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 August 11-18, one U.S. athlete in the top 100 of their respective event had the biggest absolute improvement to their World Ranking, improving by 15 spots. Valery Tobias notched yet another sub-2:00.00 800m race this past weekend at the Stumptown Twilight in Portland, Oregon. Tobias won the race by nearly two seconds, marking her ninth time under the 2:00.00 barrier and her fifth this year. With this victory, she replaced her performance from the LA Track Festival and increased her ranking score from 1211 to 1219 for a 15-place improvement in a densely bunched section of the women’s 800m world rankings. 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 2nd to 1st for a 50% improvement. At the risk of sounding repetitive, this week’s biggest percentage mover is – for the 3rd time this year – Gabby Thomas in the 200m. Thomas has not competed in the past month but was on the benefitting end of a mark expiring on Shericka Jackson’s ranking score. With this, Thomas reclaimed her spot at the top of the 200m world rankings for the first time since July 2025. 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.