Records ratified

The IAAF has ratified a series of world records, including three marks set at the Rio Olympics last month. Track and field’s governing body ratified Ethiopian Almaz Ayana’s world record time for the women’s 10,000m of 29min 17.45sec. Ayana’s time obliterated the 23-year-old mark of 29:31.78 by China’s Wang Junxia. South African athlete Wayde van Niekerk’s time of 43.03sec in the men’s 400m, which broke Michael Johnson’s previous world record of 43.18sec, was also ratified, along with Anita Wlodarczyk of Poland’s new record in the women’s hammer. Wlodarczyk improved on her previous world mark of 81.08m with a throw of 82.29m to take gold in Rio.