National Depth at Olympic Level
Roger Ruth - 2004 year
Roger Ruth - National Depth at Olympic Level based upon Top 100 worldwide marks at the end of the season. If a tie for 100th mark, obviously there are more than that used. No attempt on this is made to rank the athletes on their competitive season, but it is done on straight top 100 athletes on a world-wide end of year list done by Mirko Jalava from Europe.
Interestingly it is obvious with the events that he has done so far that the US is still the nation in the world with by far the most depth in the sport. Some events (Women's Shot Put), where we have little chance of medaling among the top three in the World Championships or Olympics, we still rate very high as far as depth, probably a tribute to our College system in developing a good number of top athletes, as opposed to foreign "club/national" system where only a smaller elite group is developed, along with obvious population, etc. considerations.
Anyway, we will add events as Mr. Ruth publicizes them.
From Ruth: The charts summarize the number of athletes each country placed in the
world top-100 outdoor rankings for 2004 (plus ties) and the
highest-ranked of these. Since one or two placings may represent only
exceptional individuals, rather than national program strength, I've
listed only countries with three or more athletes in the top 100 (plus
ties). The data base drawn upon is the world deep list from Mirko
Jalava's web site <http://www.tilastopaja.net>. This use of the data is
with permission (his) and thanks (mine).
MEN'S 100 METERS 2004
Country Top 109 Highest
United States 40 1
Jamaica 9 2
Nigeria 6 14
Trinidad 4 25
Great Britain 4 39
Brazil 4 42
Ghana 3 8
Japan 3 24
Canada 3 43
34 countries represented
100th = 10.27
WOMEN'S 100 METERS 2004
Country Top 107 Highest
United States 27 1
Russia 9 15
Jamaica 8 2
Ukraine 7 39
France 5 4
Nigeria 5 27
Belarus 4 3
Bahamas 3 10
Trinidad 3 17
China 3 60
36 countries represented
100th = 11.39
MEN'S 200 METERS 2004
Country Top 101 Highest
United States 34 1
Jamaica 11 2
Brazil 5 29
Germany 4 20
Nigeria 4 30
Great Britain 4 33
Greece 3 14
South Africa 3 37
France 3 48
32 countries represented
100th = 20.67
WOMEN'S 200 METERS 2004
Country Top 100 Highest
United States 28 2
Russia 11 6
Jamaica 8 1
France 5 16
Bahamas 3 3
Great Britain 3 12
Ukraine 3 33
Belarus 3 48
South Africa 3 71
35 countries represented
100th = 23.21
With a population of only 2.7 million, Jamaica has long earned
over-representation in the sprint rankings. This has never been more
evident in the eight years I've been charting national depth than in
the 200 meters this year, with Veronica Campbell topping the women's
rankings and Usain Bolt trailing only Shawn Crawford in the men's.
MEN'S 400 METERS 2004
Country Top 102 Highest
United States 32 1
Jamaica 9 11
Australia 5 33
France 4 8
Japan 4 35
Russia 3 15
Nigeria 3 21
Great Britain 3 23
Bahamas 3 30
36 countries represented
100th = 45.85
WOMEN'S 400 METERS 2004
Country Top 100 Highest
United States 26 3
Russia 13 4
Jamaica 7 17
Great Britain 5 13
Ukraine 4 22
India 4 37
Poland 3 46
Nigeria 3 76
34 countries represented
100th = 52.18
MEN'S 800 METERS 2004
Country Top 100 Highest
Kenya 20 1
United States 10 22
Spain 5 7
Canada 5 24
France 5 29
Morocco 3 5
Russia 3 8
South Africa 3 9
Germany 3 11
Algeria 3 15
Great Britain 3 49
Poland 3 70
36 countries represented
100th = 1:46.66
WOMEN'S 800 METERS 2004
Country Top 100 Highest
Russia 18 1
United States 8 7
Ukraine 6 25
Great Britain 5 2
Morocco 5 3
Romania 5 21
Spain 4 14
Cuba 4 17
France 2 20
Poland 3 34
Portugal 3 42
41 countries represented
100th = 2:02.19
In the women's rankings, Kenya had only two in the top 100 and the
highest-ranked of these was #43. Isn't it a little surprising that
there should be so much difference in the strength of the Kenyan men
and women in this event?
