Amusan, Ashe, Usoro, Onyekwere, Chukwuma move up in World Ranking

Sprint hurdler Tobi Amusan, sprinters Favour Ashe and Rosemary Chukwuma, Discus thrower, Chioma Onyekwere and long jumper, Ruth Usoro are among Nigerian track and field athletes who have moved up in their rankings in 2023.

Amusan retains her status as the number one ranked high hurdler in the world and moved a step up from fifth to fourth in the overall women’s ranking following her 12.59 seconds performance at the Tom Jones invitational in Florida, USA 10 days ago.

The 26 year old ended 2022 as the fifth best woman athlete in the world with 1,489 points but has added five points to move to fourth after Venezuela’s world indoor and outdoor triple jump champion, Yuliyar Rojas dropped out of the top five.

Also on the rise is long jumper, Ruth Usoro whose massive 6.87m jump indoors also gave her additional five points which moved her from the 20th she ranked in the long jump event to 17th while Ese Brume moved from third in the event last year to second behind world champion, Malaika Mihambo.

Brume however dropped five places from 61st at the end of last year to 66 in the overall women’s ranking.

New African Discus record holder, Chioma Onyekwere expectedly moved up from 16th in December to 14th this month following her incredible 64.96m throw at the Oklahoma Throws Series Meet 2 in Ramona, Oklahoma, USA 10 days ago.

Sprinter Rosemary Chukwuma’s impressive start this outdoor campaign has not gone unnoticed has she has moved twice this year. She first moved two steps from the 39th ranked 100m runner in 2022 to 37th early April.

The 21 year’s 10.85 wind aided (2.4m/s) run at the Tom Jones Memorial in Florida 10 days also ensured he moved five places to become the 32nd ranked sprinter in the world.

For the men, Favour Ashe moved two places up from the 25th best he was ranked in the 100m last December to 23rd this year while Nigeria’s 400m hurdles record holder, Ezekiel Nathanieldropped from 46th in December to 49 this month.