150 metres is a sprint event in track and field. It is a very rarely contested non-championship and not an IAAF-recognised event. Given the proportion of standard running tracks, the event typically incorporates a bend when held in a track and field stadium, although some especially-built tracks allow the event to take place entirely on a straight.
The event was given a high-profile outing in 1997 as an intermediate contest between two 1996 Olympic champions: Donovan Bailey (100 metres) and Michael Johnson (200 metres).[1] Johnson pulled up mid-race, allowing Bailey to win the $1 million prize.[2] This race coincided with a period of similar 150 m meetings between Bailey and the 1992 Olympic champion Linford Christie; the pair raced three years running for high cash prizes in Sheffield, England, in 1995, 1996 and 1997, with Christie winning the first two outings and Bailey winning the last.[3][4]
The Manchester City Games in England – a competition featuring a long, raised track on one of the city's major streets – has provided many of the event's highlights since 2009, including the men's world best of 14.35 seconds, set by Usain Bolt in 2009.[5] Allyson Felix ran the fastest ever 150 m race by a woman in 2013 (16.36 seconds),[6] although faster times have been recorded at intermediate stages of the 200 m event. The Great North City Games (held variously in Newcastle and Gateshead) features a similar setup to the Manchester event and has provided several of the best men's and women's times.[7] The British events typically attracted American, British and Caribbean competitors, and athletes from these places account for nearly all the top 25 best times for men and women. A one-off 150 m race on Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro was held in 2013 and Bolt finished in a time close to his own world record.[8]
The 150 m had some significance as a regular indoor event in the 1960s and 1970s as a result of indoor tracks matching that distance. Wales held a national championship over the distance up to 1972 and Finland briefly had a women's national championship in the mid-1960s.[9][10] A relay version of the distance (4 × 150 metres) was contested at the 1967 European Athletics Indoor Championships and was won by the Soviet Union's women's team.[11] The distance attracted the attention of 1980 Olympic 200 m champion Pietro Mennea, whose hand-timed run of 14.8 seconds in Cassino, Italy, in 1983 stood as a world best time for over a quarter of a century.[12] Italy also provided a women's 150 m best that same decade, with Jamaican Merlene Ottey setting a time of 16.46 seconds in Trapani in 1989 – a world best mark which was unbeaten for over two decades.[13]
Rank | Time | Type | Wind (m/s) | Athlete | Nationality | Date | Place | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 14.35 | straight | +1.1 | Usain Bolt | Jamaica | 17 May 2009 | Manchester | [14] |
2 | 14.41+ | straight | -0.4 | Tyson Gay | United States | 16 May 2010 | Manchester | [15] |
3 | 14.56 | straight | +0.3 | Noah Lyles | United States | 6 May 2023 | Atlanta | [16] |
4 | 14.65 | straight | +1.4 | Walter Dix | United States | 17 September 2011 | Gateshead | [17] |
5 | 14.71 | straight | +1.3 | Yohan Blake | Jamaica | 17 May 2014 | Manchester | [18] |
6 | 14.75 | straight | +0.1 | Jereem Richards | Trinidad and Tobago | 23 May 2021 | Boston | [19] |
7 | 14.8 h | bend | NWI | Pietro Mennea | Italy | 3 September 1979 | Cassino | |
8 | 14.81 | straight | +0.2 | Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake | Great Britain | 20 May 2018 | Boston | [20] |
9 | 14.83+ | bend | +0.4 | Michael Johnson | United States | 1 August 1996 | Atlanta | [21] |
10 | 14.85 | straight | +0.3 | Erriyon Knighton | United States | 6 May 2023 | Atlanta | [22] |
11 | 14.87 | straight | +1.4 | Marlon Devonish | Great Britain | 17 September 2011 | Gateshead | [23] |
-0.1 | Wallace Spearmon | United States | 20 May 2012 | Manchester | [24] | |||
+0.6 | Reece Prescod | Great Britain | 8 September 2018 | Gateshead | [25] | |||
14 | 14.88 | straight | +1.4 | Daniel Bailey | Antigua and Barbuda | 31 March 2013 | Rio de Janeiro | [26] |
15 | 14.89 | straight | +1.0 | Chris Royster | United States | 6 May 2023 | Atlanta | [27] |
+0.3 | Ferdinand Omanyala | Kenya | 6 May 2023 | Atlanta | [28] | |||
17 | 14.90 | straight | -1.0 | Christophe Lemaitre | France | 25 May 2013 | Manchester | [29] |
-0.2 | Michael Rodgers | United States | 14 September 2013 | Newcastle | [30] | |||
19 | 14.91 | straight | +1.4 | Bruno de Barros | Brazil | 31 March 2013 | Rio de Janeiro | [31] |
20 | 14.93+ | bend | +0.3 | John Regis | Great Britain | 20 August 1993 | Stuttgart | [32] |
14.93 | straight | 0.0 | Miguel Francis | Antigua and Barbuda | 18 June 2016 | Somerville | [33] | |
+0.3 | Antonio Watson | Jamaica | 6 May 2023 | Atlanta | [34] | |||
23 | 14.94+ | bend | +1.2 | Maurice Greene | United States | 27 August 1999 | Seville | [35] |
14.94 | straight | +0.1 | Andrew Hudson | United States | 23 May 2021 | Boston | [36] | |
25 | 14.97+ | bend | +0.3 | Carl Lewis | United States | 20 August 1993 | Stuttgart | [37] |
14.97 | bend | +0.9 | Linford Christie | Great Britain | 4 September 1994 | Sheffield | [38] | |
straight | +1.0 | Brandon Carnes | United States | 6 May 2023 | Atlanta | [39] |
Below is a list of other times equal or superior to 14.94:
Any performance with a following wind of more than 2.0 metres per second is not counted for record purposes. Below is a list of the fastest wind-assisted times (inside 14.92). Only times that are superior to legal bests are shown.
