Posted: November 15, 2005

Athletics: New York Victories Help Tergat And Prokopcuka Improve In The Latest IAAF World Rankings

Monte-Carlo - World marathon record holder Paul Tergat won the ING New York City Marathon on 6 November, his first attempt at the race. The 36-year-old Kenyan won one of the closest races in marathon running history, edging out defending champion Hendrick Ramaala by a second. Tergat clocked 2:09:30 (1286 points) while the South-African finished in 2:09:31 (1266 points). The victory allowed the Kenyan to move up in the IAAF Road Running – Marathon Event Ranking from 24th to 6th, however, Ramaala, by not being able to repeat his win from 2004, dropped five places to 12th.

Fourth place in the race went to another Kenyan Robert Kipkoech Cheruiyot. The 27-year-old ran 2:11:01 (1200 points) and moved up sixteen places in the Event Ranking to just a single point ahead of Ramaala in 11th. The event is still led by World champion Jaouad Gharib of Morocco.

In the women’s race, Latvian Jelena Celnova-Prokopcuka surprised many by taking the victory ahead of Kenyan Susan Chepkemei and Derartu Tulu of Ethiopia. The winner’s time was 2:24:41 (1291 points), well clear of Chepkemei who clocked 2:24:55 (1268 points). The Latvian’s performance helped her to step up three places to 6th in the Event Ranking.

Salina Kosgei (KEN) finished 4th in New York, returning to the Event Ranking with her third result of the year, entering the system in 21st place. Italy’s Bruna Genovese finished 5th, right behind Kosgei, with 2:27:15 (1194 points) and moved back into the Top 20 in 17th place.

See the full IAAF World Rankings at: IAAF.org.