Amusan, Ezekiel, Ajayi Soar in Post-World Championships Ranking
Sprint hurdler Tobiloba Amusan and long hurdler Ezekiel Nathaniel expectedly soared in the latest post-20th World Athletics Championships rankings released Tuesday by World Athletics.
Amusan won a silver medal at the just concluded World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, her second in five appearances at World Athletics’ flagship event, while Ezekiel became the second Nigerian to run in the 400m hurdles final since 1987 and left Tokyo as the fastest Nigerian long hurdler in the history of the competition.
The world 100m hurdles record holder came to Tokyo ranked as the ninth best in her specialty and 68th in the overall women’s ranking.
She left the Championships with a jump from ninth to third best in her event and moved 40 places up to 28th in the women’s overall ranking.
Ezekiel, 22, and the reigning NCAA champion, came to the Championships as the fifth ranked in the 400m hurdles and left still as the fifth ranked, albeit his ranking score increased geometrically from 1409 to 1450.
He, however, moved up 44 places from 59th in the overall men’s ranking pre-Tokyo World Championships to 15th in the world, a feat no Nigerian man has ever achieved.
Sprinter Kanyinsola Ajayi also had a geometrical rise after running a blistering 9.88 second lifetime best and securing a sixth-place finish in the 100m event.
The 21-year-old came into the Championships as the 29th best but left not only as the seventh Nigerian man to run in the final of the global showpiece but also the fastest Nigerian ever in Championships history and the 13th best ranked 100m runner in the World.
Shot putter, Chukwuebuka Enekwechi also moved up in his event after improving his best ever position in the competition to fifth, up three places from the eighth he finished in 2019 in Doha, Qatar where he made his World Athletics Championships debut.
The 32-year-old came to Tokyo ranked eighth best in the world and left as seventh best despite finishing fifth but improved his ranking score from 1368 pre-Championships to 1373 post.
