Tuesday 17 May 2005
Monte-Carlo - Qatar’s Saif Saaeed Shaheen is the new leader of the Men’s 3000m Steeplechase Event Ranking, having overtaken Paul Kipsiele Koech of Kenya. Koech has been ranked number one since the end of August last year following his Olympic bronze medal, but was forced to surrender his leading position after Shaheen won the 2000m steeplechase at the Qatar Super Grand Prix in Doha in 5:14.53 (1364 points) – an Area record and a world leading time for the rarely contested event.
Wesley Kiprotich of Kenya finished second to Shaheen in Doha with 5:16.46 (1330 points) and moved up four places to 4th in the Event Ranking behind two of his compatriots, Kipsiele Koech and Olympic champion Ezekiel Kemboi.
Asafa Powell of Jamaica has also made a record breaking performance since the last edition of the IAAF World Rankings. The 22-year-old set an Area record and a world leading time for the season when winning the 100m at the Kingston Invitational in 9.84 (1304 points). The meet was an Area Permit Meeting, ranked only as a D Category event, so Powell could not improve on his average, but he still leads the Men’s 100m Event Ranking.
Fellow Jamaican Michael Frater, had a pair of strong performances in the past two weeks which allowed him to climb three places in the 100m Event Ranking to 14th. Frater placed third behind Powell in Kingston with 10.09 (1202 points), then went on to finish one place higher at the Rio de Janeiro IAAF Grand Prix II with 10.14 (1204 points).
Teenager Allyson Felix became the highest ranked American athlete in the Women’s 200m Event Ranking this week, stepping up five places to fourth. The Olympic silver medallist won in Doha with 22.78 (1313 points) despite running into a slight headwind (-0.7m/s).
Ethiopia’s reigning Olympic 5000m champion Meseret Defar overtook Kenya’s Isabella Ochichi, the Olympic runner-up, for second place in the 5000m –10,000m (3000m – Cross Country) Event Ranking. Defar won in Doha with a world leading 3000m time of 8:39.75 (1314 points), and is now ranked only 20 points behind her compatriot and Event leader Tirunesh Dibaba, the World 5000m champion.
Doha also brought some significant changes to the Women’s 3000m steeplechase Event Ranking. Uganda’s Dorcus Inzikuru won the event with a new African record of 9:28.50 (1290 points) but as this was only her third competition in the past 365 days, Inzikuru is not eligible for the World Rankings.
Kenya’s Salome Chepchumba came home in second place with 9:39.34 (1244 points) and jumped up ten spots to fourth, while Hungary’s Lívia Tóth finished third (9:41.48 - 1118 points) allowing her to return to the Event Ranking in second place behind Romanian Cristina Casandra.
In the men’s Triple Jump, Casandra’s compatriot Marian Oprea, rose one place in the Event Ranking to be tied with Russia’s Danil Burkenya for second spot behind Sweden’s Christian Olsson, the World, Olympic and European champion. In Doha, Oprea won his first meet of the outdoor season, with 17.09m (1307 points).
Vadim Devyatovskiy of the Belarus, who was fourth in the men's Hammer Throw at the Athens Olympics, made a strong start to his 2005 season by winning in Osaka at the IAAF Japan Grand Prix. Devyatovskiy, 28, threw 80.17m (1282 points) in the last round to clinch victory. He moves up two places to third in the Event Ranking, right behind his compatriot and the reigning World Champion, Ivan Tikhon.
In the Men’s 1500m Event Ranking, Daniel Kipchirchir Komen of Kenya, 20, leapt from 17th to 10th following a new personal best and a world leading time of 3:30.77 (1374 points).
In the Men’s Overall Ranking, Saif Saaeed Shaheen is now in sole possession of second place behind Athlete of the Year, Kenenisa Bekele of Ethiopia, after breaking away from Asafa Powell who was tied with Shaheen a fortnight ago, while Shawn Crawford slipped from 6th to 9th by not repeating his performance in Doha last year. A year ago Crawford won the 100m event with 9.86 (1392 points), but this year the Olympic 200m champion placed only second with 10.14 (1281 points), and was therefore overtaken by Allen Johnson, Felix Sánchez and Paul Kipsiele Koech.


Please click here for the latest IAAF World Rankings

Selected noteworthy changes:
(In brackets the last week's position and the last week's Ranking Scores of the athletes)

Men's Event Rankings
14. (17.) Michael FRATER (JAM) 100m 1228 (1221)
12. (13.) Wallace SPEARMON (USA) 200m 1245 (1240)
17. (28.) LaShawn MERRITT (USA) 400m 1212 (1190)
37. ( - ) Tyree WASHINGTON (USA) 400m 1171 ( - )
11. (13.) Florent LACASSE (FRA) 800m 1266 (1247)
10. (17.) Daniel Kipchirchir KOMEN (KEN) 1500m 1285 (1233)
9. (12.) Augustine Kiprono CHOGE (KEN) 5-10,000m 1322 (1292)
13. (16.) Zersenay TADESSE (ERI) 5-10,000m 1292 (1274)
4. (5.) Stanislavs OLIJARS (LAT) 110mH 1355 (1345)
11. (12.) Redelén Melo DOS SANTOS (BRA) 110mH 1296 (1286)
14. (21.) Ian WEAKLEY (JAM) 400mH 1252 (1218)
1. (3.) Saif Saaeed SHAHEEN (QAT) 3000mSC 1422 (1389)
4. (8.) Wesley KIPROTICH (KEN) 3000mSC 1326 (1300)
9. (10.) Richard MATELONG (KEN) 3000mSC 1298 (1290)
13. (15.) Dmitriy MARKOV (AUS) PV 1242 (1228)
16. (22.) Irving SALADINO (PAN) LJ 1184 (1165)
2. (3.) Marian OPREA (ROM) TJ 1342 (1339)
12. (15.) Christos MELETOGLOU (GRE) TJ 1220 (1211)
9. (11.) Ralf BARTELS (GER) SP 1234 (1228)
3. (5.) Vadim DEVYATOVSKIY (BLR) HT 1263 (1249)
5. (8.) Andrus VÄRNIK (EST) JT 1205 (1188)
9. (10.) Stefan WENK (GER) JT 1184 (1182)

Women's Event Rankings

4. (9.) Allyson FELIX (USA) 200m 1295 (1274)
8. (9.) Sanya RICHARDS (USA) 400m 1277 (1269)
2. (3.) Meseret DEFAR (ETH) 5-10,000m 1365 (1362)
6. ( - ) Werknesh KIDANE (ETH) 5-10,000m 1336 ( - )
14. (17.) Brigitte FOSTER-HYLTON (JAM) 100mH 1265 (1255)
2. ( - ) Lívia TÓTH (HUN) 3000mSC 1189 ( - )
4. (14.) Salome CHEPCHUMBA (KEN) 3000mSC 1160 (1108)
16. (20.) Oana PANTELIMON (ROM) HJ 1180 (1167)
10. (12.) Bianca KAPPLER (GER) LJ 1194 (1180)
13. (15.) Fiona MAY (ITA) LJ 1183 (1161)
6. (7.) Franka DIETZSCH (GER) DT 1201 (1192)
5. (9.) Wenxiu ZHANG (CHN) HT 1210 (1195)
16. (19.) Candice SCOTT (TRI) HT 1115 (1110)