EVER WONDER WHO the overall best performers have been in our authoritative World Rankings for men, which began with the 1947 season? Stats Editor Jim Rorick has pulled together all kinds of numbers for you, scoring the annual Top 10s on a 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis.
First, in a by-event compilation, you’ll find the leaders in the categories of Most Points, Most Rankings, Most No. 1s and The Top U.S. Scorers (in the World Rankings, not the U.S. Rankings). Following that are the stats on an all-events basis.
All the data is as of the end of the ’22 season, including a significant number of recastings based on the many retests that were carried out on old samples and resulted in doping positives. (as of January 11, 2024)
Event-By-Event Tabulations
100 METERS
Most Points
1. Carl Lewis 123; 2. Asafa Powell 98; 3. tie, Linford Christie & Justin Gatlin 93; 5. Usain Bolt 85; 6. Maurice Greene 69; 7. Dennis Mitchell 65; 8. Frank Fredericks 61; 9. Calvin Smith 58; 10. Valeriy Borzov 57.
Most Rankings
1. Lewis 16; 2. Powell 13; 3. Christie 12; 4. Gatlin 11; 5. tie, Fredericks, Mitchell & Smith 10.
Consecutive—Lewis 15.
Most No. 1s
1. Lewis 6; 2. tie, Bolt & Greene 5; 4. Gatlin 4; 5. tie, Bob Hayes & Bobby Morrow 3.
Consecutive—Greene & Lewis 5.
Top U.S. Scorers
1. Lewis 123; 2. Gatlin 93; 3. Greene 69; 4. Mitchell 65; 5. Smith 58; 6. tie, Tyson Gay & Steve Williams 49; 8. Leroy Burrell 46; 9. Charlie Greene 45; 10. tie, Christian Coleman & Morrow 44.
200 METERS
Most Points
1. Frank Fredericks 105; 2. Usain Bolt 103; 3. Pietro Mennea 87; 4. Michael Johnson 81; 5. Don Quarrie 80; 6. Robson da Silva 62; 7. Carl Lewis 61; 8. Andy Stanfield 60; 9. Calvin Smith 58; 10. Noah Lyles 57.
Most Rankings
1. Fredericks 13; 2. Bolt 12; 3. tie, Mennea & Quarrie 11; 5. tie, da Silva & Johnson 10.
Consecutive—Fredericks 10.
Most No. 1s
1. Bolt 7; 2. Johnson 5; 3. Lyles 4; 4. tie, Fredericks, Mennea, Mel Patton, Quarrie & Tommie Smith 3.
Consecutive—Bolt, Johnson, Patton & T. Smith 3.
Top U.S. Scorers
1. Johnson 81; 2. Lewis 61; 3. Stanfield 60; 4. C. Smith 58; 5. Lyles 57; 6. Wallace Spearmon 53; 7. Steve Williams 50; 8. Tyson Gay 48; 9. Shawn Crawford 47; 10. Justin Gatlin 41.
400 METERS
Most Points
1. Michael Johnson 106; 2. LaShawn Merritt 96; 3. Kirani James 81; 4. Jeremy Wariner 73; 5. Butch Reynolds 68; 6. Alberto Juantorena 62; 7. Herb McKenley 60; 8. Lee Evans 59; 9. Mal Whitfield 53; 10. Chris Brown 52.
Most Rankings
1. Merritt 12; 2. Johnson 11; 3. Brown 10; 4. tie, James, Reynolds & Wariner 9.
Consecutive—Johnson 11.
Most No. 1s
1. Johnson 10; 2. Wariner 5; 3. tie, Evans, Juantorena, Merritt & Wayde van Niekerk 4.
Consecutive—Johnson 8.
Top U.S. Scorers
1. Johnson 106; 2. Merritt 96; 3. Wariner 73; 4. Reynolds 68; 5. Evans 59; 6. Whitfield 53; 7. Danny Everett 46; 8. tie, Steve Lewis & Ulis Williams 43; 10. tie, Fred Newhouse & Angelo Taylor 35.
