Golden
League winners improve in latest IAAF Rankings
2
July 2002 –
Monte Carlo - A number of top athletes extended their lead at the head of their
respective Event Rankings following solid performances at the first IAAF Golden
League meeting of the season in Oslo, last Friday night.
400m hurdles world champion Felix Sanchez increased his lead by two points after his first place finish. Sanchez was also rewarded as he entered the Overall Top-10 in 9th place, two spots above his previous ranking position.
American sprint and hurdling sensation Gail Devers added nine points to her score following a blistering time of 12.53, jumping from 9th to 6th in the Overall Ranking, while Sweden's high jumper Stefan Holm pleased the Scandinavian crowd with a second place finish and a gain of two points in the IAAF World Event Ranking.
Jamaican 400m runner Lorraine Graham-Fenton came second in Oslo to Ana Guevara of Mexico, but closed the gap to eleven points between the two of them at the head of the IAAF Event Ranking. Graham-Fenton was not left without any rewards; she rose to 31st in the Overall Ranking. Guevara - who also increased her total and rose to 25th in the Overall Ranking - still leads the event with 1359 points.
Former world champion Antonio Pettigrew of the US and compatriot Leonard Byrd took control of the 400m in Oslo. Byrd’s winning time of 45.75 moved him up three places to fourth, while Pettigrew stepped up one spot to second in the Event Ranking.
A strong race in the women’s 5000m in Oslo paid off for the top two finishers. Winner Gabriela Szabo of Romania and second place finisher Berhane Adere of Ethiopia are now tied for third place in the Event Ranking. Szabo was 6th and Adere was 5th prior to the meet. Szabo also moved up a spot in the Overall Ranking to 5th, while the Ethiopian rose to 17th.
Dwain Chambers of Britain won the 100m in Oslo, ahead of a world class field and while the young sprinter did not actually rise in the Event Ranking, his time of 10.05 – the equivalent of 1378 points in Performance Scores – allowed him to close the gap to nine points between himself and 4th ranked sprinter Bernard Williams of the US. Chambers did however rise in the Overall Ranking from 47th to 34th.
Overall, at the top of the women’s Overall Rankings USA’s world and Olympic champion sprinter Marion Jones overtook compatriot Stacy Dragila. Winning the Golden League meet in Oslo certainly helped Jones rise to the top of the IAAF Overall Women World Ranking, but it was not enough. A bit of luck did the trick, as Pole Vault world record holder Stacy Dragila was unable to repeat her performance at this time last year (due to calendar changes) at the Rome Golden League meet where she won with a 4.72m clearance. As a consequence Dragila lost six points in the rankings, and fell three behind Marion Jones’ 1445 points.