Today marks the 60th anniversary of the first of six high jump world records set by Siberian Valeriy Brumel during a remarkable career which was sadly cut short at 23 years of age due to a motorbike accident.

Keturah Orji has a skill for making history in Olympic seasons.

Last Tuesday’s confirmation that Anjelina Nadai Lohalith had been picked for the Refugee Olympic Team for a second successive Games was cause for celebration – and the 28-year-old 1500m runner duly marked the occasion at her Ngong training camp in Kenya with much “music and dancing”.

Fresh from her 200m triumph at the 2019 World Athletics Championships in Doha, Dina Asher-Smith had just begun her run into the Tokyo Olympic Games in 2020 when the whole world came to a screeching halt, her and her sport included.

10 June 1981 remains a red-letter day in the long history of 800m running, for it was in Florence late that night that Sebastian Coe lowered his own world record from 1:42.33 to 1:41.73.

On 7 August 1992, at the Barcelona Olympic Games, two women lined up for the 10,000m not knowing that their spontaneous post-race display of fair play and celebration would have an impact on Africa and the world.

There was little about Sifan Hassan’s run at the FBK Games in Hengelo on Sunday (6) that gave the impression she was being patient. Eyes firmly fixed on the path ahead, her arms pumping and legs turning with incredible consistency, she looked like a person who had places to be – and fast.

Over the past few years, people have taken note of the rise of Ethiopian steeplechasers.

When 18-year-old Jente Hauttekeete lined up for a low-key heptathlon in Frankfurt on 13 February, his goal was simply to get close to the Belgian U20 record.

Candace Hill very much believes that everything happens for a reason. That just like on the track, everyone’s path is different and that it’s important to stay in your own lane.

Czech javelin legend Jan Zelezny launched his implement out to 98.48m in the German city of Jena 25 years ago.

The stage is Gotzis, on a sun-drenched Sunday afternoon in the last weekend of May. The throb of dance music reverberates around the Mosle-Stadion. Hands are clapping, voices are whooping, and all eyes are on the pole vault beds at the south end of the infield.