# 10,000 metres world record progression

The official world records in the 10,000 metres are held by Ugandan Joshua Cheptegei with 26:11 minutes for men and Kenyan Beatrice Chebet with 28:54.14 for women.
The first world record in the men's 10,000 metres was recognized by the International Association of Athletics Federations in 1912. The first ratified record, Jean Bouin's time of 30:58.8 minutes, had been run the year before. As of June 21, 2009, 37 men's world records have been ratified by the IAAF in the event.
The first world record in the women's 10,000 metres was recognized by the International Association of Athletics Federations in 1981. As of June 21, 2009, eight women's world records have been ratified by the IAAF in the event. Before the event was recognised by the IAAF as an official world record event the 3000 metres was the most common international women's long-distance track event, although women did sometimes compete over 10,000 m before its addition to the World Championships and Olympic programme in 1987 and 1988, respectively.

## Men
### Pre-IAAF

| Time | Athlete | Date | Place |
| 32:35.0 | William Howitt (GBR) | 1847-04-05 | Peckham, United Kingdom |
| 32:09.0 | Walter George (GBR) | 1882-03-25 | London, United Kingdom |
| 31:53.4 | Walter George (GBR) | 1884-04-07 | London, United Kingdom |
| 31:40.0 | Walter George (GBR) | 1884-07-28 | London, United Kingdom |
| 31:23.1 | William Cummings (GBR) | 1885-09-28 | London, United Kingdom |
| 31:02.4 | Alfred Shrubb (GBR) | 1904-11-05 | Glasgow, United Kingdom |
* $^a$ Howitt's time was recorded at the point of 10,186 m, en route to a longer distance.
* $^b$ George's times were recorded at the 6.25 miles (10.06 km) point.

### IAAF world records

| Time | Time | Athlete | Date | Place |
| Ratified | Auto | Athlete | Date | Place |
| 30:58.8 | | Jean Bouin (FRA) | November 16, 1911 | Paris, France |
| 30:40.2 | | Paavo Nurmi (FIN) | June 22, 1921 | Stockholm, Sweden |
| 30:35.4 | | Ville Ritola (FIN) | May 25, 1924 | Helsinki, Finland |
| 30:23.2 | | Ville Ritola (FIN) | July 6, 1924 | Paris, France |
| 30:06.2 | | Paavo Nurmi (FIN) | August 31, 1924 | Kuopio, Finland |
| 30:05.6 | | Ilmari Salminen (FIN) | July 18, 1937 | Kouvola, Finland |
| 30:02.0 | | Taisto Mäki (FIN) | September 29, 1938 | Tampere, Finland |
| 29:52.6 | | Taisto Mäki (FIN) | September 17, 1939 | Helsinki, Finland |
| 29:35.4 | | Viljo Heino (FIN) | August 25, 1944 | Helsinki, Finland |
| 29:28.2 | | Emil Zátopek (TCH) | June 11, 1949 | Ostrava, Czechoslovakia |
| 29:27.2 | | Viljo Heino (FIN) | September 1, 1949 | Kouvola, Finland |
| 29:21.2 | | Emil Zátopek (TCH) | October 22, 1949 | Ostrava, Czechoslovakia |
| 29:02.6 | | Emil Zátopek (TCH) | August 4, 1950 | Turku, Finland |
| 29:01.6 | | Emil Zátopek (TCH) | November 1, 1953 | Stara Boleslav, Czechoslovakia |
| 28:54.2 | | Emil Zátopek (TCH) | June 1, 1954 | Brussels, Belgium |
| 28:42.8 | | Sandor Iharos (HUN) | July 15, 1956 | Budapest, Hungary |
| 28:30.4 | | Vladimir Kuts (URS) | September 11, 1956 | Moscow, Soviet Union |
| 28:18.8 | | Pyotr Bolotnikov (URS) | October 15, 1960 | Kiev, Soviet Union |
| 28:18.2 | | Pyotr Bolotnikov (URS) | August 11, 1962 | Moscow, Soviet Union |
| 28:15.6 | | Ron Clarke (AUS) | December 18, 1963 | Melbourne, Australia |
| 27:39.4 | 27:39.89 | Ron Clarke (AUS) | July 14, 1965 | Oslo, Norway |
| 27:38.4 | 27:38.35 | Lasse Virén (FIN) | September 3, 1972 | Munich, West Germany |
| 27:30.8 | 27:30.80 | David Bedford (GBR) | July 13, 1973 | London, United Kingdom |
| 27:30.5 | 27:30.47 | Samson Kimobwa (KEN) | June 30, 1977 | Helsinki, Finland |
| 27:22.4 | 27:22.47 | Henry Rono (KEN) | June 11, 1978 | Vienna, Austria |
| 27:13.81 | | Fernando Mamede (POR) | July 2, 1984 | Stockholm, Sweden |
| 27:08.23 | | Arturo Barrios (MEX) | August 18, 1989 | West Berlin, West Germany |
| 27:07.91 | | Richard Chelimo (KEN) | July 5, 1993 | Stockholm, Sweden |
| 26:58.38 | | Yobes Ondieki (KEN) | July 10, 1993 | Oslo, Norway |
| 26:52.23 | | William Sigei (KEN) | July 22, 1994 | Oslo, Norway |
| 26:43.53 | | Haile Gebrselassie (ETH) | June 5, 1995 | Hengelo, Netherlands |
| 26:38.08 | | Salah Hissou (MAR) | August 23, 1996 | Brussels, Belgium |
| 26:31.32 | | Haile Gebrselassie (ETH) | July 4, 1997 | Oslo, Norway |
| 26:27.85 | | Paul Tergat (KEN) | August 22, 1997 | Brussels, Belgium |
| 26:22.75 | | Haile Gebrselassie (ETH) | June 1, 1998 | Hengelo, Netherlands |
| 26:20.31 | | Kenenisa Bekele (ETH) | June 8, 2004 | Ostrava, Czech Republic |
| 26:17.53 | | Kenenisa Bekele (ETH) | August 26, 2005 | Brussels, Belgium |
| 26:11.00 | | Joshua Cheptegei (UGA) | October 7, 2020 | Valencia, Spain |
Where present, the "Auto" column gives a fully automatic time that was additionally recorded where the ratified mark was hand-timed, or from which the ratified mark was rounded to the 10th of a second, depending on the rules then in place.
Auto times to the hundredth of a second were accepted by the IAAF for events up to and including 10,000 m from 1981. However, Henry Rono's 27:22.4, timed to the hundredth at 27:22.47, was not adjusted from 1981.

