What do OR and WR mean in the Olympics?

A major multisport event, the Summer Olympic Games take place every four years. In a variety of sports, the world’s greatest athletes compete against each other, either individually or as a team.

Paris is hosting the Olympicsfor the third time, having been home to the Olympics in 1900 and 1924. This year, the French capital is gathering large crowds as fans were eager to attend theParis 2024 Games after being prevented from doing so at Tokyo 2020 due to Covid-19.

Gymnastics, track and field, aquatics, boxing, boxing, archery, soccer, handball, basketball, tennis, and many other sports draw plenty of attention. But there are other events that catch the fans’ eyeonly every four years, which is why there are frequently asked questions about them.

What’s the meaning ofOR and WRin the Olympic Games?

Many of the sports that fall under the athletic category, such as track and field, rely on statistics, which is whythey usually need acronyms to convey this information effectively. Bert Nelson and Cordner Nelson began Track & Field News in 1948, and the publication quickly became the industry leader in inventing and defining acronyms.

Karsten Warholm of Team Norway poses with a scoreboard showing his new world record time after winning the gold medal in the Men’s 400m Hurdles Final on day eleven of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at Olympic Stadium on August 03, 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)

Apart from World Athletics, other governing organizations and media outlets have also adopted these abbreviations: the Association of Track and Field Statisticians, the Association of Road Racing Statisticians, The Associated Press as well as the individual media outlets that receive their reports.

Most records must be ratified by the record’s governing organization, IAAF, before they can be made public. The OR abbreviation means”Olympic Record” and this recordcan only be made at theOlympic Games. Meanwhile, theWR abbreviation stands for”World Record” and world records can be madeat the Olympics, as well asat any other athletic competition.