One of the unique things about track and field is that you don’t just compete against your immediate competitors, but you are also competing against the clock or the tape measure. That means you can compare achievements with people in the past, and that means world records. You would expect world records to fall over time, but there are a small number of records that haven’t been broken in decades and no one has even come close to breaking them. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices