Posted: July 5, 2006

Athletics: Shaheen Overtakes Bekele For Second Place Overall In The Latest IAAF World Rankings

Monte-Carlo – Double World champion Saif Saaeed Shaheen returned to the Men’s 3000m Steeplechase Event Ranking this week, after setting the fastest time in the world this year in Athens in 7:56.32 (1449 points), the sixth fastest time ever. Shaheen himself has only run faster on two previous occasions. The win allowed Shaheen to reclaim the top spot in the Event Ranking that he had lost a month ago. Furthermore, the Qatari overtook Kenenisa Bekele for second place in the Men’s Overall Ranking.

Shaheen is only a single point ahead of the Ethiopian World and Olympic 10,000m champion, while another athlete owning the same global titles for 100m, USA’s Justin Gatlin, heads the Overall Ranking nineteen points clear of the steeplechaser.

However, Shaheen’s visit to the World Rankings could well be a short one. Unless the 23-year-old turns in another result before the Paris Golden League meet on 8 July, followed by no less than four more runs until the end of August, he will again no longer be eligible for the Event Ranking.

On the women’s side, World 3000m Steeplechase champion Dorcus Inzikuru dropped out of the Event Ranking. The Ugandan has been injured for over a month now and without results relinquishes her lead to Kenya’s Jeruto Kiptum. Australia’s Victoria Mitchell finished fourth in Athens with 9:30.84 (1264 points), just ahead of Hungary’s Livia Tóth in fifth (9:31.50 – 1253 points), and Kenya’s Salome Chepchumba in sixth (9:37.93 – 1227 points). With these results Mitchell moved into second position in the Event Ranking, Tóth moved into sixth place, while Chepchumba is now in third.

Russia’s Tatyana Tomashova celebrated her 31st birthday by returning to the Women’s 1500m Event Ranking in third place. The double World champion finished fourth in Athens with 4:01.94 (1310 points) and is now three points ahead of her compatriot Yuliya Chizhenko, who placed second in Athens with 3:58.02 (1366 points).

The latest IAAF World Rankings are available at: IAAF.org.

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