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≡ T&FN WORLD RANKINGS ≡
The United States men’s and women’s track & field team had a brilliant Paris Olympic Games, winning 34 total medals and dominating the meet, with 14 golds, with Kenya next with four.
But that was one meet. A review of the full season by the most-respected rankings in the sport showed that 2024 was even better for America’s track & field athletes.
That would be the Track & Field News world rankings, first reported in 1948 and using a simple formula to rank the top ten competitors in each event, according to (1) honors won; (2) win-loss record and (3) sequence of marks.
The 77th edition, recapped in the magazine’s January Annual Edition, demonstrated the year-long success of U.S. athletes. Using 10 points down to one for rankings 1-10, the scores for 2024 showed:
Men:
● 1. 229, United States
● 2. 92, Ethiopia
● 3. 83, Kenya
● 4. 77, Jamaica
● 5. 46, Italy
● 6. 42, Norway
● 7. 32, Great Britain
● 8. 31, Germany
● 9. 29, Canada, France and Spain
Women:
● 1. 219, United States
● 2. 102, Kenya
● 3. 95, Ethiopia
● 4. 83, Great Britain
● 5. 60, Jamaica
● 6. 57, Netherlands
● 7. 49, Australia
● 8. 44, China
● 9. 36, Germany
● 10. 30, Canada
Combined:
● 1. 448, United States
● 2. 187, Ethiopia
● 3. 185, Kenya
● 4. 137, Jamaica
● 5. 115, Great Britain
● 6. 77, Germany
● 7. 73, Netherlands
● 8. 70, Italy
● 9. 62, Australia
● 10. 59, Canada
This is amazing. In the men’s rankings, the U.S. had at least one athlete in 16 of 21 events and had five ranked no. 1: Noah Lyles (100), Quincy Hall (400), Grant Holloway (110 hurdles), Rai Benjamin (400 hurdles) and Ryan Crouser (shot).
The American women had ranking athletes in 15 of 21 events and four winners: Gabby Thomas (200), Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone (400 hurdles), Tara Davis-Woodhall (long jump) and Valarie Allman (discus),
Both the U.S. men and women scored more points in the rankings in 2024 than in 2023, although the women’s total was up by just three. The U.S. men have been the top scorer in 75 of the 77 T&FN World Rankings all-time; the U.S. women have been on top from 2011 on, making 2024 the 13th year in a row (no 2020 rankings due to Covid).
So when the publicity about the U.S. being the no. 1 team in the world comes up, it’s actually true.
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In terms of individual awards, the men’s Athlete of the Year was vault star Mondo Duplantis of Sweden, with Benjamin no. 2 and the U.S. Athlete of the Year. Hurdles star McLaughlin-Levrone was the women’s Athlete of the Year, worldwide and for the U.S.
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