800 METERS
Most Points
1. Wilson Kipketer 84; 2. David Rudisha 83; 3. Seb Coe 78; 4. Yuriy Borzakovskiy 71; 5. Mike Boit 65; 6. tie, Wilfred Bungei & Mbulaeni Mulaudzi 64; 8. Mal Whitfield 63; 9. Johnny Gray 62; 10. Roger Moens 60.
Most Rankings
1. Gray 11; 2. tie, Borzakovskiy, Coe, Kipketer & Rudisha 10.
Consecutive—Rudisha 10.
Most No. 1s
1. Rudisha 7; 2. Kipketer 6; 3. Whitfield 5; 4. tie, Coe & Peter Snell 4.
Consecutive—Kipketer & Rudisha 4.
Top U.S. Scorers
1. Whitfield 63; 2. Gray 62; 3. James Robinson 47; 4. Mark Everett 41; 5. Rick Wohlhuter 39; 6. Tom Courtney 35; 7. Jerry Siebert 30; 8. Tom Farrell 26; 9. Nick Symmonds 23; 10. Arnie Sowell 21.
1500 METERS
Most Points
1. Hicham El Guerrouj 96; 2. Asbel Kiprop 90; 3. Noureddine Morceli 89; 4. Bernard Lagat 80; 5. Kip Keino 74; 6. Steve Cram 67; 7. Steve Scott 66; 8. Saïd Aouita 65; 9. John Walker 64; 10. tie, Silas Kiplagat & Steve Ovett 60.
Most Rankings
1. tie, Kiprop & Scott 11; 3. tie, El Guerrouj, Lagat, Morceli & Walker 10.
Consecutive—Kiprop 11.
Most No. 1s
1. tie, El Guerrouj & Morceli 7; 3. Kiprop 6; 4. Cram 5; 5. tie, Jakob Ingebrigtsen, Ovett, Peter Snell & Walker 3.
Consecutive—El Guerrouj & Morceli 7.
Top U.S. Scorers
1. Scott 66; 2. Jim Ryun 47; 3. Dyrol Burleson 44; 4. tie, Lagat & Marty Liquori 30; 6. Jim Grelle 24; 7. tie, Jim Beatty, Sydney Maree & Jim Spivey 23; 10. Wes Santee 21.
STEEPLECHASE
Most Points
1. Paul Koech 116; 2. Ezekiel Kemboi 112; 3. Brimin Kipruto 82; 4. Patrick Sang 81; 5. Moses Kiptanui 80; 6. Bronisław Malinowski 76; 7. Henry Marsh 75; 8. Conseslus Kipruto 74; 9. Gaston Roelants 73; 10. Soufiane El Bakkali 61.
Most Rankings
1. Koech 15; 2. Kemboi 14; 3. B. Kipruto 13; 4. tie, Marsh & Sang 12.
Consecutive—Koech 15.
Most No. 1s
1. Kiptanui 6; 2. tie, Roelants & Saïf Shaheen 5; 4. tie, El Bakkali, C. Kipruto & Koech 4.
Consecutive—Kiptanui & Shaheen 5.
Top U.S. Scorers
1. Marsh 75; 2. Evan Jager 43; 3. Brian Diemer 19; 4. George Young 18; 5. Curt Stone 15; 6. Mark Croghan 14; 7. Hillary Bor 11; 8. Horace Ashenfelter 10; 9. tie, John Gregorek & Stanley Kebenei 7.
5000 METERS
Most Points
1. Haile Gebrselassie 77, 2. Emil Zátopek 76; 3. tie, Kenenisa Bekele & Eliud Kipchoge 62; 5. tie, Ron Clarke & Mo Farah 59; 7. Harald Norpoth 55; 8. Kip Keino 54; 9.tie, Hagos Gebrhiwet & Murray Halberg 51.
Most Rankings
1. Gebrselassie 10; 2. tie, Kipchoge, Bernard Lagat & Norpoth 9; 4. tie, Gebrhiwet, Salah Hissou, Edwin Soi & Zátopek 8.
Consecutive—Kipchoge 9.
Most No. 1s
1. tie, Saïd Aouita, Bekele, Farah, Gebrselassie, Halberg & Zátopek 5.
Consecutive—Aouita, Gebrselassie & Halberg 4.
