150 metres
Event150 metres
WrmenUsain Bolt (Jamaica) 14.35 (2009)
WrwomenFavour Ofili (Nigeria) 15.85 (2025)

150 metres is a sprint event in track and field. It is a very rarely contested non-championship event, and it is not recognised by World Athletics. Given the proportion of standard running tracks, the event typically incorporates a bend when held in a track and field stadium, although some specially-built tracks allow it 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 100 m champion Linford Christie; the pair raced over three years 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 female 150 m race 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) feature a similar set-up to the Manchester event and have hosted several of the best men's and women's times.[7] The British events typically attract 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 best.[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.[8][9] 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.[10] 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.[11] 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.[12]

All-time top 25

  • + = en route to 200 m performance
  • straight = performance on straight track
  • NWI = no wind measurement

Men

RankTimeTypeWind (m/s)AthleteNationalityDatePlaceRef
114.35straight+1.1Usain BoltJamaica17 May 2009Manchester[13]
214.41straight-0.4Tyson GayUnited States16 May 2010Manchester[14]
14.41straight+0.3Noah LylesUnited States18 May 2024Atlanta[15]
414.65straight+1.4Walter DixUnited States17 September 2011Gateshead[16]
514.66straight+0.3Zharnel HughesUnited Kingdom18 May 2024Atlanta[17]
614.70straightFerdinand OmanyalaKenya17 May 2025Atlanta[18]
714.71straight+1.3Yohan BlakeJamaica17 May 2014Manchester[19]
814.75straight+0.1Jereem RichardsTrinidad and Tobago23 May 2021Boston[20]
914.8bendPietro MenneaItaly3 September 1979Cassino
1014.81straight+0.2Nethaneel Mitchell-BlakeGreat Britain20 May 2018Boston[21]
1114.83bend+0.4Michael JohnsonUnited States1 August 1996Atlanta[22]
1214.85straight+0.3Erriyon KnightonUnited States6 May 2023Atlanta[23]
1314.86straight+0.3Alexander OgandoDominican Republic18 May 2024Atlanta[24]
1414.87straight+1.4Marlon DevonishGreat Britain17 September 2011Gateshead[25]
-0.1Wallace SpearmonUnited States20 May 2012Manchester[26]
+0.6Reece PrescodGreat Britain8 September 2018Gateshead[27]
1714.88straight+1.4Daniel BaileyAntigua and Barbuda31 March 2013Rio de Janeiro[28]
1814.89straight+1.0Chris RoysterUnited States6 May 2023Atlanta[29]
+0.3Ferdinand OmanyalaKenya6 May 2023Atlanta[30]
+0.3Josephus LylesUnited States18 May 2024Atlanta[31]
2114.90straight-1.0Christophe LemaitreFrance25 May 2013Manchester[32]
-0.2Michael RodgersUnited States14 September 2013Newcastle[33]
2314.91straight+1.4Bruno de BarrosBrazil31 March 2013Rio de Janeiro[34]
2414.93bend+0.3John RegisGreat Britain20 August 1993Stuttgart[35]
14.93straight0.0Miguel FrancisAntigua and Barbuda18 June 2016Somerville[36]
+0.3Antonio WatsonJamaica6 May 2023Atlanta[37]
Terrence JonesBahamas17 May 2025Atlanta[38]

Notes

Below is a list of other times equal or superior to 14.93:

Assisted marks

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.

Women

RankTimeTypeWind (m/s)AthleteNationalityDatePlaceRef
115.85straightFavour OfiliNigeria17 May 2025Atlanta[40]
216.09bend+0.2Shericka JacksonJamaica8 September 2023Brussels[41]
316.10bend+1.3Florence Griffith JoynerUnited States29 September 1988Seoul[42]
416.14straightTamari DavisUnited States17 May 2025Atlanta[43]
516.23bend+0.6Inger MillerUnited States27 August 1999Seville[44]
16.23straight-0.7Shaunae Miller-UiboBahamas20 May 2018Boston[45]
716.25bend-0.6[46]Julien AlfredSt. Lucia19 July 2025London[47]
816.28bend+1.7Allyson FelixUnited States31 August 2007Osaka
916.30straight+0.1Tori BowieUnited States4 June 2017Boston[48]
0.0Candace HillUnited States18 May 2024Atlanta[49]
1116.33bend0.0Merlene OtteyJamaica19 August 1993Stuttgart[50]
1216.39bend-0.4[51]Brittany BrownUnited States28 August 2025Zürich[52]
1316.41bend+1.1Brianna Rollins-McNealUnited States20 July 2020Fort Worth[53]
1416.42bend-0.4[51]Dina Asher-SmithGreat Britain28 August 2025Zürich[52]
1516.43bend+1.7Veronica Campbell-BrownJamaica31 August 2007Osaka
16.43straight0.0Celera BarnesUnited States18 May 2024Atlanta[54]
1716.44straight0.0Daryll NeitaGreat Britain18 May 2024Atlanta[55]
1816.45bend-0.6[46]Amy HuntGreat Britain19 July 2025London[47]
1916.50straight+1.5Carmelita JeterUnited States17 September 2011Gateshead[56]
+0.1Gabrielle ThomasUnited States6 May 2023Atlanta[57]
Ashanti MooreJamaica17 May 2025Atlanta[58]
2216.53straight-1.5Lynna IrbyUnited States23 May 2021Boston[59]
2316.54bend+0.6Merlene FrazerJamaica27 August 1999Seville[60]
16.54straight+0.1Debbie Ferguson-McKenzieBahamas17 May 2009Manchester[61]
2516.56bend+0.6Dafne SchippersNetherlands8 September 2020Ostrava[62]

Notes

Below is a list of other times equal or superior to 16.56:

References

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