(through the 2017 season)
(compiled by Jim Rorick)
How hard is it to make the T&FN World Rankings?
In crafting our annual compilations we have long noted that just running fast or jumping/throwing high/far isn’t enough. For graphic proof check out the following list of high-powered athletes.
These are the performers with the highest mark on the all-time list who were never quite good enough to make the World Rankings in that event (although they may have in another event).
Specifically: that means not good enough to have ranked in any year, not just the year in which they recorded this mark.
The imposing list:
| MEN’S TRACK | ||
| 100 | 9.89 | Ngoni Makusha (Zimbabwe) ’11 |
| 200 | 19.86 | Isiah Young (US) ’13 |
| 400 | 43.93 | Rusheen McDonald (Jamaica) ’15 |
| 800 | 1:43.03 | Kenneth Kimwetich (Kenya) ’98 |
| 1500 | 3:28.81 | Mo Farah (Great Britain) ’13 |
| Mile | 3:48.98 | Craig Mottram (Australia) ’05 |
| Steeple | 8:05.88 | Bernard Nganga (Kenya) ’11 |
| 5000 | 12:53.72 | Philip Mosima (Kenya) ’96 |
| 10,000 | 26:43.98 | Lucas Rotich (Kenya) ’11 |
| 110H | 13.11 | Aleec Harris (US) ’15 |
| 13.11 | Antonio Alkana (South Africa) ’17 | |
| 400H | 47.93 | Kenji Narisako (Japan) ’06 |
| Mar | 2:03:46 | Guye Adola (Ethiopia) ’17 |
| 20W | 1:18:12 | Artur Meleshkevich (Belarus) ’01 |
| 50W | 3:41:02 | Francisco Fernández (Spain) ’09 |
| MEN’S FIELD | ||
| HJ | 2.38 | 7-9¾i | Wolf-Hendrik Beyer (Germany) ’94 |
| PV | 5.90 | 19-4¼ | Jacob Davis (US) ’98 |
| LJ | 8.49 | 27-10¼ | Melvin Lister (US) ’00 |
| TJ | 17.78 | 58-4 | Melvin Lister (US) ’04 |
| SP | 21.82 | 71-7¼ | Darlan Romani (Brazil) ’17 |
| DT | 69.90 | 229-4 | Jason Young (US) ’10 |
| HT | 82.40 | 270-4 | Plamen Minev (Bulgaria) ’91 |
| JT | 91.36 | 299-9 | Chao-Tsun Cheng (Taiwan) ’17 |
| Dec | 8526 | Francisco Benet (Spain) ’98 |
| WOMEN’S TRACK | ||
| 100 | 10.85 | Aleia Hobbs (US) ’17 |
| 200 | 22.18 | Dezerea Bryant (US) ’15 |
| 400 | 49.49 | Olga Zaytseva (Russia) ’06 |
| 800 | 1:56.21 | Zamira Zaytseva (Soviet Union) ’83 |
| 1500 | 3:58.28 | Elvan Abeylegesse (Turkey) ’04 |
| Mile | 4:20.23 | Gulnara Galkina (Russia) ’07 |
| Steeple | 9:13.35 | Karoline Bjerkeli Grøvdal (Norway) ’17 |
| 5000 | 14:33.13 | Gulnara Galkina (Russia) ’08 |
| 10,000 | 30:29.21 | Fyles Ongori (Kenya) ’08 |
| 100H | 12.54 | Nichole Denby (US) ’08 |
| 12.54 | Jessica Ennis-Hill (Great Britain) ’12 | |
| 400H | 53.77 | Irina Davydova (Russia) ’12 |
| Mar | 2:20:41 | Ruti Aga (Ethiopia) ’17 |
| 20W | 1:26:58 | Marina Pandakova (Russia) ’15 |
| WOMEN’S FIELD | ||
| HJ | 2.00 | 6-6¾ | Daniela Rath (Germany) ’03 |
| 2.00 | 6-6¾i | Meike Kröger (Germany) ’10 | |
| PV | 4.90 | 16-¾i | Demi Payne (US) ’16 |
| LJ | 7.20 | 23-7½ | Irena Ozhenko (Soviet Union) ’86 |
| TJ | 14.83 | 48-8i | Yelena Lebedenko (Russia) ’01 |
| SP | 21.05 | 69-¾ | Zdenka Šilhavá (Czechoslovakia) ’83 |
| DT | 69.08 | 226-8 | Mariana Lengyel (Romania) ’86 |
| HT | 76.72 | 251-8 | Mariya Bespalova (Russia) ’12 |
| JT | 67.11 | 220-2 | Maria Andrejczyk (Poland) ’16 |
| Hept | 6564 | Kendell Williams (US) ’17 |