Top U.S. Scorers
1. Lagat 47; 2. Paul Chelimo 32; 3. Marty Liquori 27; 4. Sydney Maree 22; 5. Steve Prefontaine 21; 6. Doug Padilla 17; 7. Galen Rupp 15; 8. Bob Kennedy 12; 9. Bob Schul 10; 10. Gerry Lindgren 9.
10,000 METERS
Most Points
1. Haile Gebrselassie 107; 2. Emil Zátopek 79; 3. Kenenisa Bekele 75; 4. Ron Clarke 64; 5. Joshua Cheptegei 61; 6. Mo Farah 59; 7. Paul Tergat 58; 8. Zersenay Tadese 55; 9. Pyotr Bolotnikov 54; 10. Miruts Yifter 49.
Most Rankings
1. Gebrselassie 13; 2. tie, Bekele, Tadese & Zátopek 9; 5. tie, 6 with 7.
Consecutive—Gebrselassie 9.
Most No. 1s
1. Zátopek 7; 2. tie, Bekele & Gebrselassie 6; 4. Farah 5; 5. tie, Cheptegei & Clarke 4.
Consecutive—Zátopek 7.
Top U.S. Scorers
1. Galen Rupp 40; 2. Frank Shorter 30; 3. Mark Nenow 23; 4. tie, Billy Mills & Craig Virgin 18; 6. Alberto Salazar 14; 7. Grant Fisher 12; 8. Bruce Bickford 11; 9. Chris Solinsky 8; 10. Gerry Lindgren 6.
110 HURDLES
Most Points
1. Colin Jackson 124; 2. Greg Foster 120; 3. Allen Johnson 119; 4. Willie Davenport 92; 5. Terrence Trammell 74; 6. Roger Kingdom 73; 7. Mark Crear 72; 8. tie, Alejandro Casañas & David Oliver 71; 10. Hayes Jones 70.
Most Rankings
1. Jackson 17; 2. Foster 15; 3. Johnson 14; 4. Davenport 12; 5. tie, 5 with 11.
Consecutive—Jackson 17.
Most No. 1s
1. tie, Davenport, Foster & Kingdom 5; 4. tie, Johnson, Jones & Renaldo Nehemiah 4.
Consecutive—Davenport 5.
Top U.S. Scorers
1. Foster 120; 2. Johnson 119; 3. Davenport 92; 4. Trammell 74; 5. Kingdom 73; 6. Crear 72; 7. Oliver 71; 8. Jones 70; 9. Tonie Campbell 68; 10. Nehemiah 60.
400 HURDLES
Most Points
1. Edwin Moses 108; 2. Harald Schmid 97; 3. Samuel Matete 85; 4. Bershawn Jackson 84; 5. Kerron Clement 76; 6. tie, Danny Harris & Andre Phillips 75; 8. tie, Yuriy Lituyev & Félix Sánchez 72; 10. tie, Stéphane Diagana & Angelo Taylor 67.
Most Rankings
1. Schmid 13; 2. tie, Clement, Jackson, Matete, Moses, David Patrick & Sánchez 11.
Consecutive—Schmid 13.
Most No. 1s
1. Moses 9; 2. tie, Clement, Glenn Davis, Sánchez & Karsten Warholm 4.
Consecutive—Moses 6.
Top U.S. Scorers
1. Moses 108; 2. Jackson 84; 3. Clement 76; 4. tie, Harris & Phillips 75; 6. Taylor 67; 7. Josh Culbreath 62; 8. Ralph Mann 59; 9. Kevin Young 56; 10. Patrick 52.
MARATHON
Most Points
1. Eliud Kipchoge 86; 2. Veikko Karvonen 65; 3. Wilson Kipsang 56; 4. Toshihiko Seko 55; 5. tie, Rob de Castella, Bill Rodgers & Frank Shorter 48; 8. Haile Gebrselassie 46; 9. Juma Ikangaa 45; 10. tie, Abebe Bikila & Tsegaye Kebede 40.
Most Rankings
1. Kipchoge 10; 2. tie, Karvonen & Kipsang 8; 4. tie, de Castella, Ikangaa, Kenji Kimihara & Seko 7.
Consecutive—Kipchoge 10.
