by Lia Skoufos, MS
This article is part of a USATF Campus exclusive series to help understand the World Athletics Rankings. For track enthusiasts and elite athletes alike, this series aims to provide clarity, analysis, and education on all things World Rankings and how they impact Team USATF. For more information on how the World Rankings system works, see this article.
From July 26-August 4, one U.S. athlete in the top 100 of their respective event had the biggest absolute improvement to their World Ranking, improving by 32 spots. Alicia Monson ran her second race of the year to earn herself biggest absolute ranking mover honors for the second time in the 5000m. She competed in the IFAM Oordegem, where she was the top American and fifth overall in the “C” category competition. Her ranking has oscillated this year as old marks expire and new marks are established, but a season’s best of 14:50.63 certainly helps and leaves only one 2025 mark as part of her ranking score. When assessing improvement based on percentage increase in ranking (e.g. 2nd to 1st is a 50% improvement as is moving from 30th to 15th), one U.S. athlete climbed from 4th to 2nd for a 50% improvement. Hammer thrower Rachel Richeson is also no stranger to being the biggest percentage ranking mover, having previously earned those honors in the first week of June. This week, she has surpassed compatriot DeAnna Price and China’s Jiale Zhang. Though none of these three athletes competed this past week, Zhang and Price each won their respective national championships in 2025. However, both of those marks are now just over twelve months old and are therefore no longer a part of either athlete’s ranking score. As a result, they have fallen behind Richeson in the world rankings who notably has a ranking score comprised of five 2026 marks. Because the women’s hammer throw is not contested at the World Athletics Ultimate Championships, the World Athletics Championships Tokyo 25 marks will continue to be a part of the athletes’ ranking scores until the 2027 edition of the World Athletics Championships. Seven of the top ten women’s hammer throwers (including both Zhang and Price) have a World Athletics Championships mark as part of their ranking score, continuing to give valuable placing points until September 2027. More details on rankings, results, and scenarios can be found on the World Athletics website. You can also experiment with my World Athletics Rankings Dashboard & Calculator and World Rankings Over Time Dashboard, hosted exclusively on USATF Campus.
Lia Skoufos is a Sports Scientist at USATF specializing in throwing events. She holds a BS in Kinesiology from the University of Illinois Chicago and MS in Sport and Exercise Analytics from Marquette University and supports a range of analytics-based projects at USATF. In addition to her work with the throws group, she focuses on creating data-driven visuals and bridging the gap between technical analytics and practical applications by translating complex information into clear, actionable insights for coaches, athletes, and all USATF Campus members.