THE RANKINGS TEAM went back and forth on this one as many of the mainstream characters had limited seasons. The big battle, of course, was for No. 1, and in the final analysis the nod narrowly went to Fred Kerley over Abdalelah Haroun, who split their 2 meetings 1–1. Each complicated things somewhat: the American by having only 5 meets, with a big gap between June 09 and August 18; the Qatari by not running in the DL Final.
WHAT KERLEY DID DO was win 3 DL races (including the Final), whereas Haroun could claim only 1. Kerley was only 4th in his other DL race, while Haroun had solid finishes of 2-2-2-3… A telling stat: between them they won 9 races (Kerley 3, Haroun 6). In his 3 wins, Kerley racked up 13 wins against rankers; In his 6 wins, Haroun got only 9. As much as Haroun may have had more wins, he wasn’t running in the toughest races but Kerley was…
KERLEY WAS JOINED by a pair of debuting Americans, Paul Dedewo in 3 and Michael Norman in 6. Collegiate star Norman was undefeated and had not only the year’s fastest time, but also the best 5-race average. He didn’t race outside the U.S., however…
CONSPICUOUS BY THEIR absences were the last 7 No. 1s—Kirani James (’11, ’12), LaShawn Merritt (’13, ’14), and Wayde van Niekerk (’156, ’16, ’17). James is recovering from Graves’ Disease, Merritt ran only 200s early in the year before being felled by plantar fasciitis and van Niekerk was rehabbing a rugby-induced knee injury…
| JUMP TO U.S. RANKINGS | VIEW WORLD TOP 50 LIST | VIEW U.S. TOP 50 LIST |
| 1. FRED KERLEY (US) (5/07/95, 6-3¼/205) (1.91/93) | |||||
| 44.71 | … | 4)Shanghai DL | 5/12 | ▷ | 1. Gardiner; 2. Makwala; 3. Haroun |
| 44.33 | … | 1)Rome DL | 5/31 | ||
| 44.36 | … | 2)Kingston | 6/09 | ▷ | 1. James |
| 45.54 | … | 1)Birmingham DL | 8/18 | ||
| 44.80 | … | 1)Zürich DL | 8/30 | ||
| (46.25i, 45.18Ai 45.63Ai, 45.86i) | |||||
| 2. ABDALELAH HAROUN (Qatar) (1/1/97, 5-10/161) (1.78/73) | |||||
| 45.41 | … | 1)São Bernardo do Campo | 4/07 | ||
| 44.50 | … | 2)Doha DL | 5/04 | ▷ | 1. Gardiner |
| 44.51 | … | 3)Shanghai DL | 5/12 | ▷ | 1. Gardiner; 2. Makwala |
| 44.37 | … | 2)Rome DL | 5/31 | ▷ | 1. Kerley |
| 44.35 | … | 1)Hengelo IWC | 6/03 | ||
| 44.63 | … | 1)Ostrava IWC | 6/13 | ||
| 44.69 | … | 2)Rabat DL | 7/13 | ▷ | 1. Bloomfield |
| 44.07 | … | 1)London DL | 7/21 | ||
| 44.89 | … | 1)Asian G | 8/26 | ||
| (46.28h, 45.83sf) | |||||
| 44.72 | … | 1)Cont Cup | 9/09 | ||
| (48.18Ai, 46.37Ai) | |||||
| 3. PAUL DEDEWO (US) (6/05/91, 6-¾/161) (1.85/73) | |||||
| 45.21 | … | 1)Tempe | 3/17 | ||
| 44.62 | … | 2)Sun Angel | 4/07 | ▷ | 1. Hall |
| 44.78 | … | 3)Mt. SAC R | 4/21 | ▷ | 1. Norman; 2. Benjamin |
| 44.58 | … | 3)Rome DL | 5/31 | ▷ | 1. Kerley; 2. Haroun |
| 44.50 | … | 2)Hengelo IWC | 6/03 | ▷ | 1. Haroun |
| 44.56 | … | 1)Chorzów | 6/08 | ||
| 44.64 | … | 2)USATF | 6/23 | ▷ | 1. Montgomery |
| (45.40h, 45.03sf) | |||||
| 44.82 | … | 5)Rabat DL | 7/13 | ▷ | 1. Bloomfield; 2. Haroun; 3. Hudson-Smith; 4. Santos |
| 44.48 | … | 1)World Cup | 7/15 | ||
| 44.43 | … | 2)London DL | 7/21 | ▷ | 1. Haroun |
| 45.62 | … | 3)Birmingham DL | 8/18 | ▷ | 1. Kerley; 2. Hudson-Smith |
| 45.30 | … | 1)Rovereto | 8/23 | ||
| 45.18 | … | 4)Zürich DL | 8/30 | ▷ | 1. Kerley; 2. Strother; 3. Hudson-Smith |
| (46.96Ai, 46.23Ai, 45,61Ai) | |||||
| 4. MATTHEW HUDSON-SMITH (Great Britain) (10/26/94, 6-3½/174) (1.92/79) | |||||
| dq-h | … | )Comm G | 4/08 | ▷ | 1. Quow; 2. Shearman; 3. George |
| 45.07 | … | 1)Clermont | 4/28 | ||
| 44.70 | … | 1)Clermont | 5/12 | ||
| 45.70 | … | 4)Kingston IWC | 5/19 | ▷ | 1. Gaye; 2. Francis; 3. Taplin |
| 45.52 | … | 7)Rome DL | 5/31 | ▷ | 1. Kerley; 2. Haroun; 3. Dedewo; 4. Cherry; 5. Roberts; 6. Re |
| 45.40 | … | 4)Kingston | 6/09 | ▷ | 1. James; 2. Kerley; 3. Taplin |
| 44.68 | … | 1)GB Ch | 7/01 | ||
| (45.94h) | |||||
| 44.79 | … | 3)Rabat DL | 7/13 | ▷ | 1. Bloomfield; 2. Haroun |
| 44.63 | … | 6)London DL | 7/21 | ▷ | 1. Haroun; 2. Dedewo; 3. James; 4. Thebe; 5. Samba |
| 44.78 | … | 1)European Ch | 8/10 | ||
| (44.76sf) | |||||
| 45.59 | … | 2)Birmingham DL | 8/18 | ▷ | 1. Kerley |
| 44.95 | … | 3)Zürich DL | 8/30 | ▷ | 1. Kerley; 2. Strother |
| 45.72 | … | 4)Cont Cup | 9/09 | ▷ | 1. Haroun; 2. Thebe; 3. Strother |
| 5. STEVEN GARDINER (Bahamas) (9/12/95, 6-2/165) (1.88/75) | |||||
| 43.87 | … | 1)Doha DL | 5/04 | ||
| 43.99 | … | 1)Shanghai DL | 5/12 | ||
| 44.43 | … | 1)Chorzów | 8/22 | ||
| dnf | … | )Zürich DL | 8/30 | ▷ | 1. Kerley; 2. Strother; 3. Hudson-Smith; 4. Dedewo; 5. Thebe; 6. Santos; 7. Conradie |
| 6. MICHAEL NORMAN (US) (12/03/97, 6-0/161) (1.83/73) | |||||
| 44.53 | … | 1)Mt. SAC | 4/21 | ||
| 44.74 | … | 1)USC vs UCLA | 4/29 | ||
| 44.40 | … | 1)Pac-12 | 5/13 | ||
| 43.61 | … | 1)NCAA | 6/08 | ||
| (46.36h, 44.57qf, 44.66sf) | |||||
| (45.00i, 45.56i, 44.52i) | |||||
| 7. ISAAC MAKWALA (Botswana) (9/29/86, 6-0/174) (1.83/79) | |||||
| 45.03(A) | … | 1)Johannesburg | 3/01 | ||
| 44.35 | … | 1)Comm G | 4/10 | ||
| (46.01h, 45.00sf) | |||||
| 44.92 | … | 3)Doha DL | 5/04 | ▷ | 1. Gardiner; 2. Haroun |
| 44.23 | … | 2)Shanghai DL | 5/12 | ▷ | 1. Gardiner |
| 8. BABOLOKI THEBE (Botswana) (3/18/97, 5-10/150) (1.78/68) | |||||
| 45.09 | … | 2)Comm G | 4/10 | ▷ | 1. Makwala |
| (46.17h, 45.54sf) | |||||
| 45.58 | … | 5)Doha DL | 5/04 | ▷ | 1. Gardiner; 2. Haroun; 3. Makwala; 4. Roberts |
| 45.24(A) | … | 1h)Bot Ch | 5/27 | ||
| 46.53 | … | 7)Ostrava IWC | 6/13 | ▷ | 1. Haroun; 2. Santos; 3. Taylor; 4. Maslak; 5. Taplin; 6. Husillos |
| 45.00 | … | 4)Madrid IWC | 6/22 | ▷ | 1. Santos; 2. Hortelano; 3. Husillos |
| 45.13 | … | 2)Gyulai M | 7/02 | ▷ | 1. Santos |
| 44.54 | … | 4)London DL | 7/21 | ▷ | 1. Haroun; 2. Dedewo; 3. James |
| 44.81 | … | 1)Afr Ch | 8/03 | ||
| (45.94h, 46.25sf) | |||||
| 46.35 | … | 7)Birmingham DL | 8/18 | ▷ | 1. Kerley; 2. Hudson-Smith; 3. Dedewo; 4. Taylor; 5. Santos; 6. Borlee |
| 45.41 | … | 5)Zürich DL | 8/30 | ▷ | 1. Kerley; 2. Strother; 3. Hudson-Smith; 4. Dedewo |
| 45.10 | … | 2)Cont Cup | 9/09 | ▷ | 1. Haroun |
| 9. LUGUELÍN SANTOS (Dominican Republic) (11/12/92, 5-8/134) (1.73/61) | |||||
| 45.66 | … | 2)Grenada Inv | 4/21 | ▷ | 1. Taplin |
| 45.30 | … | 1)Medellín | 4/28 | ||
| 45.81 | … | 8)Rome DL | 5/31 | ▷ | 1. Kerley; 2. Haroun; 3. Dedewo; 4. Cherry; 5. Roberts; 6. Re; 7. Hudson-Smith |
| 44.75 | … | 2)Chorzów | 6/08 | ▷ | 1. Dedewo |
| 45.43 | … | 2)Ostrava IWC | 6/13 | ▷ | 1. Haroun |
| 44.66 | … | 1)Madrid IWC | 6/22 | ||
| 44.88 | … | 1)Gyulai M | 7/02 | ||
| 44.80 | … | 4)Rabat DL | 7/13 | ▷ | 1. Bloomfield; 2. Haroun; 3. Hudson-Smith |
| 44.59 | … | 1)CAC G | 8/01 | ||
| (46.10h) | |||||
| 45.81 | … | 5)Birmingham DL | 8/18 | ▷ | 1. Kerley; 2. Hudson-Smith; 3. Dedewo; 4. Taylor |
| 45.58 | … | 2)Rovereto | 8/23 | ▷ | 1. Dedewo |
| 46.17 | … | 6)Zürich DL | 8/30 | ▷ | 1. Kerley; 2. Strother; 3. Hudson-Smith; 4. Dedewo; 5. Thebe |
| 45.81 | … | 6)Cont Cup | 9/09 | ▷ | 1. Haroun; 2. Thebe; 3. Strother; 4. Hudson-Smith; 5. Y. Muhammed Anas |
| (47.10i, 46.67i, 46.53i, 46.83i, 46.31i) | |||||
| 10. AKEEM BLOOMFIELD (Jamaica) (11/10/97, 6-2/170) (1.88/77) | |||||
| 46.17 | … | 1)Auburn | 4/14 | ||
| 45.68 | … | 1)Auburn | 4/21 | ||
| dnc | … | )SEC | 5/13 | ||
| (45.06h) | |||||
| 43.94 | … | 2)NCAA | 6/08 | ▷ | 1. Norman |
| (45.51h, 44.90qf, 44.72sf) | |||||
| 44.33 | … | 1)Rabat DL | 7/13 | ||
| (45.92i, 45.02i, 45.76i, 45.22i, 45.64i, 44.86i) | |||||
| U.S. RANKINGS | ||||
| 1. | *Fred Kerley (Nike) | 5. | Michael Cherry (Nike) | |
| 1)Rome DL, 1)Birmingham DL, 1)Zürich DL | 4)Rome DL, 3)USATF, 6)Rabat DL | |||
| 2. | *Paul Dedewo (unattached) | 7. | Obi Igbokwe (Arkansas) | |
| 2)USATF, 2)London DL, 4)Zürich DL | 7)SEC, 6)NCAA, 5)USATF | |||
| 3. | *Michael Norman (USC) | 8. | Mar’yea Harris (Iowa) | |
| 1)Mt. SAC Relays, 1)Pac-12, 1)NCAA | 1)Big 10, 4)NCAA, dq-h)USATF | |||
| 4. | Nathan Strother (Tennessee) | 9. | Christian Taylor (Nike) | |
| 2)SEC, 5sf)NCAA, 4)USATF | 5)Shanghai DL, 5sf)USATF, 4)Birmingham DL | |||
| 5. | Kahmari Montgomery (Houston) | 10. | Josephus Lyles (adidas) | |
| 4)Mt. SAC Relays, 7)NCAA, 1)USATF | 1)Jones Memorial, 6)USATF, 4)Gyulai Memorial | |||
