by T&FN World Rankings panelist Jonathan Berenbom (switch to men’s picks)
(as of March 15, 2016)
| GOLD | SILVER | BRONZE | |
| 60 | Dafne Schippers (Netherlands) | Barbara Pierre (USA) | Marie-Josée Ta Lou (Ivory Coast) |
| 400 | Kemi Adekoya (Bahrain) | Quanera Hayes (USA) | Ashley Spencer (USA) |
| 800 | Ajee Wilson (USA) | Francine Niyonsaba (Burundi) | Malika Akkaoui (Morocco) |
| 1500 | Sifan Hassan (Netherlands) | Dawit Seyaum (Ethiopia) | Gudaf Tsegay (Ethiopia) |
| 3000 | Genzebe Dibaba (Ethiopia) | Meseret Defar (Ethiopia) | Shannon Rowbury (USA) |
| 60H | Brianna Rollins (USA) | Nia Ali (USA) | Keni Harrison (USA) |
| 4 x 400 | USA | Jamaica | Poland |
| HJ | Kamila Licwinko (Poland) | Ruth Beitia (Spain) | Vashti Cunningham (USA) |
| PV | Jenn Suhr (USA) | Ekateríni Stefanídi (Greece) | Sandi Morris (USA) |
| LJ | Brittney Reese (USA) | Ivana Spanovic (Croatia) | Lorraine Ugen (Great Britain) |
| TJ | Yulimar Rojas (Venezuela) | Kristin Gierisch (Germany) | Paraskeví Papahristou (Greece) |
| SP | Valerie Adams (New Zealand) | Michelle Carter (USA) | Cleopatra Borel (Trinidad) |
| Pent | Brianne Theisen-Eaton (Canada) | Alina Fyodorova (Ukraine) | Anastasiya Mokhnyuk (Ukraine) |