2024 World Women’s Top 10 Voting

1. Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone (USA)

Returning to the position she first won in ’22, SML could not be denied after a campaign where she competed sparingly with success that can only be called astounding. In her flagship event, the 400H, she won the Olympic Trials again in a World Record 50.65. Then she captured the Olympic gold again in another global standard, 50.37, a stunner that has the world asking when sub-50 will come. She also Ranked No. 9 in the 400 after a 2-race season there, and earned No. 8 in the 200.

2. Faith Kipyegon (Kenya)

Last year’s No. 1, the Kenyan veteran makes her fifth appearance here in a season that was every bit as impressive as last year’s. Undefeated in her 1500 specialty, she ran a World Record 3:49.04 in Paris, a month before capturing Olympic gold in 3:51.29. It was her sixth global gold at the distance. Later, she nabbed the Diamond League crown in 3:54.75. She now owns 7 of history’s top 10 times. At 5000, she only raced twice, but managed to capture the silver in 14:29.60.

3. Beatrice Chebet (Kenya)

Kenya’s Chebet proved herself the dominant distance runner on the track this season, Ranking No. 1 in both the 5000 and 10,000. At the shorter distance, she won 4 of 5 finals, masterfully taking Olympic gold in 14:28.56. She later chased the pacing lights to a pair of 14:09s that both made the all-time top 10. At 10,000, she was even more impressive, smacking down the World Record with her 28:54.14 in Eugene, and then sprinting to gold in Paris with her 30:43.25.

4. Yaroslava Mahuchikh (Ukraine)

The Ukrainian high jump queen climbed much higher than last season’s No. 10 in a brilliant campaign. After getting silver at the World Indoors, she performed perfectly the rest of the year, with wins in 9 of 10 meets. She signaled that she would be the overwhelming Olympic favorite when in her previous meet, the Paris Diamond League, she soared over 6-10¾ (2.10), breaking a World Record that had stood for nearly 37 years. Naturally, wins at the Olympics and the Diamond League followed.

5. Marileidy Paulino (Dominican Republic)

Undefeated at 400, the Dominican repeatedly proved her dominance in a long season that saw her win 6 Diamond League meetings and run under 50-seconds 8 times. In Paris, she won the Olympic gold going away with her impressive 48.17, the second-fastest time the world has seen since the 1980s. She now sits at No. 4 on the all-time list, with the No. 6 performance ever. It is her second appearance in this elite group, after her No. 9 last season.

6. Valarie Allman (USA)

This is the highest finish yet for Allman in her third go-round in the Top 10. Undefeated in a season that stretched for nearly 6 months, she did nearly everything possible in the discus, winning at 5 Diamond Leagues including the Final (224-7/68.47), taking the Olympic Trials with her 232-0 (70.73), and then ruling the Olympic field with a golden toss of 228-0 (69.50). The 29-year-old Stanford alum has become the model of consistency in her event, finishing in the top 3 in every meet in the last 5 years.

7. Keely Hodgkinson (Great Britain)

Still just 22, the British 800 phenomenon made it to the top of the podium in Paris after three-straight global silvers. She prefaced her Olympic win with European gold in 1:58.65, then a blazing 1:54.61 at the London Diamond League, a time that makes her No. 6 in world history. In Paris, she won confidently in 1:56.72. Undefeated in a 5-meet season, she produced 4 of the top 10 times of the year. This is her first appearance in the Top 10.

8. Tara Davis-Woodhall (USA)

Another rookie to this list, TDW was Ranked long jump No. 1 after an unblemished season. She went undefeated in a 10-meet campaign that stretched over 7 months, with most of her competitions on this side of the Pond. After winning the USATF Indoor at 23-6¾ (7.18), she took World Indoor gold (23-2½/7.07). Outdoors, she won the Trials (22-11¾/7.00) before nailing her 23-3½ (7.10) to win the gold in Paris. She is the first long jumper to make the Top 10 since Malaika Mihambo five years ago.

9. Sifan Hassan (Netherlands)

She of the amazing range churned out another jaw-dropping season, her fourth in the Top 10. She opened with a 4th in the Tokyo Marathon in 2:18:05, then switched her sights to the track. She won Olympic bronze in the 5000 (14:30.61) and then another bronze in her only 10,000 of the year (30:44.12). Two days later, she showed up at the start of the Olympic marathon and emerged victorious, using her punishing speed to grab the gold in the final stretch.

10. Julien Alfred (St. Lucia)

The first Saint Lucian to ever make this compilation, the Texas alum had finished just out of the medals in Budapest last summer. This season, her first as a pro, she pointed perfectly for the Paris 100, sprinting to the win in an impressive 10.72 as the rain poured down. She came back in the 200 and added silver in 22.08. The 23-year-old performed consistently, with nothing worse than a 2nd-place finish after April; her only 100 slower than 10.95 was her season opener.