Here’s a list of the best male track and field athletes, divided by event and including both current and all-time greats.

Sprints (100m, 200m, 400m)

All-Time Greats

• Usain Bolt (Jamaica) – WR: 9.58s (100m), 19.19s (200m), 8x Olympic gold
• Michael Johnson (USA) – WR holder in 200m (19.32s) and 400m (43.18s), 4x Olympic gold
• Carl Lewis (USA) – 100m, 200m legend, 9x Olympic gold
• Jesse Owens (USA) – Dominated 1936 Olympics, breaking racial barriers

Current Best

• Noah Lyles (USA) – 2023 World Champion (100m, 200m), PB: 19.31s (200m)
• Fred Kerley (USA) – 2022 World 100m Champion, PB: 9.76s
• Wayde van Niekerk (South Africa) – WR holder in 400m (43.03s)
• Letsile Tebogo (Botswana) – Rising star, first African to run sub-10s at 18

Middle Distance (800m, 1500m, Mile)

All-Time Greats

• Hicham El Guerrouj (Morocco) – WR: 3:26.00 (1500m), 3:43.13 (mile)
• David Rudisha (Kenya) – WR: 1:40.91 (800m), back-to-back Olympic champ
• Sebastian Coe (Great Britain) – Multiple Olympic titles, revolutionized the 800m & 1500m

Current Best

• Jakob Ingebrigtsen (Norway) – 2020 Olympic 1500m champion, PB: 3:27.95 (1500m)
• Emmanuel Korir (Kenya) – 2021 Olympic 800m champion
• Marco Arop (Canada) – 2023 World 800m champion

Long Distance (5000m, 10,000m, Marathon)

All-Time Greats

• Haile Gebrselassie (Ethiopia) – Former WR holder in 5000m, 10,000m, marathon
• Kenenisa Bekele (Ethiopia) – WR: 26:17.53 (10,000m), 3x Olympic gold
• Eliud Kipchoge (Kenya) – Marathon GOAT, first to break 2 hours unofficially
• Mo Farah (Great Britain) – Dominated 5000m/10,000m (double Olympic champ)

Current Best

• Joshua Cheptegei (Uganda) – WR: 12:35.36 (5000m), 26:11.00 (10,000m)
• Jakob Kiplimo (Uganda) – WR in half marathon (57:31)
• Kelvin Kiptum (Kenya) – Marathon WR: 2:00:35 (2023, Chicago)

Hurdles (110m, 400m Hurdles)

All-Time Greats

• Edwin Moses (USA) – 122-race win streak in 400m hurdles, 2x Olympic gold
• Kevin Young (USA) – WR: 46.78s (400m hurdles for 29 years)
• Dayron Robles (Cuba) – Former WR holder, Olympic champion (110m hurdles)

Current Best

• Karsten Warholm (Norway) – WR: 45.94s (400m hurdles), Olympic champion
• Grant Holloway (USA) – Dominates 110m hurdles, PB: 12.81s
• Rai Benjamin (USA) – 400m hurdles, PB: 46.17s

Jumps (Long Jump, High Jump, Triple Jump, Pole Vault)

All-Time Greats

• Bob Beamon (USA) – 8.90m long jump, "Beamonesque" jump in 1968
• Mike Powell (USA) – WR: 8.95m (long jump, 1991)
• Javier Sotomayor (Cuba) – WR: 2.45m (high jump, still unbroken)
• Jonathan Edwards (Great Britain) – WR: 18.29m (triple jump)
• Sergey Bubka (Ukraine) – First to clear 6m+ consistently in pole vault

Current Best

• Mondo Duplantis (Sweden) – WR: 6.23m (pole vault)
• Miltiadis Tentoglou (Greece) – Olympic & World champ (long jump)
• Mutaz Essa Barshim (Qatar) – 2.43m PB (high jump)
• Pedro Pichardo (Portugal) – 2020 Olympic champion (triple jump)

Throws (Shot Put, Discus, Javelin, Hammer)

All-Time Greats

• Ulf Timmermann (Germany) – First shot putter over 23m
• Ryan Crouser (USA) – WR: 23.56m (shot put)
• Jürgen Schult (Germany) – WR: 74.08m (discus, since 1986)
• Jan Železný (Czech Republic) – WR: 98.48m (javelin, 1996)
• Yuriy Sedykh (Soviet Union) – WR: 86.74m (hammer throw)

Current Best

• Ryan Crouser (USA) – Dominating shot put, double Olympic champ
• Daniel Ståhl (Sweden) – World & Olympic discus champ
• Neeraj Chopra (India) – First Indian Olympic gold (javelin), PB: 89.94m
• Wojciech Nowicki (Poland) – Olympic hammer throw champ

Decathlon

All-Time Greats

• Daley Thompson (Great Britain) – 2x Olympic gold, 8,847 points (1984)
• Ashton Eaton (USA) – Former WR holder, 2x Olympic gold
• Roman Šebrle (Czech Republic) – First to break 9,000 points

Current Best

• Kevin Mayer (France) – WR: 9,126 points (2018)
• Damian Warner (Canada) – 2020 Olympic gold medalist
• Simon Ehammer (Switzerland) – Rising star

Race Walking

All-Time Greats

• Robert Korzeniowski (Poland) – 4x Olympic gold (20km & 50km walk)
• Sergey Kirdyapkin (Russia) – WR holder in 50km walk

Current Best

• Massimo Stano (Italy) – 2020 Olympic 20km walk champion
• Dawid Tomala (Poland) – 50km walk Olympic gold