence (JAM) Kobe 1986 5.62  Emmit King (USA) Kobe 1987 5.76  František Ptacnik (TCH) Prague 1988 5.72  Sven Matthes (GDR) Berlin 1989 5.68  Lee McRae (USA) Hamilton 1990 5.73  Mike Marsh (USA) Los Angeles 1991 5.69  Andre Cason (USA) Los Angeles 1992 5.62  Andre Cason (USA) Los Angeles 5.62+  Eric Nkansah (GHA) Liévin 1993 5.67  Bruny Surin (CAN) Hamilton 1994 5.64  Aleksandr Porkhomovskiy (RUS) Moscow 1995 5.63 A  Henry Neal (USA) Reno 1996 5.56 A  Donovan Bailey (CAN) Reno 1997 5.61+  Michael Green (JAM) Liévin 1998 5.65  Stéphane Cali (FRA) Eaubonne 1999 5.56  Maurice Greene (USA) Los Angeles 2000 5.61+  Jason Gardener (GBR) Madrid  Freddy Mayola (CUB) Madrid 2001 5.63+  Freddy Mayola (CUB) Madrid 2002 5.62+  Morne Nagel (RSA) Liévin  Morne Nagel (RSA) 2003 5.65+  Deji Aliu (NGR) Liévin 2004 5.68+  Freddy Mayola (CUB) Liévin 2005 5.58+  Leonard Scott (USA) Liévin 2006 5.68+  Freddy Mayola (CUB) Liévin  Freddy Mayola (CUB) 2007 5.73+  Ronald Pognon (FRA) Aubière 2008 5.76  Nicolas Macrozonaris (CAN) Saskatoon 2009 5.70+  Abidemi Omole (USA) Liévin 2010 5.71  Sam Effah (CAN) Saskatoon 5.71+  Lerone Clarke (JAM) Liévin  Christophe Lemaitre (FRA)  Harry Aikines-Aryeetey (GBR) 2011 5.67  Sam Effah (CAN) Saskatoon 2012 5.63+  Lerone Clarke (JAM) Liévin 2013 5.79  Cordero Gray (USA) Saskatoon 2014 5.72  Marcus Rowland (USA) Saskatoon 2015 5.83  Woodrow Randall (USA) Saskatoon 2016 2017 5.76  Eric Cray (PHI) Saskatoon 2018 5.67  Blake Smith (USA) Saskatoon 2019 5.77  Sean McLean (USA) Saskatoon

Women [edit] Year Mark Athlete Place 1968 6.24  Sylviane Telliez (FRA) Madrid 1972 6.25  Renate Stecher (GDR) Grenoble 1974 6.19  Renate Stecher (GDR) Berlin 1976 6.30  Christina Brehmer (GDR) Berlin 1978 6.28  Marita Koch (GDR) Berlin  Annie Alize (FRA) Grenoble 1979 6.28  Annegret Richter (FRG) Berlin 1980 6.11  Marita Koch (GDR) Grenoble 1981 6.13  Jeanette Bolden (USA) Edmonton 1982 6.20  Evelyn Ashford (USA) Daly City 1983 6.16  Evelyn Ashford (USA) Chicago 1984 6.16  Angela Bailey (CAN) Toronto 1985 6.21  Els Vader (NED) Zwolle  Marita Koch (GDR) Kobe 1986 6.13  Silke Möller (GDR) Berlin 1987 6.13  Marlies Göhr (GDR) Berlin 1988 6.12  Silke Möller (GDR) Berlin 1989 6.18  Kerstin Behrendt (GDR) Berlin 1990 6.34  Angela Bailey (CAN) Los Angeles  Sheila Echols (USA) Cleveland 1991 6.15  Katrin Krabbe (GDR) Berlin 1992 6.13  Michelle Finn-Burrell (USA) Los Angeles 1993 6.09  Zhanna Block (UKR) Moscow 1994 6.00  Merlene Ottey (JAM) Moscow 1995 5.96+  Irina Privalova (RUS) Madrid 1996 6.07 A  Gwen Torrence (USA) Reno 1997 6.08+  Christy Opara-Thompson (NGR) Liévin 1998 6.04+  Chioma Ajunwa (NGR) Liévin 1999 6.02+  Gail Devers (USA) Liévin 2000 6.05+  Savatheda Fynes (BAH) Liévin  Philomena Mensah (CAN) Liévin 2001 6.12+  Savatheda Fynes (BAH) Madrid 2002 6.17  Angela Williams (USA) Los Angeles 2003 6.14+  Muriel Hurtis (FRA) Liévin 2004 6.12+  Christine Arron (FRA) Aubière 2005 6.15+  Christine Arron (FRA) Liévin 2006 6.11+  Christine Arron (FRA) Aubière 2007 6.28+  Victoria Jordan (USA) Landover 2008 6.23+  Christine Arron (FRA) Bordeaux 2009 6.26+  Chandra Sturrup (BAH) Liévin 2010 6.21+  Sheri-Ann Brooks (JAM) Liévin 2011 6.27  Yuliya Balykina (BLR) Minsk 2012 6.08  Veronica Campbell-Brown (JAM) New York City 2013 6.30  Brittney Reese (USA) Saskatoon 2014 6.34  Crystal Emmanuel (CAN) Saskatoon 2015 6.34  Crystal Emmanuel (CAN) Saskatoon 2016 2017 6.30  Erica Alexander (USA) Saskatoon 2018 6.30  Crystal Emmanuel (CAN) Saskatoon 2019 6.35  Tawanna Meadows (USA) Saskatoon

References

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1. ^ "50 Meter Dash Now Ranked!". MastersRankings.com. World Masters Rankings.
2. ^ "All Time Top Lists - Senior Indoor 50 Metres Men". iaaf.org. IAAF. Retrieved 30 November 2018.
3. ^ "60 Metres Results" (PDF). www.meeting-pasdecalais.com. 14 February 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 July 2014. Retrieved 14 February 2012.
4. ^ "Czech Indoor Gala – 60m Results". World Athletics. 4 February 2025. Retrieved 6 February 2025.
5. ^ "Biomechanical Analysis of the World Championships in Athletics Seville 1999". IAAF. IAAF. 2001. Retrieved April 11, 2018.
6. ^ Pierre-Jean Vazel (8 October 2021). "Analyzing the Olympic 100-meter sprints". hmmrmedia.com. Retrieved 12 March 2022.
7. ^ "Biomechanical Analysis of the World Championships in Athletics Seville 1999". IAAF. IAAF. 2001. Retrieved April 11, 2018.
8. ^ "Biomechanical Analysis 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics" (PDF). IAAF. 17 August 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 May 2014. Retrieved 30 January 2017.
9. ^ "All-time women's best 50m". IAAF. 26 January 2017. Retrieved 26 January 2017.
10. ^ "60m Round 1 Heat 2 – 50m Split Times". World Athletics. Retrieved 10 February 2026.
11. ^ "60m Results". World Athletics. Retrieved 14 February 2025.
12. ^ "60m Results". World Athletics. Retrieved 14 February 2025.

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