Posted: May 17, 2005

Athletics: Shaheen Overtakes Koech To Lead The Steeplechase In The Latest IAAF World Rankings

Monte-Carlo - Qatar's Saif Saaeed Shaheen is the new leader of the Men's 3000m Steeplechase Event Ranking, having overtaken Paul Kipsiele Koech of Kenya. Koech has been ranked number one since the end of August last year following his Olympic bronze medal, but was forced to surrender his leading position after Shaheen won the 2000m steeplechase at the Qatar Super Grand Prix in Doha in 5:14.53 (1364 points) - an Area record and a world leading time for the rarely contested event.

Wesley Kiprotich of Kenya finished second to Shaheen in Doha with 5:16.46 (1330 points) and moved up four places to 4th in the Event Ranking behind two of his compatriots, Kipsiele Koech and Olympic champion Ezekiel Kemboi.

Asafa Powell of Jamaica has also made a record breaking performance since the last edition of the IAAF World Rankings. The 22-year-old set an Area record and a world leading time for the season when winning the 100m at the Kingston Invitational in 9.84 (1304 points). The meet was an Area Permit Meeting, ranked only as a D Category event, so Powell could not improve on his average, but he still leads the Men's 100m Event Ranking.

Ethiopia's reigning Olympic 5000m champion Meseret Defar overtook Kenya's Isabella Ochichi, the Olympic runner-up, for second place in the 5000m -10,000m (3000m - Cross Country) Event Ranking. Defar won in Doha with a world leading 3000m time of 8:39.75 (1314 points), and is now ranked only 20 points behind her compatriot and Event leader Tirunesh Dibaba, the World 5000m champion.

Doha also brought some significant changes to the Women's 3000m steeplechase Event Ranking. Kenya's Salome Chepchumba came home in second place with 9:39.34 (1244 points) and jumped up ten spots to fourth, while Hungary's Lívia Tóth finished third (9:41.48 - 1118 points) allowing her to return to the Event Ranking in second place behind Romanian Cristina Casandra.

Uganda's Dorcus Inzikuru won the event with a new African record of 9:28.50 (1290 points) but as this was only her third competition in the past 365 days, Inzikuru is not eligible for the World Rankings.

Rankings: IAAF.org.