The short answer
A WMA age factor is a number at or below 1 that converts a masters performance to its open-age equivalent. Factors fall slowly through the 40s, then steeply after 60. By 70, a sprinter's factor is around 0.76 and a miler's around 0.70. The full curve, by event, is below.
Key takeaways
- An age factor at or below 1 multiplies your time to an equivalent open-age time
- Factors barely move from 30 to 40, then drop faster each decade after 60
- Endurance events (mile) decline faster at the oldest ages than the pure sprint
- Field events need the official factors because implement weights change by band
- Exact 2023 values live in the WMA Age Factors document; the curve here is verified against records
What a WMA age factor is
An age factor is the engine inside age grading. It is a single number, at or below 1, that the WMA tables assign to every age, sex, and event. Multiply your time by the factor and you get your equivalent open-age time. Divide the open-class standard by the factor and you get the age-adjusted standard the grading compares you against. A factor near 1 means almost no age penalty; a factor of 0.70 means the standard expects you to be roughly 30 percent off open pace. The current set is the WMA 2023 edition, rebuilt from millions of performances.
Rebuilt on 2.8 million results
The 2023 WMA factors used over 2.8 million additional performances, including athletes' lifetime histories, to model the decline curve more accurately than any earlier edition.
Source: World Masters Athletics, Age Grading Leaps Forward (2023)
The decline curve, in plain shape
The curve has a consistent shape across events. It is nearly flat from 30 to about 40, drifts down gently through the 40s and 50s, then bends steeply downward after 60 and again after 75. The body does not lose performance at a steady rate; the losses accelerate. That is why a 5-year band feels small at 45 and large at 80.
Implied age factor by event (men)
The age factor implied by dividing the open world record by the masters age-band world record. Closely tracks the official WMA 2023 factors. Verified 2026.
| Age band | 100m | 400m | Mile |
|---|---|---|---|
| 40 | 0.97 | 0.92 | 0.95 |
| 50 | 0.88 | 0.85 | 0.86 |
| 60 | 0.82 | 0.80 | 0.79 |
| 70 | 0.76 | 0.75 | 0.70 |
| 80 | 0.67 | 0.61 | 0.63 |
Read the table as the decline curve made concrete. At 40, all three events sit in the low-to-mid 0.9s, only a modest penalty. By 70 they have fallen into the 0.70 to 0.76 range, and by 80 into the low 0.6s. These are the implied factors from ratified records; the official WMA 2023 factors are smoothed across single years of age and differ by a hair, but the shape is identical.
Sprint versus endurance: the curves diverge
Look closely and the events part ways at the extremes. Through the 50s, the 100m factor actually sits slightly higher than the mile, because raw speed holds reasonably well early. But at 70 and 80 the endurance events fall faster: the mile factor drops to 0.70 at 70 while the 100m holds around 0.76. Sustained efforts under fatigue punish the aging cardiovascular and muscular systems more than a single explosive sprint does at the very oldest ages. The 400m, a brutal blend of both, declines the fastest of the three by 80.
Why the curve is an average
The factor table describes the population, not you. Consistent training and clean technique routinely keep athletes above their predicted factor for years. The curve is the benchmark you are trying to beat.
Source: Track & Field AI coaching desk
Field events and the implement catch
Jumps and throws have their own factors, but two things make them trickier. The long jump is clean, since the event never changes: US masters records show roughly a 32 percent drop from M40 to M70, a curve much like the sprints. The throws are not clean, because the implement gets lighter every masters band. A masters shot put record is set with a different ball than the open record, so you cannot derive the factor by dividing distances. For the throws, the official WMA 2023 factors already bake in the implement change, which is exactly why you should pull throw and jump factors from the WMA table rather than estimating them.
How to use the factors
- Find your single-year age factor for your event in the WMA 2023 tables (or a calculator that uses them).
- Multiply your performance time by the factor to see your equivalent open-age time.
- Or compute your age-grade percentage to place yourself on the world-class to local scale.
- Track the factor over years: as it falls, holding your percentage steady means you are still improving relative to the curve.
For the formula behind the factors, see age grading explained. For what each resulting percentage means in practice, see what is a good age-graded score. And for the records these factors are built from, see masters track and field world records by age group.
The honest caveat on exact values
The factors in the table above are derived from ratified world records to illustrate the curve, and they track the official numbers closely. For competition, qualifying, or anything official, use the published WMA 2023 Age Factors document or a calculator that states it uses them. Records and tables both update, so treat any factor as verified for 2026 and confirm against the source before you rely on it.