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 women’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 women’s event. The men’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 Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce (JAM)
2 Dafne Schippers (NED)
3 Torie Bowie (USA)

200m
1 Dafne Schippers (NED)
2 Elaine Thompson (JAM)
3 Allyson Felix (USA)

400m
1 Allyson Felix (USA)
2 Shaunae Miller (BAH)
3 Francena McCorory (USA)

800m
1 Eunice Sum (KEN)
2 Marina Arzamasova (BLR)
3 Melissa Bishop (CAN)

1500m/one mile
1 Genzebe Dibaba (ETH)
2 Faith Kipyegon (KEN)
3 Sifan Hassan (NED)

5000m
1 Almaz Ayana (ETH)
2 Genzebe Dibaba (ETH)
3 Senbere Teferi (ETH)

10,000m
1 Vivian Cheruiyot (KEN)
2 Gelete Burka (ETH)
3 Molly Huddle (USA)

Marathon
1 Mare Dibaba (ETH)
2 Gladys Cherono (KEN)
3 Mary Keitany (KEN)

3000m steeplechase
1 Habiba Ghribi (TUN)
2 Hyvin Jepkemoi (KEN)
3 Sofia Assefa (ETH)

100m hurdles
1 Dawn Harper-Nelson (USA)
2 Sharika Nelvis (USA)
3 Jasmin Stowers (USA)

400m hurdles
1 Zuzana Hejnová (CZE)
2 Shamier Little (USA)
3 Sara Petersen (DEN)

High jump
1 Mariya Kuchina (RUS)
2 Anna Chicherova (RUS)
3 Ruth Beitia (ESP)

Pole vault
1 Yarisley Silva (CUB)
2 Nikoléta Kiriakopoúlou (GRE)
3 Fabiana Murer (BRA)

Long jump
1 Tianna Bartoletta (USA)
2 Shara Proctor (GBR)
3 Ivana Spanović (SRB)

Triple jump
1 Caterine Ibargüen (COL)
2 Hanna Minenko (ISR)
3 Yekaterina Koneva (RUS)

Shot
1 Christina Schwanitz (GER)
2 Gong Lijiao (CHN)
3 Michelle Carter (USA)

Discus
1 Sandra Perkovic (CRO)
2 Denia Caballero (CUB)
3 Nadine Müller (GER)

Hammer
1 Anita Wlodarczyk (POL)
2 Zhang Wenxiu (CHN)
3 Alexandra Tavernier (FRA)

Javelin
1 Katharina Molitor (GER)
2 Barbora Spot kov (CZE)
3 Lu Huihui (CHN)

Heptathlon
1 Jessica Ennis-Hill (GBR)
2 Brianne Theisen-Eaton (CAN)
3 Laura Ikauniece-Admidina (LAT)

20km walk
1 Liu Hong (CHN)
2 Lu Xiuzhi (CHN)
3 Eleonora Giorgi (ITA)

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]

The post Merit rankings 2015 – International women appeared first on Athletics Weekly.