The International Association of Athletics Federation is the governing body for track and field. The IAAF is responsible for maintaining the rules for competition as well as world records. When Geoffrey Mutai won the Boston Marathon last year, he did it faster than anyone had ever run a marathon in history... but the IAAF decided that his performance did not meet the requirements for a world record. The Boston Marathon course drops in overall elevation and there was a tailwind on that day, so they call his fast time a World's Best, not a World Record. Apparently, one of the most prestigious marathons is not challenging enough for a world record performance.
I mention the above because the IAAF has recently made another ruling that doesn't make any sense. A woman cannot set a world record in a race that is mixed-gendered. They are retroactively going back through the record books and removing any world records held by women if that world record was achieved in a race where men also ran.
There are different divisions in races, the men don't race the women, they race other men and vice-versa. So, what's the big deal? Apparently, research shows that women run faster in races where men also compete by two minutes.
This is ridiculous!
What about the men? If they take away world records from women who run with men, then they should take away world records from men who run with women. What, I wonder, would make a marathon challenging enough to count, IAAF?
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