Record setters: Which world records look set to be broken at the Paris Olymics?

As the saying goes, "records are there to be broken," and athletes love nothing more than breaking world records on the biggest stage of them all, at the Olympics. With Paris 2024 just days away, let's take a look at the records that could get broken over the course of the Olympics.

Let's start with the record most likely to be broken: the pole vault, set by Armand Duplantis on 20 April 2024. The Swede is currently untouchable and seems capable of beating his record in every event. Only a gold medal will be good enough for Duplantis in Paris.

The oldest record in men's athletics, a historic mark set by Germany's Jürgen Schult (74.08 m) in 1986, was broken on 14 April 2024 by Mykolas Alekna. The Lithuanian star will be aiming for gold in Paris this summer.

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World champion, Olympic champion, world record holder... Ryan Crouser will be the great favourite at this summer's Olympics in Paris. He will be aiming to break his mark of 23.56 metres, set in Los Angeles in March 2023.

On 14 July 1998, at the Golden Gala in Rome, Morocco's Hicham El Guerrouj set a new world record of 3 minutes 26 seconds. In February 2022, Jakob Ingebrigtsen clocked 3 minutes, 30 seconds and 60 hundredths at the Liévin indoor meeting in Pas-de-Calais, and will certainly be aiming for an outdoor world record in Paris 2024.

World runner-up, Olympic runner-up... Lamecha Girma seems cursed when it comes to major competitions. In 2023, however, the Ethiopian managed to break the world record in the 3,000 metres steeplechase in Paris. To claim his first Olympic gold medal, he will have to repeat that result or do even better.

On 3 August 2021, in a historic race, the world record in the 400m hurdles was broken by not one, but two men: Rai Benjamin and Karsten Warholm. While the American ran 46.17s, the Norwegian smashed the world record in 45.94s. Since then, the record has stood and the whole world is eagerly awaiting a new duel between the two athletes in Paris.

Two-time Olympic champion, three-time world champion: Faith Kipyegon is the undisputed queen of 1500 metres. The Kenyan broke her own world record in Florence in June 2023 and could make even more history in Paris in 2024.

Kenyan Chebet smashed the previous world record by nearly seven seconds at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Oregon. With previous record holder Letesenbet Gidey also competing in Paris, the two could push each other even further. This could be a must-watch race!

There are two marathon world records for women: the one for a mixed race, held by Tigist Assefa in 2:11:53 (Berlin 2023) and Peres Jepchirchir's record in an all-women's race (2:16:16), set in London in 2024. In Paris, the race will be exclusively for women, so it's the second record that will be in (great) danger, as Tigist Assefa looks capable of beating it.

World champion in Eugene in 2022, where she set a new record in the semi-finals, Tobi Amusan is the great favourite for the 2024 Olympics, despite a disappointing sixth place at the 2023 World Championships.

Like Tobi Amusan, Sydney McLaughlin broke a world record in Eugene in the 400m hurdles. However, the American will have to outdo herself to beat her great rivals Dalilah Muhammad and Femke Bol in Paris.

Yulimar Rojas is simply untouchable in her discipline. Olympic champion and four-time world champion, the Venezuelan dominates the women's triple jump and will be aiming to beat her world record of 15.74m, set in Belgrade in 2022.

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