Hestrie Cloete after clearing 2.06m (© Getty Images)
MonteCarloNot only will there be 33 event winners decided at the inaugural IAAF World Athletics Final this weekend (Saturday 13 and Sunday 14 September), the titles of the World Athlete of the Year for both men and women will also be decided by the positions in the IAAF World Rankings after competition is concluded in the Stade Louis II on Sunday.
There is more than just the prestigious title at stake too, in fact there are 100,000 reasons to win because that is the amount in US$ which will be awarded to both the men’s and women’s Award winners. Add to that US$50,000 for second place and US$25,000 for third place in both the Overall categories and you have more than a tempting prize package on offer in Monaco this weekend.
To help the general understanding of who needs to do what to become World Athlete of the Year we now are pleased to bring you some of the varying scenarios involving the current top two athletes in both the men’s and women’s Overall standings of the World Rankings – Women: Hestrie Cloete and Carolina Klüft; Men: Hicham El Guerrouj and Kenenisa Bekele
WOMEN
Hestrie Cloete, given her splendidly consistent form this year which is so far topped by her 2.06m African record in Paris, the 25 year-old double World High Jump Champion from South Africa has more than a good chance of taking over the Number One spot in the Overall Ranking which is currently held by Sweden’s 20 year-old Heptathlon star Carolina Klüft.
The young Swede will not be competing this weekend in Monaco and thus has no chance to improve her total. However, even if she had been at the World Athletics Final as a wild card competitor in an individual event, her PBs of 6.86 in the Long Jump and 1.94 in the High Jump would not have allowed her to improve on her fabulous Combined Events totals gained from the World Indoor and outdoor Championships and the Götzis Hypo meeting.
NB. the 3 best Performance Scores are taken into account in Combined Events rather than the 6 best in individual events.
Cloete will therefore be competing against herself, aiming to improve her current sixth best performance - a 2.00 clearance which gave her victory in the Rome Golden League meeting. As the Placing points awarded for the World Athletics Gala are greater that for a Golden League meeting (200 points to the winner, against 170 in Golden League), the following results will be needed by Cloete to overtake Klüft by 1 point:
1st place with 1.99
2nd place with 2.01
3rd place with 2.03
Cloete will however drop her current third best result in two weeks (win in the World Cup in Madrid with 2.02 last 21 September 2002) so she will need to win with 2.01 in Monaco to be sure to remain in Number One position after 22 September.
MEN
Hicham El Guerrouj is solidly in first spot in the men’s Overall Ranking, but the Moroccan quadruple World 1500m champion will drop points from his win in the Grand Prix Final 2002 (currently his third best result, worth 1455) at the end of the week). His seventh best is currently the indoor performance over 2 miles in Lievin (1384 points). In order to improve his total and at least partially compensate for the loss of the points from last year, El Guerrouj will need to run faster that 3:34.00.
The Moroccan should maintain No.1 in the Overall Rankings, but young Ethiopian Kenenisa Bekele showed in Paris, defeating his fellow Ethiopian Haile Gebrselassie at 10.000m, that he is not afraid to attack monuments. The repeat double cross country champion, who will compete over 5000m at the World Athletics Final, could thus indirectly claim the scalp of another of the legends of athletics with the following results:
If El Guerrouj runs slower than 3:34.00, Bekele will be 1st if wins in 12:56.40 or better.
If El Guerrouj runs 3.32.00 then Bekele needs 12:48.24 or better
And so on as follows -
3:31:00 - 12:44.98 or better
3:30.00 - 12:40.12 or better
3:29.00 - World record
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UPDATE - Bekele to run the 3000 metres
Leaving the above 5000m stats as a comparison, Bekele has now decided to opt instead for the 3000m.
Here is what he needs to do to pass Hicham El Guerrouj as N.1 in the Overall Rankings:
For example if El Guerrouj does not improve his total i.e. runs slower than 3:34.00 Bekele would still have to run 7:27.89
El Guerrouj wins in: Bekele wins in:
3:34.00 7:27.89
3:33.00 7:25.10
3:32.00 7:23.25
3:31.00 7:21.41
3:30.00 World Record
As Bekele will now compete over 3000m he has less chances to improve his overall total. This is because the 3000m is a Similar Event within the Main Event 5000-10,000m.
Only 2 Similar Events can be included in the top 6 performances. Bekele, with two wins in the Long and Short Cross at the World Championships, which are also Similar Events within that Event, has collected 1400 points for each cross crown, and will only be able to add his performance over 3000m at the World Athletics Final if it is worth MORE than 1400 Performance Points, while his current 6th best results is 1381.
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Two other athletes also have the possibility to becoming Number One at the expense of El Guerrouj, but they would need to run World records and hope that the Moroccan is slower than 3:34.00.
The following performances would be necessary:
Saif Saaeed Shaheen: 7:54.49 in the 3000m Steeplechase
Allen Johnson: 12.90 (WR) 110mH.
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For a detailed table of where El Guerrouj stands in relation to Bekele, and Cloete to Klüft, select the World Athletics Final 2003 .pdf file in the IAAF World Rankings Download section of the IAAF internet which can be found by clicking here
Click here for the full IAAF World Rankings
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