Monte-Carlo – Just over two weeks ago, Zersenay Tadesse became the first athlete from Eritrea to win a World title in any major sport when he triumphed at the inaugural IAAF World Road Running Championships in Debrecen, Hungary.

This week, the 24-year-old became the first athlete from the east African nation to head any Event Ranking in the IAAF World Rankings. Tadesse replaced Haile Gebrselassie (ETH) at the top of the Men’s Road Running – Marathon Event Rankings after the former World and Olympic 10,000m champion from Ethiopia dropped points and slipped into second place, after his win from last year’s Amsterdam Marathon (2:06:20 - 1376 points) became out of date.

Robert Kipkoech Cheruiyot (KEN) and Solomon Bushendich (KEN) moved into third and sixth places in the Event Ranking after winning the Chicago and Amsterdam Marathons respectively. Cheruiyot clocked 2:07:35 (1349 points) in the USA, while his compatriot won in the Netherlands with 2:08:52 (1323 points) and is a newcomer into the Event Ranking this week.

On the women’s side, Berhane Adere (ETH) moved into second place in the Road Running – Marathon Event Ranking after winning the Chicago Marathon in 2:20:42 (1367 points), just ahead of Galina Bogomolova (RUS) 2:20:47 (1346 points) who entered the Ranking in 11th position. In the Women’s Overall Rankings, Adere moved up to 37th this week.

Adere was not the only one to benefit from her performance in Chicago, as the top eight finishers improved on their Event Ranking positions. Three of these runners were new entrants. The best newcomer is Benita Willis-Johnson (AUS) who finished third in 2:22:36 (1302 points) and entered the Ranking in 9th position, while Russia’s Lyudmila Petrova crossed the line in 8th place in 2:27:08 (1204 points) and lies in 12th place this week just behind Bogomolova.

After collecting the World Road Running Championships silver medal in Debrecen two weeks ago, Constantina Dita-Tomescu (ROM) was forced to settle for 5th in Chicago with 2:24:25 (1254 points). As a result the 36-year-old moved up three places in the Event Ranking to fifth. Another Romanian, Nuta Olaru, finished just behind her compatriot in Chicago in 2:25:37 (1233 points) and moved into 27th spot, while Hiromi Ominami was the best Japanese runner in seventh with 2:26:04 on the clock (1222 points) and moved into 20th place in the Event Ranking.

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(In brackets the last week's position and the last week's Ranking Scores of the athletes)