Rank | Time | Type | Wind (m/s) | Athlete | Nationality | Date | Place | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 16.09+ | bend | +0.2 | Shericka Jackson | Jamaica | 8 September 2023 | Brussels | [41] |
2 | 16.10+ | bend | +1.3 | Florence Griffith Joyner | United States | 29 September 1988 | Seoul | [42] |
3 | 16.23+ | bend | +0.6 | Inger Miller | United States | 27 August 1999 | Seville | [43] |
16.23 | straight | -0.7 | Shaunae Miller-Uibo | Bahamas | 20 May 2018 | Boston | [44] | |
5 | 16.28+ | bend | +1.7 | Allyson Felix | United States | 31 August 2007 | Osaka | |
6 | 16.30 | straight | +0.1 | Tori Bowie | United States | 4 June 2017 | Boston | [45] |
7 | 16.33+ | bend | 0.0 | Merlene Ottey | Jamaica | 19 August 1993 | Stuttgart | [46] |
8 | 16.41 | bend | +1.1 | Brianna Rollins-McNeal | United States | 20 July 2020 | Fort Worth | [47] |
9 | 16.43+ | bend | +1.7 | Veronica Campbell-Brown | Jamaica | 31 August 2007 | Osaka | |
10 | 16.44 | straight | +0.1 | Tamari Davis | United States | 6 May 2023 | Atlanta | [48] |
11 | 16.48 | straight | +0.1 | Daryll Neita | Great Britain | 6 May 2023 | Atlanta | [49] |
12 | 16.50 | straight | +1.5 | Carmelita Jeter | United States | 17 September 2011 | Gateshead | [50] |
+0.1 | Gabrielle Thomas | United States | 6 May 2023 | Atlanta | [51] | |||
14 | 16.53 | straight | -1.5 | Lynna Irby | United States | 23 May 2021 | Boston | [52] |
15 | 16.54+ | bend | +0.6 | Merlene Frazer | Jamaica | 27 August 1999 | Seville | [53] |
16.54 | straight | +0.1 | Debbie Ferguson-McKenzie | Bahamas | 17 May 2009 | Manchester | [54] | |
17 | 16.56 | bend | +0.6 | Dafne Schippers | Netherlands | 8 September 2020 | Ostrava | [55] |
18 | 16.57+ | bend | +0.6 | Beverly McDonald | Jamaica | 27 August 1999 | Seville | [56] |
16.57 | straight | +1.1 | Desiree Henry | Great Britain | 10 September 2016 | Newcastle | [57] | |
-0.7 | Michelle-Lee Ahye | Trinidad and Tobago | 20 May 2018 | Boston | [58] | |||
21 | 16.58 | straight | +0.1 | Angie Annelus | United States | 6 May 2023 | Atlanta | [59] |
22 | 16.59 | straight | +1.2 | Candyce McGrone | United States | 12 September 2015 | Newcastle | [60] |
23 | 16.60 | straight | +1.6 | Marie Josée Ta Lou | Ivory Coast | 18 May 2018 | Manchester | [61] |
24 | 16.63 | straight | +0.2 | Anyika Onuora | Great Britain | 25 May 2013 | Manchester | [62] |
25 | 16.64 | straight | +0.2 | Lauryn Williams | United States | 25 May 2013 | Manchester | [63] |
Below is a list of other times equal or superior to 16.64: