THE FIRST SUB-12:50 race since Paris ’12 (and first sub-12:45 since Paris ’05) proved to be the key to unlocking a nasty puzzle: did No. 1 belong to Selemon Barega or Birhanu Yemataw? While marks are only the third category of our Rankings protocol, there was no denying the fact that Barega moved to No. 4 on the all-time list with his brilliant 12:43.02 at the DL Final in Brussels. In the process, he took down most of the contenders and that combined with his earlier Stockholm win and Lausanne 2nd were enough to raise him up from the No. 5 he earned last year…
YEMATAW ALSO HAD a strong case, having won a pair of DL races (Shanghai & Lausanne) to go with a 2nd in Stockholm and 4th in London. He and Barega split their two head-to-head meetings… Barega wasn’t the only Junior of note. He lost twice to World Junior champ Edward Zakayo, who sneaks into the No. 10 position despite not appearing on the DL Circuit. He was only 16 over the summer…
PAUL CHELIMO WAS the top American for the third year in a row, moving up a spot from last year to the No. 3 position. In the process he sailed past some very big names—Doug Padilla, Steve Prefontaine & Sydney Maree—in moving from =No. 6 to No. 3 among U.S. all-time scorers.
| JUMP TO U.S. RANKINGS | VIEW WORLD TOP 50 LIST | VIEW U.S. TOP 50 LIST |
| 1. SELEMON BAREGA (Ethiopia) (1/20/00, 5-8/130) (1.73/59) | |||||
| 13:33.4(A) | … | 3)Eth Ch | 4/22 | ▷ | 1. Tamire; 2. Alewe |
| 13:04.05 | … | 1)Stockholm DL | 6/10 | ||
| 13:02.67 | … | 2)Lausanne DL | 7/05 | ▷ | 1. Yemataw |
| 13:21.16 | … | 4)World Jr | 7/14 | ▷ | 1. Zakayo; 2. Mburu Waithaka; 3. Ingebrigtsen |
| 13:52.27 | … | 4)Afr Ch | 8/05 | ▷ | 1. Zakayo; 2. Tamire; 3. Hailesilassie |
| 12:43.02 | … | 1)Brussels DL | 8/31 | ||
| 2. BIRHANU YEMATAW (Bahrain) (2/27/96, 5-5¾/119) (1.67/54) | |||||
| 13:09.64 | … | 1)Shanghai DL | 5/12 | ||
| 13:04.25 | … | 2)Stockholm DL | 6/10 | ▷ | 1. Barega |
| 13:01.09 | … | 1)Lausanne DL | 7/05 | ||
| 13:16.04 | … | 4)London DL | 7/21 | ▷ | 1. Chelimo; 2. Edris; 3. Kejelcha |
| 13:43.17 | … | 1)Asian G | 8/30 | ||
| 3. PAUL CHELIMO (US) (10/27/90, 5-7¼/126) (1.71/57) | |||||
| 13:09.66 | … | 2)Shanghai DL | 5/12 | ▷ | 1. Yemataw |
| 13:29.47 | … | 1)USATF | 6/24 | ||
| 13:14.01 | … | 1)London DL | 7/21 | ||
| 12:57.55 | … | 6)Brussels DL | 8/31 | ▷ | 1. Barega; 2. Gebrhiwet; 3. Kejelcha; 4. Edris; 5. Hadis |
| 4. MUKTAR EDRIS (Ethiopia) (1/14/94, 5-7¾/126) (1.72/57) | |||||
| 13:10.98 | … | 5)Shanghai DL | 5/12 | ▷ | 1. Yemataw; 2. Chelimo; 3. Mburu Waithaka; 4. Rutto |
| 13:06.24 | … | 6)Lausanne DL | 7/05 | ▷ | 1. Yemataw; 2. Barega; 3. Hadis; 4. Tamire; 5. Yator |
| 13:14.35 | … | 2)London DL | 7/21 | ▷ | 1. Chelimo |
| 12:55.18 | … | 4)Brussels DL | 8/31 | ▷ | 1. Barega; 2. Gebrhiwet; 3. Kejelcha |
| 5. ABADI HADIS (Ethiopia) (11/06/97, 5-7/139) (1.70/63) | |||||
| 13:11.04 | … | 7)Shanghai DL | 5/12 | ▷ | 1. Yemataw; 2. Chelimo; 3. Mburu Waithaka; 4. Rutto; 5. Edris; 6. Melak |
| 13:06.76 | … | 3)Stockholm DL | 6/10 | ▷ | 1. Barega; 2. Yemataw |
| 13:03.62 | … | 3)Lausanne DL | 7/05 | ▷ | 1. Yemataw; 2. Barega |
| 12:56.27 | … | 5)Brussels DL | 8/31 | ▷ | 1. Barega; 2. Gebrhiwet; 3. Kejelcha; 4. Edris |
| 6. YOMIF KEJELCHA (Ethiopia) (8/01/97, 6-1¼/128) (1.86/58) | |||||
| 13:34.67i | … | 1)Seattle | 1/27 | ||
| dq | … | –)Lausanne DL | 7/05 | ▷ | 1. Yemataw; 2. Barega; 3. Hadis; 4. Tamire; 5. Yator; 6. Edris; 7. Haile; 8. Kifle; 9. Kissa; 10. Kiplangat; 11. Bouqantar; 12. Ingebrigtsen; 13. Wanders |
| 13:14.39 | … | 3)London DL | 7/21 | ▷ | 1. Chelimo; 2. Edris |
| 12:46.79 | … | 3)Brussels DL | 8/31 | ▷ | 1. Barega; 2. Gebrhiwet |
| 7. HAGOS GEBRHIWET (Ethiopia) (5/11/94, 5-5¾/143) (1.67/65) | |||||
| 13:16.39 | … | 5)London DL | 7/21 | ▷ | 1. Chelimo; 2. Edris; 3. Kejelcha; 4. Yemataw |
| 12:45.82 | … | 2)Brussels DL | 8/31 | ▷ | 1. Barega |
| 8. GETANEH TAMIRE (Ethiopia) (1/10/94, 5-7¼/121) (1.71/55) | |||||
| 13:31.5(A) | … | 1)Eth Ch | 4/22 | ||
| 13:04.04 | … | 4)Lausanne DL | 7/05 | ▷ | 1. Yemataw; 2. Barega; 3. Hadis |
| 13:49.06 | … | 2)Afr Ch | 8/05 | ▷ | 1. Zakayo |
| 12:59.58 | … | 8)Brussels DL | 8/31 | ▷ | 1. Barega; 2. Gebrhiwet; 3. Kejelcha; 4. Edris; 5. Hadis; 6. Chelimo; 7. Yator |
| 9. MO AHMED (Canada) (1/05/91, 5-8¾/134) (1.75/61) | |||||
| 13:52.78 | … | 2)Comm G | 4/08 | ▷ | 1. Cheptegei |
| 13:14.88 | … | 4)Stockholm DL | 6/10 | ▷ | 1. Barega; 2. Yemataw; 3. Hadis |
| 14:36.09 | … | 1)Can Ch | 7/05 | ||
| 13:16.82 | … | 7)London DL | 7/21 | ▷ | 1. Chelimo; 2. Edris; 3. Kejelcha; 4. Yemataw; 5. Gebrhiwet; 6. Rutto |
| 13:03.08 | … | 9)Brussels DL | 8/31 | ▷ | 1. Barega; 2. Gebrhiwet; 3. Kejelcha; 4. Edris; 5. Hadis; 6. Chelimo; 7. Yator; 8. Tamire |
| 10. EDWARD ZAKAYO (Kenya) (11/25/01) | |||||
| 13:24.08(A) | … | 1)Nairobi | 2/17 | ||
| 13:54.06 | … | 3)Comm G | 4/08 | ▷ | 1. Cheptegei; 2. Ahmed |
| 13:19.74(A) | … | 1)Nairobi | 6/12 | ||
| (13:43.44Ah) | |||||
| 13:20.16 | … | 1)World Junior | 7/14 | ||
| 13:48.58 | … | 1)Afr Ch | 8/05 | ||
