PARIS, France — You've probably seen it once or twice by now if you've been following the 2024 Paris Olympics track and field events.
It's the little "SB" designation next to an athlete's result. Football fans certainly would be familiar with the two letters, but no they don't mean "Super Bowl" here. And, baseball fans, it's not a stolen base either.
So what is it? There's a pretty simple explanation.
What does SB stand for at the Olympics?
It just means "season best." That's the short, easy answer.
Little longer answer is that it's the best result an individual athlete has gotten during the current world track and field (or athletics, as it's referred to internationally) season.
They might have a better time at some point in the past -- and that would be their personal best, or "PB" which you'll sometimes also see. But if you see "SB" it means it's the best time/throw/jump/etc. they've posted this year.
When is the track and field season?
For World Athletics, it basically just covers the calendar year. Events where you might post a season best range everywhere from the elite international meets like the Diamond League to a given country's national championships.
In non-Olympics years, the peak of the season would be the World Athletics Championships. It has historically been that this event was held every other year, but it was held in both 2022 and 2023 following the pandemic, and just this year World Athletics decided to make it a yearly event.
In February, World Athletics approved a proposal to restructure the international track and field season, beginning next year.
"This will create a season-long narrative that builds to the natural crescendo of the World Athletics Championships each year, while at the same time allowing for a more consistent global calendar to be established. Each relevant season from 2025 onwards will end with the World Athletics Championships, meaning there is a clear season climax during a defined window in mid-September," World Athletics Council meeting minutes from February stated.
Also beginning in 2026, as an added event to be spaced out every other year -- sort of replacing the soon-to-be-yearly World Athletics Championships on the prestige ladder -- the World Athletics Ultimate Championship will be held. It will be a three-day-long event and feature a record prize fund of $10 million, according to the BBC.