Most No. 1s
1. Kipchoge 7; 2. tie, Bikila, Karvonen, Rodgers & Shorter 3.
Consecutive—Kipchoge 5.
Top U.S. Scorers
1. tie, Rodgers & Shorter 48; 3. Alberto Salazar 27; 4. Buddy Edelen 21; 5. John Kelley 19; 6. Khalid Khannouchi 18; 7. Kenny Moore 14; 8. Galen Rupp 12; 9. Mark Plaatjes 9; 10. Ted Vogel 8.
20K WALK
Most Points
1. Jefferson Pérez 110; 2. Maurizio Damilano 104; Francisco Fernández 79; 4. Mikhail Shchennikov 68; 5. Ernesto Canto 60; 6. Daniel Bautista 59; 7. Ilya Markov 57; 8. Robert Korzeniowski 55; 9. Jozef Pribilinec 52; 10. José Marin 50.
Most Rankings
1. tie, Damilano & Pérez 14; 3. Fernández 11; 4. tie, Korzeniowski & Shchennikov 10.
Consecutive—Pérez 13.
Most No. 1s
1. Bautista 5: 2. Pérez 4. 3. Pribilinec 3; 4. tie, 10 with 2.
Consecutive— Bautista 5.
Only U.S. Scorers
1. Ron Laird 7; 2. tie, Dave Romansky & Larry Young 1.
35K WALK
Most Points
1. Hartwig Gauder 95; 2. Robert Korzeniowski 94; 3. Jesús Ángel García 90; 4. Raúl González 78; 5. Venyamin Soldatenko 74; 6. Jared Tallent 72; 7. Yohann Diniz 70; 8. Ronald Weigel 64; 9. Matej Tóth 63; 10. Andrey Perlov 61.
Most Rankings
1. García 17; 2. Gauder 12; 3. Korzeniowski 11; 4. tie, 6 with 9.
Consecutive—García 12.
Most No. 1s
1. Korzeniowski 6; 2. González 5; 3. Gauder 4; 4. tie, Bernd Kannenberg & Tóth 3.
Consecutive—Gauder & González 3.
Only U.S. Scorers
1. Curt Clausen 11; 2. Larry Young 9.
HIGH JUMP
Most Points
1. Javier Sotomayor 117; 2. Mutaz Barshim 105; 3. Dwight Stones 90; 4. Stefan Holm 88; 5. Yaroslav Rybakov 83; 6. Patrik Sjöberg 77; 7. Dietmar Mögenburg 74; 8. tie, Valeriy Brumel & Stig Pettersson 59; 10. Ivan Ukhov 57.
Most Rankings
1. Sotomayor 14; 2. tie, Barshim, Mögenburg & Sjöberg 12; 5. tie, Holm & Stones 11.
Consecutive—Barshim, Mögenburg & Sotomayor 12.
Most No. 1s
1. Sotomayor 8; 2. tie, Barshim & Brumel 5; 4. Stones 4; 5. Holm 3.
Consecutive—Brumel 5.
Top U.S. Scorers
1. Stones 90; 2. tie, Hollis Conway & Charlie Dumas 50; 4. tie, Charles Austin & Jesse Williams 43; 6. John Thomas 42; 7. Reynaldo Brown 36; 8. Ernie Shelton 34; 9. tie, Otis Burrell & Erik Kynard 31.
POLE VAULT
Most Points
1. Sergey Bubka 147; 2. Renaud Lavillenie 107; 3. Bob Richards 102; 4. Maksim Tarasov 86; 5. Rodion Gataullin 80; 6. Tim Lobinger 71; 7. Władysław Kozakiewicz 69; 8. Ron Morris 68; 9. Wolfgang Nordwig 67; 10. Thierry Vigneron 62.
Most Rankings
1. Bubka 15; 2. Lavillenie 13; 3. Tarasov 12; 4. tie, Lobinger & Richards 11.
Consecutive—Bubka 15.
Most No. 1s
1. Bubka 13; 2. Richards 8; 3. Lavillenie 7; 4. Kozakiewicz 4; 5. tie, Mondo Duplantis & Sam Kendricks 3.
Consecutive—Richards 8.
