One card per event: every world record ever ratified in it, drawn as a staircase through time. Each step sits at the mark that was set, and the width of the step is how long that record survived. The line always climbs — times are inverted so that better is up — and the flat gold tail on the right is how long the current record has stood untouched.
Every distinct record mark, run at once. It freezes the instant the current record-holder crosses the line, then zooms into the finish stretch — because a century of progress fits inside the last few metres.
Marks ending in h were taken by hand and are drawn dashed. They are not directly comparable with electronic marks, which is why some events step backwards in 1968, when automatic timing became the standard. That kink is real, and it is left in.
Every mark, date, venue and wind reading comes from the official World Athletics record progressions, read from their public API. Nothing is hand-entered and nothing is editorialised — the order is simply how long each record has stood.
An independent, non-commercial fan project, made for the love of athletics and of data visualisation. All data is the property of World Athletics. Built by Carlo De Marchis with Claude Code.