## Women
### Pre-recognition

| Time | Athlete | Date | Place |
| 39:25.0 | Gertrud Schmidt (GDR) | 1966 | ? |
| 39:10.0 | Hannelore Middeke (GDR) | 1966 | ? |
| 38:06.4 | Ann O'Brien (IRL) | 1967-03-26 | Gormanstown, Ireland |
| 35:30.5 | Paola Pigni (ITA) | 1970-05-09 | Milan, Italy |
| 34:51.0 | Kathy Gibbons (USA) | 1971-06-12 | Phoenix, United States |
| 35:00.4 | Julie Brown (USA) | 1975-03-29 | Los Angeles, United States |
| 34:01.4 | Christa Vahlensieck (FRG) | 1975-08-20 | Wolfsburg, West Germany |
| 33:34.17 Mx | Loa Olafsson (DEN) | 1977-03-19 | Hvidovre, Denmark |
| 33:15.09 | Peg Neppel (USA) | 1977-06-09 | Los Angeles, United States |
| 32:43.2 | Natalia Mărăşescu (ROM) | 1978-01-22 | Băile Felix, Romania |
| 31:45.4 Mx | Loa Olafsson (DEN) | 1978-04-06 | Copenhagen, Denmark |
| 32:30.80 | Olga Krentser (URS) | 1981-08-07 | Moscow, Soviet Union |

### IAAF world records

* Ratified
* Not ratified
* Ratified but later rescinded
* Pending ratification
| Time | Athlete | Date | Place |
| 32:17.20 | Yelena Sipatova (URS) | 1981-10-19 | Moscow, Soviet Union |
| 31:35.3 | Mary Decker-Slaney (USA) | 1982-07-16 | Eugene, USA |
| 31:35.01 | Lyudmila Baranova (URS) | 1983-05-29 | Krasnodar, Soviet Union |
| 31:27.58 | Raisa Sadreydinova (URS) | 1983-09-07 | Odessa, Soviet Union |
| 31:13.78 | Olga Bondarenko (URS) | 1984-06-24 | Kiev, Soviet Union |
| 30:59.42 | Ingrid Kristiansen (NOR) | 1985-07-27 | Oslo, Norway |
| 30:13.74 | Ingrid Kristiansen (NOR) | 1986-07-05 | Oslo, Norway |
| 29:31.78 | Wang Junxia (CHN) | 1993-09-08 | Beijing, PR China |
| 29:17.45 | Almaz Ayana (ETH) | 2016-08-12 | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil |
| 29:06.82 | Sifan Hassan (NED) | 2021-06-06 | Hengelo, Netherlands |
| 29:01.03 | Letesenbet Gidey (ETH) | 2021-06-08 | Hengelo, Netherlands |
| 28:54.14 | Beatrice Chebet (KEN) | 2024-05-25 | Eugene, United States |