Yo-Yo IR1 and IR2 World Records: Highest Levels Ever

TL;DR. The Yo-Yo IR1 has a theoretical ceiling of level 23.8 (about 3,700 meters), but the highest verified score in published sources is Harry Grant’s 22.8 at the GWS Giants Academy preseason in 2020. Most of the elite tier sits between 22.0 and 22.8 across Australian Football, English football, basketball, cricket, and rugby. The highest verified female mark is Ambrosia Malone at 20.2 (Queensland Academy of Sport, October 2020). The Yo-Yo IR2 sees lower top numbers because it starts at a higher speed: elite soccer reference values cluster around level 20 to 23. The verified ranking, the protocol, and the VO2 max the top levels imply are below.

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The Yo-Yo Intermittent Recovery test was developed by Danish physiologist Jens Bangsbo in the early 1990s and formally published with Iaia and Krustrup in Sports Medicine in 2008 (Bangsbo, Iaia & Krustrup, “The Yo-Yo Intermittent Recovery Test: A Useful Tool for Evaluation of Physical Performance in Intermittent Sports,” Sports Med 38:37-51). Two recovery variants exist: IR1 starts at 10 km/h, IR2 starts at 13 km/h. The IR1 is the most-used test in football, cricket, and field hockey. The IR2 is the version typically reserved for elite-only testing. What follows is what is verifiable about the top of both charts.

What is the highest verified Yo-Yo IR1 score?

Harry Grant, GWS Giants Academy player, scored 22.8 (about 3,200 meters covered) at Rookie Me preseason testing in 2020. The result is the top of the verified Yo-Yo IR1 ranking compiled at theyoyotest.com, sourced to AFL Draft Central’s 2020 preseason analysis. That source has a confirmed YYIR1 protocol, which makes Grant’s score the cleanest published top mark. Other near-22 verified scores include Pierce Laverty (22.6, Aussie Football, 2019 Euro AFL combine in Dublin) and Nick Fee (22.5, basketball NZ, confirmed YYIR1 at the 3×3 World Championships, October 2016).

The theoretical ceiling on the Yo-Yo IR1 protocol is level 23.8, at which point the runner has covered 3,700 meters of high-intensity shuttles at 19 km/h with 10-second recoveries. No verified result has reached that ceiling. The published reference data set in Schmitz et al. (2018, Frontiers in Physiology 9:870, “The Yo-Yo Intermittent Tests: A Systematic Review and Structured Compendium of Test Results”) shows international male soccer players average about 20.3 (2,420 m), elite team-sport athletes cluster at 21 to 22, and only a small handful of athletes are reliably reported above 22.5.

What about the Yo-Yo IR2 record?

The IR2 starts at 13 km/h instead of 10 km/h, which means athletes hit higher levels with much shorter total running time. The published elite reference data (Krustrup et al., 2006, Med Sci Sports Exerc 38(9):1666-73, “The Yo-Yo IR2 Test: Physiological Response, Reliability, and Application to Elite Soccer”) gives elite male soccer players around level 20 to 22, with most reported top scores landing between 1,500 and 2,000 m on the IR2. The systematic review by Schmitz et al. (2018) compiles the full reference values across sports and ages.

Some publicly listed scores above level 23 on the Yo-Yo lists are almost certainly IR2 results misclassified as IR1, because the IR2 starts faster and the same numerical level represents a much shorter elapsed distance. The Wikipedia Yo-Yo article notes this confusion explicitly. For ranking purposes, I treat anything published above 22.8 without a confirmed protocol as suspect.

How does Yo-Yo distance convert to VO2 max?

The published equations are VO2max (mL/kg/min) = (IR1_distance_m × 0.0084) + 36.4 and VO2max = (IR2_distance_m × 0.0136) + 45.3 (Bangsbo, Iaia & Krustrup, 2008). Applied to Harry Grant’s 22.8 (about 3,200 m), the predicted VO2 max is 63.3 mL/kg/min. Applied to Kelley O’Hara’s 19.1 (2,360 m), the formula returns 56.2 mL/kg/min. Both are credible numbers for elite team-sport athletes.

The relationship between Yo-Yo IR1 distance and lab VO2 max is moderate at best. Two studies have reported only weak correlations (Martinez-Lagunas & Hartmann, 2014, IJSPP 9(5):825-31; Schmitz et al., 2020, Res Q Exerc Sport 91(3):478-487). Another study (Arslan, 2012, Pamukkale Journal of Sport Sciences) reported a strong correlation (R² = 0.89) but the author acknowledged that most previous studies showed weaker links. The honest interpretation is that the Yo-Yo predicts intermittent sport performance better than it predicts lab VO2 max, which is exactly what Bangsbo designed it for.

For a deeper look at why VO2 max numbers disagree across tests for the same athlete, see why VO2 max readings keep changing. The lab-vs-field comparison across all major protocols is in beep test alternatives ranked.

Why is the Yo-Yo IR1 the modern football standard?

The stop-start structure mirrors actual football movement patterns. Each circuit is 2 × 20 m of running at the target speed followed by a 10-second walking recovery, which approximates the high-intensity bursts and recoveries that happen in a football match (Bangsbo et al. 2008, Krustrup et al. 2003). A 20-meter shuttle beep test like the Léger has continuous running with no recovery built in, which is closer to a 5K race than to a football match. The Yo-Yo IR1 produces stronger correlations with match-day high-intensity running distance than the beep test does.

That sport-specificity is also why the FIFA referee fitness test moved away from the Cooper 12-minute run and toward the High Intensity Fitness Test, which shares structural DNA with the Yo-Yo (Bartha et al., 2009, J Strength Cond Res 23:121-6). The Yo-Yo is the dominant cricket fitness test as well: the BCCI (India), Pakistan Cricket Board, and Bangladesh Cricket Board all use it for selection (ESPNCricinfo coverage, 2017-2021). India raised the selection threshold to level 17.1 in 2018-2021 (Gollapudi, ESPNCricinfo February 2021).

What level is realistic for a recreational adult?

Topend Sports norms suggest good male team-sport scores start above level 20 (1,720 m), with excellent above level 22 (2,720 m). For female team-sport athletes, normal scoring sits between level 12 and level 16 (440 to 1,400 m), with elite scores at level 17 or higher. The protocol’s intermittent structure punishes athletes with poor acceleration and deceleration mechanics: a runner who can hold 5K race pace for 18 minutes might still score poorly on the Yo-Yo because of the repeated direction changes.

The personal interpretation of where your Yo-Yo number sits versus the wider athletic distribution is in interpreting your beep test score. The full level-by-level table for the related continuous shuttle test, which is the cleanest “world records” cousin to the Yo-Yo, is in the beep test level table and VO2 max formula.

Frequently asked questions

Why does the Yo-Yo IR1 produce higher level numbers than the IR2 for the same athlete? The IR2 starts at 13 km/h while the IR1 starts at 10 km/h. The IR2 ramp is also steeper. Reaching level 20 on the IR2 takes about 5:55 of running, while reaching level 20 on the IR1 takes about 21:40. They are not comparable across protocols (Wikipedia: Yo-Yo intermittent test).

Did Cristiano Ronaldo really score 21.8? The figure circulates widely but does not come from a confirmed source. The theyoyotest.com database flags both his and Neymar’s reported scores as online rumors rather than verified results.

How does the Yo-Yo compare to the beep test for football scouting? The Yo-Yo correlates better with match-day high-intensity running than the beep test does, which is why most modern football academies have moved to the Yo-Yo. The trade-off is that the Yo-Yo is less standardized in some leagues, with score reporting drift between protocols. The wider comparison is in beep test alternatives ranked.