Analyzing The 2021 T&FN Rankings

Keni Harrison has now been No. 1 American in the 100H for 5 straight years. (KIRBY LEE/IMAGE OF SPORT)

IN THE PAGES THAT FOLLOW you’ll find all kinds of facts & figures relating to each of the individual Rankings events. Here are some overall stats to whet your appetite, keeping in mind that commentary regards “repeating” and “defenders” is seriously impacted by the absence of ’20 Rankings:

The World Rankings Defenders From ’19
The longest streaks for each sex were broken: triple jumper Christian Taylor at 6, hurdler Keni Harrison at 4.

The 6 world men’s repeaters: Steven Gardiner 400, Soufiane El Bakkali steeple, Grant Holloway 110H, Karsten Warholm 400H, Ryan Crouser SP, Daniel Ståhl DT. They share the longest streaks at 2.

The 5 world women’s repeaters: Shaunae Miller-Uibo 400, Sifan Hassan 10,000, Mariya Lasitskene HJ (4), Malaika Mihambo LJ (3), Lijiao Gong SP (4). Lasitskene & Gong share the longest streaks at 4.



The U.S. Rankings Defenders
The longest streaks were broken for both sexes: the men’s TJ for Christian Taylor at 10 and the women’s 9 in the steeple by Emma Coburn.

The 8 U.S. men’s repeaters: Hillary Bor steeple, Paul Chelimo 5000 (5), Shadrack Kipchirchir 10K, Grant Holloway 110H, Rai Benjamin 400H, Nick Christie 20W, Ryan Crouser SP (5), Sam Mattis DT. Chelimo & Crouser now have the longest U.S. sequences.

The 11 U.S. women’s repeaters: Karissa Schweizer 5000, Keni Harrison 100H (5), Robyn Stevens 20W, Vashti Cunningham HJ (3), Brittney Reese LJ, Keturah Orji TJ (5), Valarie Allman DT (3), DeAnna Price HT (3). Harrison and Orji share the longest sequence.

The World Doublers
Scoring in the Top 10 in an event is tough; scoring in a pair is tougher, but no fewer than 26 pointed up twice. That includes the even tougher chore of scoring in 3 events, which Sifan Hassan pulled off in the 1500/5000/10,000.

The 11 world men’s doublers:
100/200 — Fred Kerley (2/5), Andre De Grasse (3/1)
100/400 — Michael Norman (9/4)
1500/5000 — Jakob Ingebrigtsen (1/4), Mohamed Katir (6, 8)
5000/10,000 — Joshua Cheptegei (1/2), Moh Ahmed (2/6), Hagos Gebrhiwet (5/9), Jacob Kiplimo (7/3), Berihu Aregawi (10/4)
HJ/LJ— JuVaughn Harrison (9/3)

The 15 world women’s doublers:
100/200 — Elaine Thompson-Herah (1/1), Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce (2/4), Shericka Jackson (3/5), Marie-Josée Ta Lou (4/6), Dina Asher-Smith (5/8), Mujinga Kambundji (7/9)
200/400 — Shaunae Miller-Uibo (7/1)
400/400H — Shamier Little (9/4)
800/1500 — Laura Muir (8/3)
1500/5000 — Sifan Hassan (2/1)
1500/10,000 — Hassan (2/1)
5000/10,000 — Hassan (1/1), Francine Niyonsaba (2/6), Hellen Obiri (3/5), Gudaf Tsegay (4/4)

The U.S. Doublers
Doubling is traditionally a lot easier at the national level than it is at the international, and such was the case in ’21, as there were 41 such scorers.

The 17 U.S. men’s doublers:
100/200 — Fred Kerley (1/4), Isiah Young (7/6), Kenny Bednarek (8/1), Noah Lyles (10/2)
100/400 — Kerley (1/9), Michael Norman (6/1)
200/400 — Kerley (4/9)
200/400H — Rai Benjamin (10/1)
1500/5000 — Cole Hocker (1/6)
5000/10,000 — Grant Fisher (2/1), Woody Kincaid (3/2), Emmanuel Bor (5/8)
10,000/Mar — Galen Rupp (6/1)
20W/50W — Nick Christie (1/1), AJ Gruttadauro (5/2), Joel Pfahler (10/3)
HJ/LJ — JuVaughn Harrison (1/1)

The 24 U.S. women’s doublers:
100/200 — Sha’Carri Richardson (1/7), Jenna Prandini (4/2), Gabby Thomas (5/1), Cambrea Sturgis (9/9)
200/400 — Allyson Felix (5/1), Lynna Irby (8/8)
400/800 — Athing Mu (5/1)
400/400H — Shamier Little (3/3)
800/1500 — Kate Grace (2/8)
1500/5000 — Josette Norris (1/8), Elise Cranny (7/2)
1500/10,000 — Cranny (7/4)
5000/10,000 — Karissa Schweizer (1/2), Emily Sisson (6/1), Emily Infeld (9/8), Cranny (10/4)
10,000/Mar — Sara Hall (10/3)
100H/400H — Anna Cockrell (4/5), Sydney McLaughlin (9/1)
100H/Hept — Taliyah Brooks (7/9)
LJ/TJ — Keturah Orji (8/1, Jasmine Moore (9/3)
DT/HT — Alyssa Wilson (10/6))
LJ/Hept — Kendell Williams (3/1) ◻︎.