Top U.S. Scorers
1. Richards 102; 2. Morris 68; 3. Kendricks 58; 4. Bob Seagren 55; 5. John Pennel 54; 6. Earl Bell 51; 7. Don Laz 50; 8. tie, Don Bragg & Mike Tully 49; 10. Jeff Hartwig 48.
LONG JUMP
Most Points
1. Carl Lewis 148; 2. Igor Ter-Ovanesyan 118; 3. Larry Myricks 112; 4. Ralph Boston 92; 5. Iván Pedroso 90; 6. Mike Powell 86; 7. tie, James Beckford & Dwight Phillips 81; 9. Arnie Robinson 63; 10. Erick Walder 53.
Most Rankings
1. Lewis 17; 2. Ter-Ovanesyan 15; 3. Myricks 14; 4. Beckford, Pedroso & Powell 11.
Consecutive—Ter-Ovanesyan 15.
Most No. 1s
1. Lewis 10; 2. Boston 8; 3. Pedroso 6; 4. Phillips 5; 5. tie, Powell & Robinson 4.
Consecutive—Boston 8.
Top U.S. Scorers
1. Lewis 148; 2. Myricks 112; 3. Boston 92; 4. Powell 86; 5. Phillips 81; 6. Robinson 63; 7. Walder 53; 8. Greg Bell 52; 9. Mike Conley 44; 10. George Brown 40.
TRIPLE JUMP
Most Points
1. Viktor Saneyev 120; 2. Mike Conley 116; 3. Jonathan Edwards 101; 4. Jozef Schmidt 98; 5. Christian Taylor 89; 6. Adhemar da Silva 85; 7. Leonid Shcherbakov 81; 8. Will Claye 77; 9. Willie Banks 72; 10. Pedro Pichardo 71.
Most Rankings
1. Conley 14; 2. Saneyev 13; 3. Schmidt 12; 4. tie, Banks, Claye, da Silva, Edwards & Phillips Idowu 11.
Consecutive—Conley 14.
Most No. 1s
1. Saneyev 9; 2. Taylor 8; 3. Edwards 7; 4. tie, Conley & Schmidt 6.
Consecutive—Saneyev 9.
Top U.S. Scorers
1. Conley 116; 2. Taylor 89; 3. Claye 77; 4. Banks 72; 5. Kenny Harrison 52; 6. Walter Davis 45; 7. Ron Livers 28; 8. Charlie Simpkins 26; 9. tie, James Butts & Art Walker 22.
SHOT
Most Points
1. Parry O’Brien 126; 2. Udo Beyer 123; 3. Reese Hoffa 104; 4. Adam Nelson 95; 5. Christian Cantwell 91; 6. John Godina 89; 7. Ulf Timmermann 81; 8. Randy Matson 79; 9. Tom Walsh 76; 10. tie, Ryan Crouser & Werner Günthör 70.
Most Rankings
1. tie, Beyer & O’Brien 15; 3. tie, Hoffa & Nelson 13; 5. tie, Cantwell & Tomasz Majewski 12.
Consecutive—Beyer & O’Brien 14.
Most No. 1s
1. tie, Beyer & O’Brien 7; 3. Crouser 6; 4. tie, Matson & Timmermann 5.
Consecutive—Beyer 6.
Top U.S. Scorers
1. O’Brien 126; 2. Hoffa 104; 3. Nelson 95; 4. Cantwell 91; 5. Godina 89; 6. Matson 79; 7. Crouser 70; 8. Joe Kovacs 67; 9. Al Feuerbach 63; 10. Dallas Long 61.
DISCUS
Most Points
1. Virgilijus Alekna 143, 2. Lars Riedel 120; 3. tie, Jürgen Schult & Jay Silvester 107; 5. tie, Gerd Kanter & Al Oerter 104; 7. Wolfgang Schmidt 103; 8. Ludvík Daněk 101; 9. Piotr Małachowski 100; 10. Adolfo Consolini 96.
