Monte-Carlo - In the second half of the 9th IAAF World Championships in Athletics, seven more athletes rose to the top of the Event Rankings, bringing the total of new number ones at the top to ten.

This week saw Tatyana Kotova (RUS), Yipsi Moreno (CUB), Darvis Patton (USA), Tyree Washington (USA), Mbulaeni Mulaudzi (RSA), Saif Saaeed Shaheen (QAT) and Okkert Brits (RSA) take over as the number one ranked athletes in their events. There are also significant changes in the Overall Ranking; Carolina Klüft of Sweden is the new number one ranked female athlete rising from her previous position in 19th place.

Despite finishing second in Paris, Tatyana Kotova is the new number one female long jumper. The 26-year-old left Paris in tears after losing gold on Eunice Barber’s last jump, but won the silver medal with 6.74m (1402 points Performance Score) and overtook last week’s Event Ranking leader Maureen Higa Maggi of Brazil. Barber won the competition with 6.99m (1500 points Performance Score) and entered the Event Ranking in 8th place.

22-year-old Yipsi Moreno from Cuba successfully defended her World Hammer title in Paris. The Central American record holder threw 73.33m (1455 points Performance Score) in the final, beating home-crowd favorite Manuela Montebrun.  Moreno rose one place to overtake the French champion at the top of the Event Ranking. Montebrun finished third to bring home one of the seven French medals with 70.92m (1344 points Performance Score) and slipped to second behind Moreno.

Darvis Patton could be nominated for breakthrough athlete of the year as the American champion showed consistency throughout the season running under 20.40 in each of his outdoor 200m races except for the heats at the national championships where the wind-gauge showed –3.7m/s. Patton kept up his good form towards the end of the summer and first set a new personal best of 20.03 (1330 points Performance Score) in the semi-final in Paris, then went on to win the silver medal behind compatriot and friend John Capel in 20.31 (1441 points Performance Score).

Patton’s reward for a week of hard competition was a jump over last week’s leader Frank Fredericks (NAM) into first place in the Event Ranking. Capel – who won with 20.30 (1482 points Performance Score) – jumped up five places to third and looks to have qualified for the inaugural World Athletics Final 13-14 September in Monte-Carlo.

Also likely to be there in the Principality of Monaco in ten days’ time is Asian 200m Record holder Shingo Suetsugu. The 23-year-old won the bronze medal in Paris in 20.38 (1400 points Performance Score) and rocketed through the Event Ranking from 26th into seventh place. Just behind Suetsugu in eighth is Joshua J. Johnson of the United States, who finished sixth in 20.47 (1337 points Performance Score).

Just like Darvis Patton, World indoor 400m champion Tyree Washington also had to settle for silver in Paris. Running the final just two days before his 27th birthday, Washington came second with 44.77 (1456 points Performance Score) to compatriot Jerome Young. While Young strengthened his third place in the Event Ranking and narrowed the gap between himself and the leaders, Washington overtook Jamaican Michael Blackwood for the top spot.

French hero Marc Raquil finished strongly overtaking nearly everybody in the final straight in Paris but had to settle for the 400m bronze medal in front of his home-crowd. The French record holder set a new national best of 44.79 (1424 points Performance Score) and catapulted himself through the rankings to fourth from his previous place in 14th.

The Men’s 800m final was one of the most open and certainly most anticipated events in Paris. South Africa’s Mbuireni Mulaudzi finished third with 1:44.90 (1404 points Performance Score) but took control of the field by climbing to first place in the Event Ranking this week. The 22-year-old overtook last week’s leader Wilson Kipketer (DEN) who finished fourth with 1:45.23 (1375 points Performance Score) and slipped to fourth. Silver medallist Yuriy Borzakovskiy of Russia stepped up two places to second after running 1:44.84 (1436 points Performance Score) to be out dipped on the line by Algeria’s Djabir Said-Guerni who won in 1:44.81 (1477 points Performance Score). The World champion jumped seven places to 6th in the Event Ranking, and also looks certain to qualify for the World Athletic Final in Monte-Carlo.

Saif Saeed Shaheen won Qatar’s first ever gold medal in Paris, and returned to the IAAF World Ranking in the process. It was Shaheen’s sixth competition over the past 365 days allowing the 20-year-old to return as the new number one in the 3000m steeplechase Event Ranking as a result of his 8:04.39 (1545 points Performance Score) win.

The men’s Pole Vault story starts and ends with the fairy tale of Giuseppe Gibilisco (ITA), but silver medallist Okkert Brits (RSA) also has every reason to celebrate. The African record holder cleared 5.85m (1460 points in P.S.) and moved up four spots to first place, well clear of last week’s leader Aleksandr Averbukh (ISR). Gibilisco – who is the first ever not Soviet-born men’s World champion – set a new Italian record of 5.90m (1515 points Performance Score) and moved up seven places to tenth in the Event Ranking.

Ukrainian Ivan Heshko and Rui Silva of Portugal improved on their Ranking positions this week and made themselves provisionally eligible to compete at the World Athletic Final. Heshko finished third in the 1500m with 3:33.17 (1430 points Performance Score) and stepped up one place to 5th, while the former World Indoor champion Silva ran 3:33.68 (1388 points Performance Score) to finish fifth.

Kenyan teenager Eliud Kipchoge surprised many by taking the 5000m World title in 12:52.79 (1553 points Performance Score). The 18-year-old gained five places to stand in fourth position this week in the Event Ranking.

Also flying through the positions is James Beckford of Jamaica and Egnatius Gaisah of Ghana. Beckford finished second in Paris with 8.28m (1445 points Performance Score) and improved ten places by rising to fourth in the Event Ranking, while the young Gaisah who competed in his first major event was fourth with 8.13m (1363 points in P.S.) and moved up seven places to fifth in the Event Ranking.

Yekaterina Nozkova-Rozenberg (RUS) finished just out of the medals in fourth place in Paris with 4:00.59 (1411 points Performance Score) but took giant steps in the Women’s 1500m Event Ranking, rising six places to second.

University of Illinois student Perdita Felicien (CAN) came through in the end to take the crown in the Women’s 100m hurdles with a blazing time of 12.53 (1513 points Performance Score). Felicien climbed four places to fourth in the Event Ranking, just ahead of bronze medallist Miesha Mckelvy (USA) who ran 12.67 (1425 points Performance Score).

In the battle of the Decathletes it was World Indoor champion Tom Pappas of the United States who came out on top. Pappas scored 8750 points (1522 points Performance Score) and strengthened his leading position in the Event Ranking, but also rose in the Men’s Overall Ranking from 17th to sixth.

World Athletics Final
Monaco 13-14 Sept 2003 (Hammer Throw: Szombathely, Hungary 7 Sept 2003)
Athletes ranked in the top 7 positions in each event (11 positions for the races of 1500m and over) in the IAAF World Rankings automatically qualify

IAAF