An international panel of experts has assessed athletes’ form in 2015 to create rankings based on merit

Athletics International has once again collaborated with Athletics Weekly to produce an annual review including world top-10 merit rankings for 2015.

The full annual review can be found in the December 31 end-of-year stats special edition of AW, but we reveal the top three in each international men’s event below.

A panel led by statistician Peter Matthews and former AW editor Mel Watman assessed the year s records of the leading contenders and the ranking order was determined by consensus.

Among the factors considered were athletes’ placings in significant competitions. This year the World Championships in Beijing provided the main focus followed for most events by the Diamond League and World Challenge meetings.

As ever the panel was concerned with the quality of athletes’ best marks, their consistency and also win-loss records against other ranked competitors. It should be noted that not all athletes can compete at Diamond League meetings and some will have different targets, such as NCAA or continental championships. Marks made indoors were not considered (apart from when part of outdoor meetings or events moved indoors due to the weather), nor were any athletes who were suspended for two years or longer during the year for drug-related offences.

Below we list the top three in each men’s event. The women’s international rankings can be found here. The full top-10 list for every event, including the details of the athletes’ seasons, appear in the December 31 stats special, which is available to buy and read digitally here or to order for a print copy here.

100m
1 Usain Bolt (JAM)
2 Justin Gatlin (USA)
3 Andre de Grasse (CAN)

200m
1 Usain Bolt (JAM)
2 Justin Gatlin (USA)
3 Anaso Jobodwana (RSA)

400m
1 Wayde van Niekerk (RSA)
2 LaShawn Merritt (USA)
3 Kirani James (GRN)

800m
1 David Rudisha (KEN)
2 Nijel Amos (BOT)
3 Adam Kszczot (POL)

1500m
1 Asbel Kiprop (KEN)
2 Elijah Manangoi (KEN)
3 Abdelaati Iguider (MAR)

5000m
1 Mo Farah (GBR)
2 Yomif Kejelcha (ETH)
3 Hagos Gebrhiwet (ETH)

10,000m
1 Mo Farah (GBR)
2 Geoffrey Kamworor (KEN)
3 Paul Tanui (KEN)

Marathon
1 Eliud Kipchoge (KEN)
2 Lelisa Desisa (ETH)
3 Dickson Chumba (KEN)

3000m steeplechase
1 Jarius Birech (KEN)
2 Ezekiel Kemboi (KEN)
3 Conseslus Kipruto (KEN)

110m hurdles
1 Sergey Shubenkov (RUS)
2 David Oliver (USA)
3 Orlando Ortega (CUB)

400m hurdles
1 Bershawn Jackson (USA)
2 Nicholas Bett (KEN)
3 Denis Kudryavtsev (RUS)

High jump
1 Mutaz Essa Barshim (QAT)
2 Bohdan Bondarenko (UKR)
3 Derek Drouin (CAN)

Pole vault
1 Renaud Lavillenie (FRA)
2 Shawn Barber (CAN)
3 Raphael Holzdeppe (GER)

Long jump
1 Greg Rutherford (GBR)
2 Marquis Dendy (USA)
3 Jeffrey Henderson (USA)

Triple jump
1 Christian Taylor (USA)
2 Pedro Pablo Pichardo (CUB)
3 Omar Craddock (USA)

Shot
1 Joe Kovacs (USA)
2 David Storl (GER)
3 Tom Walsh (NZL)

Discus
1 Piotr Malachowski (POL)
2 Philip Milanov (BEL)
3 Robert Urbanek (POL)

Hammer
1 Pawel Fajdek (POL)
2 Kriszti n Pars (HUN)
3 Dilshod Nazarov (TJK)

Javelin
1 Julius Yego (KEN)
2 Tero Pitk m ki (FIN)
3 Vitezslav Vesely (CZE)

Decathlon
1 Ashton Eaton (USA)
2 Damian Warner (CAN)
3 Rico Freimuth (GER)

20km walk
1 Miguel gel L pez (ESP)
2 Wang Zhen (CHN)
3 Yusuke Suzuki (JPN)

50km walk
1 Matej T th (SVK)
2 Jared Tallent (AUS)
3 Takayuki Tanii (JPN)

For the full top-10 list for every event, including details of athletes’ seasons, see the December 31 stats special edition of Athletics Weekly, which is available to order here or read digitally here

Peter Matthews and Mel Watman are joint editors of Athletics International. For more information on receiving the Athletics International newsletter email [email protected]

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