Paavo Nurmi's World Records

(Approved by the IAAF)

EVENT	RECORD	VENUE AND DATE	BROKEN BY
1500 m	3.52,6	Helsinki 19 Jun 1924	(Otto Peltzer Germany 1926)
Mile	4.10,4	Stockholm 23 Aug 1923	(Jules Ladoumègue France 1931)
2000 m	5.26,3	Tampere 4 Sep 1922	(Edvin Wide Sweden 1925)
2000 m	5.24,6	Kuopio 18 Jun 1927	(Eino Purje Finland 1927)
3000 m	8.28,6	Turku 27 Aug 1922	(Edvin Wide Sweden 1925)
3000 m	8.25,4	Berlin 24 May 1926	(Paavo Nurmi 1926)
3000 m	8.20,4	Stockholm 13 Jul 1926	(Janusz Kusocinski Poland 1932)
2 miles*	8.59,6	Helsinki 24 Jul 1931	(Donald Lash USA 1936)
3 miles*	14.11,2	Stockholm 24 Aug 1923	(Lauri Lehtinen Finland 1932)
5000 m	14.35,4	Stockholm 12 Sep 1922	(Paavo Nurmi 1924)
5000 m	14.28,2	Helsinki 19 Jun 1924	(Lauri Lehtinen Finland 1932)
4 miles*	19.15,4	Viipuri 1 Oct 1924	(Janusz Kusocinski Poland 1932)
5 miles*	24.06,2	Viipuri 1 Oct 1924	(The last officially approved WR; unoffic. G. Pirie GBR 1953)
6 miles*	29.36,4	London 8 Jun 1930	(Ilmari Salminen Finland 1937)
10 000 m	30.40,2	Stockholm 22 Jun 1921	(Ville Ritola Finland 1924)
10 000 m	30.06,2	Kuopio 31 Aug 1924	(Ilmari Salminen Finland 1937)
15 000 m*	46.49,6	Berlin 7 Oct 1928	(The last officially approved WR; unoffic. V. Iso-Hollo FIN 1936)
10 miles*	50.15,0	Berlin 7 Oct 1928	(Viljo Heino Finland1945)
20 000 m	1.04.38,4	Stockholm 3 Sep 1930	(Juan Zabala Argentina 1936)
One hour race	19 210 m	Berlin 7 Oct 1928	(Viljo Heino Finland 1945)
4x1500 m	16.26,2 /TuUL**	Stockholm 12 Jul 1926	(TuUL Finland 1926)
4x1500 m	16.11,4 /TuUL**	Viipuri 17 Jul 1926	(Great Britain 1931)

* = World records of these events are no longer officially approved by the IAAF.
** = Finnish Club Team Turun Urheiluliitto. Nurmi ran the last leg in both relays.

During his tour of the United States in 1925 Paavo Nurmi made 29 unofficial indoor world records. However, the IAAF did not approve official indoor world records until 1987.

Other web sites on Paavo Nurmi

There is a short profile of Nurmi by the IAAF. Mika Perkiömäki's excellent page Finnish Track & Field Hall of Fame contains lots of information on Paavo Nurmi, featuring profiles of his major rivals and statistics of progression in his main events.