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.
Beginning on January 17, 2025, The University of Oklahoma junior Agur Dwol and her coach executed a season that culminated at the World Athletics Championships Tokyo 25 alongside the rest of the top women’s triple jumpers in the world. Her meet selections resulted in a world ranking of 38 to close out the year, despite having the 71st best wind-legal mark of the season. But in an event where only seven athletes achieved the entry standard for Tokyo 25, maximizing world ranking is vital for athletes looking to qualify. For athletes like Dwol, the name of the game is maximizing placing points, and the way to succeed is by competing in high level competitions. With few exceptions, Dwol won every F level competition that she entered, but none of these results ended up factoring into her ranking score prior to Tokyo 25. Dwol’s ranking score was comprised of the five performances listed in Table 1 below.
Notably, only two NCAA competitions appear in Dwol’s top five performance scores despite her being an NCAA athlete. The other three were from after the NCAA season ended, which were key for moving her into the world rankings quota for Tokyo 25. She only competed in five competitions that were C level or higher before Tokyo 25, and each of these played a part in her final ranking score thanks in large part to placing points. Because her jumps were consistent in distance throughout the season, placing points were the most important aspect of her performance scores. In the above table, the meets are sorted based on performance score but would nearly be the same as sorting by placing score apart from swapping the first and second competitions. With these results in mind, Figure 1 below shows the increase in ranking score across Dwol’s season.
The dramatic increases in ranking score early in the season occurred because of mark replacement from 2024. In the 2024 season, Dwol jumped solely at F level competitions that lacked high placing scores. In contrast, she quickly set the tone in 2025 by averaging over a meter further per competition as compared to the previous year. After winning the NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships on March 15th, Dwol not only broke into the top 100 in the world but set a much higher standard for improvement, as her ranking score was now entirely comprised of 2025 competitions. Figure 2 below shows the improvement of Dwol’s world ranking position throughout the 2025 season.
A late season surge was vital to Dwol’s success. Despite placing second at the Toyota USATF Outdoor Championships, Dwol was unlikely to qualify for Tokyo 25 given her ranking score at the time. The tipping point was the NACAC Championships where despite her result being below her 2025 seasonal average, the placing score from competing at an Area Championship was enough to move Dwol from 44th in the world to her eventual qualification in 39th.
Agur Dwol secured her spot at Tokyo 25 by being high enough in the world rankings quota, and became a perfect example of an athlete who took advantage of higher-level competition opportunities. By continuing her season beyond the NCAA calendar – including stops at the Ed Murphy Classic, Toyota USATF Outdoor Championships, and NACAC Championships – Dwol was able to represent Team USATF on a global stage for the first time at the senior level, giving her valuable experience for future success. 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.