Goofy IAAF Rankings--m200

[gh]

Here's the 6 entries in Tobias Unger's log (basically cut and pasted from IAAF Rankings page, but with a bit of extraneous data cut)

13.02.2005 Karlsruhe LBBW?Meeting GER F 1 20.61
06.03.2005 Madrid European Indoor Championships ESP F 1 20.53
19.06.2005 Firenze SPAR European Cup ITA F 2 20.36 - 0.6
03.07.2005 Bochum?Wattenscheid German Ch. GER F 1 20.20 + 0.7
10.08.2005 Helsinki IAAF World Championships FIN SF 6 20.63 - 0.1
11.08.2005 Helsinki IAAF World Championships FIN F 7 20.81 - 0.5

Where does such a season put him in the IAAF Rankings? (no fair peeking)

[slowcoach]

Re: Goofy IAAF Rankings--m200

About 6-10?

Didn't look.

[gh]

Re: Goofy IAAF Rankings--m200

(way) too low!

[gh]

Re: Goofy IAAF Rankings--m200

Would you believe Herr Unger is No. 4? (!)

His 20.53 to win the Euro Indoor is worth (says the IAAF) 1355 points (his best performance of the year). In comparison, Spearmon's 19.91 to win the NCAA Outdoor gets only 1286! Another glaring example of how a politically-driven one-size-fits-all methodology can lead to ridiculous numbers.

[mcgato]

Re: Goofy IAAF Rankings--m200

I looked at this yesterday, and was a bit surprised to see him at #4. But I really couldn't make an argument for anyone behind him to be ahead of him. So who do you suggest should be ahead of him?

[26mi235]

Re: Goofy IAAF Rankings--m200

How about anyone that beat him in his "top 6" performances. For instance, any of the four Americans that finished 1-2-3-4 has a good argument.

[TREEWIND43]

Re: Goofy IAAF Rankings--m200

it was reported thru europe grapevine talk he split 19.2 on relay..ill believe it when i see it.
he also is rumored to be training for a low 43 400.oh well..............

[gh]

Re: Goofy IAAF Rankings--m200

>I looked at this yesterday, and was a bit surprised to see him at #4. But I
>really couldn't make an argument for anyone behind him to be ahead of him. >>

I was wondering when somebody would seize on the fact of just how outrageously bad the event was this year. Nonetheless, a guy who finishes 7th in the WC, doesn't contest the WAF and finishes 4th in the only time he races on the GP Circuit won't be hard to downgrade, trust me.

[Walt Murphy]

Re: Goofy IAAF Rankings--m200

>Would you believe Herr Unger is No. 4? (!)

His 20.53 to win the Euro Indoor
>is worth (says the IAAF) 1355 points (his best performance of the year). In
>comparison, Spearmon's 19.91 to win the NCAA Outdoor gets only 1286! Another
>glaring example of how a politically-driven one-size-fits-all methodology can
>lead to ridiculous numbers.

How can they place such importance on an event that was dropped from the World Indoor Championship program?

[Flumpy]

Re: Goofy IAAF Rankings--m200

There really is no point getting worked up about the IAAF rankings. They are so ridiculous as to be laughable.

According to them Lashinda Demus is currently the 5th Best Female athlete in the world.

Osleidys Menendez is 26th????

[mcgato]

Re: Goofy IAAF Rankings--m200

I was wondering when somebody would seize on the fact of just how
>outrageously bad the event was this year. Nonetheless, a guy who finishes 7th
>in the WC, doesn't contest the WAF and finishes 4th in the only time he races
>on the GP Circuit won't be hard to downgrade, trust me.

OK, going down the list:
Chris Williams: didn't make WC final
Usain Bolt: 8th WC final (injured)
Stephan Buckland: 5th WC final, 5th WAF -- should be higher
Aaron Armstrong: DNS WC semi
John Capel: 3rd WC final, 5th Lausanne, 8th WAF
Xavier Carter: All NCAA, though most losses to Spearmon and Gay, so could probably argue him higher. 9th at USATF doesn't help his case, though.

I'm tired, so enough from me.

[Jon]

Re: Goofy IAAF Rankings--m200

There really is no point getting worked up about the IAAF rankings. They are so ridiculous as to be laughable.

Osleidys Menendez is 26th????

The women's javelin seems to suffer most from the skewed rankings system. Christina Obergfoll (with 70m ER, 68m, 67m, 66m, 66m, 66m, 65m to her name this season) is ranked 86th overall - 10 place behind Kim Smith.

?!?!?!?!

[Justin Clouder]

The IAAF rankings get a regular kicking here...but no-one ever posts suggestions to address the issues. The idea of merit rankings is sound and I like the idea of prioritising championships over simple fast times (we have performance ranking lists for that).

However, indoor 200 should clearly not count. Nor should the indoor 60 and outdoor 100 be combined as they are. I assume the javelin throwers' problem is not getting to compete indoors, which puts them at an obvious disadvantage.

Other practical suggestions?

Justin

[Jon]

I assume the javelin throwers' problem is not getting to compete indoors, which puts them at an obvious disadvantage.

Not necessarily so. Of the 60 individual performances from the top ten world ranked men, only one of them (Bekele's 3000m in Stockholm) is an indoor performance. On the women's side, only four of the top 57 performances are non-outdoor track ones. So it is possible to rank high and not compete indoors at all.

I'm not suggesting the rankings need major changes - just some alterations in the allocation of points.

[Mennisco]

I've never paid any attention to their rankings. Thanks for the additional warning.