El
Guerrouj and Dragila end season ranked number 1
IAAF Release
11 September 2001 - Monaco - With the last major events of the 2001 outdoor season - the Goodwill Games in Brisbane and the IAAF Grand Prix Final in Melbourne - now concluded, the latest edition of the IAAF World Rankings has special relevance, with Hicham El Guerrouj (MAR) and Stacy Dragila (USA) retaining their leading positions in the Overall Standings.
Among the men, recent top class performances by Cuba's Olympic champion Anier Garcia, including his winning performance at the Grand Prix Final which put paid to Allen Johnson's Jackpot hopes, helped him to climb from 9th to 5th place. The Moroccan steeplechaser Brahim Boulami, who broke the world record in Brussels and also won in Melbourne, improves from 8th to 6th place. But the most dramatic improvements come from the Czech javelin legend Jan Zelezny - a winner in Brisbane and Melbourne - who climbs from 20th to 12th place and the world indoor 200m champion, Shawn Crawford, whose victory in Melbourne catapaulted him from 46th to 27th place and ensured he held on to his 1st place ranking in the individual 200m event.
In individual events, two men have captured the top ranking in individual events: Swedish high jumper Stephan Holm, who won the Goodwill Games title and relegates Vyacheslav Voronin to second place, and Australian pole vaulter Dmitriy Markov, a dramatic victor at the World Championships in Edmonton, who leapfrogs Jeff Hartwig (USA) in the standings.
In the women's Overall rankings, the most improver is South Africa's Hestrie Cloete, the high jumper who has barely put a foot wrong since she captured the world title in Edmonton. After Golden League wins and her most recent victory at the Grand Prix Final, Cloete jumps from 15th position to 9th, and also takes over number 1 spot in the individual ranking ahead of the Ukrainian Inga Babakova. The only other woman to take over the pole position in an individual event is recently crowned 100m hurdles champion Anjanette Kirkland, who moves past Gail Devers. The Bahamian Golden Girl Debbie Ferguson, who won the Goodwill Games title, ends her excellent season by moving from 3rd to 2nd place in the 200m while the former world and Olympic champion, Astrid Kumbernuss, ca surprise GP Final winner, caps her return to form by moving from 5th to 3rd in the shot.