Most Rankings
1. Schult 18; 2. Alekna 17; 3. tie, Riedel & Silvester 15; 5. Kanter & Oerter 14.
Consecutive—Schult 18.
Most No. 1s
1. Alekna 7; 2. Robert Harting & Oerter 6; 4. Schmidt 5; 5. tie, Consolini, Daněk, Fortune Gordien & Riedel 4.
Consecutive—Harting 6.
Top U.S. Scorers
1. Silvester 107; 2. Oerter 104; 3. John Powell 89; 4. Rink Babka 88; 5. Gordien 84; 6. Mac Wilkins 83; 7. Parry O’Brien 46; 8. Anthony Washington 43; 9. Sim Iness 28; 10. Adam Setliff 26.
HAMMER
Most Points
1. Yuriy Syedikh 145; 2. Igor Astapkovich 122; 3. tie, Hal Connolly & Gyula Zsivótzky 107; 5. Krisztián Pars 104; 6. Sergey Litvinov 95; 7. tie, Paweł Fajdek & Koji Murofushi 94; 9. Igor Nikulin 85; 10. Karl-Hans Riehm 78.
Most Rankings
1. Syedikh 18; 2. Astapkovich 17; 3. Zsivótzky 16; 4. Connolly 13; 5. tie, 7 with 12.
Consecutive—Syedikh 17.
Most No. 1s
1. Syedikh 8; 2. tie, Anatoliy Bondarchuk, Fajdek, Litvinov, Murofushi, Imre Németh, Wojciech Nowicki & Pars 4.
Consecutive—Németh & Pars 4.
Top U.S. Scorers
1. Connolly 107; 2. Lance Deal 29; 3. Al Hall 27; 4. Ed Burke 23; 5. Rudy Winkler 18; 6. Sam Felton 14; 7. tie, Bob Bennett & Daniel Haugh 6; 9. George Frenn 5; 10. tie, Henry Dreyer & Marty Engel 3.
JAVELIN
Most Points
1. Jan Železný 154; 2. Janusz Sidlo 139; 3. tie, Steve Backley & Janis Lusis 114; 5. Tero Pitkämäki 103; 6. Andreas Thorkildsen 87; 7. Sergey Makarov 80; 8. Toivo Hyytiäinen 65; 9. tie, Boris Henry & Jorma Kinnunen 63.
Most Rankings
1. Železný 19; 2. Sidlo 18; 3. Backley 15; 4. Makarov 14; 5. Lusis 13.
Consecutive—Sidlo 18.
Most No. 1s
1. Lusis 9; 2. Železný 7; 3. tie, Sidlo & Thorkildsen 5; 5. tie, Backley, Bud Held & Pitkämäki 3.
Consecutive—Lusis & Železný 5.
Top U.S. Scorers
1. Held 55; 2. Tom Petranoff 50; 3. Bill Miller 31; 4. Cy Young 28; 5. tie, Bob Roggy & Steve Seymour 22; 7. Breaux Greer 21; 8. Tom Pukstys 18; 9. Mark Murro 16; 10. Al Cantello 14.
DECATHLON
Most Points
1. Vasiliy Kuznyetsov 100; 2. Roman Šebrle 86; 3. Damian Warner 83; 4. Dan O’Brien 76; 5. Daley Thompson 71; 6. Tomáš Dvořák 68; 7. Kevin Mayer 63; 8. Erki Nool 61; 9. tie, Bryan Clay & Ashton Eaton 58.
Most Rankings
1. Šebrle 13; 2. Kuznyetsov 12; 3. Warner 10; 4. tie, Dvořák, Guido Kratschmer, Nool, Tom Pappas & Michael Smith 9.
Consecutive—Šebrle 13.
Most No. 1s
1. O’Brien 6; 2. Thompson 5; 3. Dvořák & Eaton 4; 5. tie, 8 with 3.
Consecutive—O’Brien 4.
Top U.S. Scorers
1. O’Brien 76; 2. tie, Clay & Eaton 58; 4. Trey Hardee 54; 5. tie, Pappas & Bill Toomey 47; 7. Bob Richards 45; 8. tie, Rafer Johnson & Bob Mathias 39; 10. Bruce Jenner 30. ◻︎