MEN'S 1500 METERS 2004
Country Top 100 Highest
Kenya 32 1
Morocco 10 2
United States 9 19
Spain 8 22
France 4 12
Algeria 4 14
Great Britain 4 15
Australia 3 60
25 countries represented
100th = 3:38.50
WOMEN'S 1500 METERS 2004
Country Top 100 Highest
Russia 13 4
United States 13 42
Great Britain 7 1
Morocco 7 16
Romania 6 3
Canada 5 10
Spain 5 12
Ethiopia 5 32
Poland 4 5
Ukraine 4 17
Australia 4 30
Kenya 3 31
29 countries represented
100th = 4:10.56
The startling stat here is that the U.S., although tied with Russia for
most representatives in the top 100, has its highest ranking at #42.
That compares, over the past four years, with #9 in 2003, #3 in 2002,
#4 in 2001, and #1 in 2000.
MEN'S 5000 METERS 2004
Country Top 100 Highest
Kenya 37 2
Ethiopia 15 1
Spain 8 49
Morocco 5 10
United States 4 53
Qatar 3 15
Belgium 3 47
Algeria 3 51
24 nations represented
100th = 13:25.65
WOMEN'S 5000 METERS 2004
Country Top 100 Highest
Ethiopia 15 3
Kenya 15 8
Japan 13 23
United States 9 25
Russia 7 14
Great Britain 6 2
Ireland 3 24
Portugal 3 63
29 countries represented
100th = 15:27.90
MEN'S 10,000 METERS 2004
Country Top 100 Highest
Kenya 36 6
Japan 21 31
United States 11 17
Ethiopia 10 1
Uganda 3 9
20 countries represented
100th = 28:22.30
To see the degree of Kenya's domination, you really have to have the
full top-100 list: Kenyan athletes held 10 of the first 20 places, 25
of the top 50.
WOMEN'S 10,000 METERS 2004
Country Top 100 Highest
Japan 36 12
United States 10 17
Ethiopia 8 3
Kenya 8 10
Russia 6 52
Great Britain 5 1
China 4 2
Mexico 3 85
23 countries represented
100th = 32:45.78
The small number of countries represented in the top 100 of both the
men's and women's 10,000 reminds me of Dan Kaplan asking, "Is the men's
marathon the most densely populated (by a few countries) so
far, or have there been others more lopsided?"
In looking over the data of this and earlier years, it would seem that
Dan is right on. The 18 countries represented in the top 100 of the
men's marathon is equalled only by that number in the men's marathon of
2003 and 2004 and the women's marathon of 2001.
MEN'S 110m HURDLES 2004
Country Top 100 Highest
United States 31 2
Germany 6 56
Brazil 5 14
Jamaica 4 6
Cuba 4 8
Russia 4 39
China 3 1
France 3 3
Canada 3 11
Japan 3 29
Great Britain 3 42
35 countries represented
100th = 13.70
MEN'S MARATHON 2004- GUESS THIS EVENT SHOWS THE FLAWS OF THIS RANKING SYSTEM, WITH MEB'S SECOND IN ATHENS IN THE HEAT NOT MAKING THE TOP 100 TIMES OF THE YEAR, WITH OBVIOUSLY HIS EFFORT SHOWING HE IS RANKED RIGHT AT THE TOP END WORLDWIDE - WITH HILLS AND HEAT THIS PROBABLY THE MOST AFFECTED LIST BY OTHER CONDITIONS
Ryan Lamppa advises me that the U.S. men now have three top-100
marathoners. As of late October, Mbarak Hussein, shown at #13 on the
world list for Kenya, has American citizenship and joins # 24 Khalid
Khannoucihi and #54 Meb Keflezighi in representing USA.
Country Top 100 Highest
Kenya 47 1
Japan 14 12
Ethiopia 6 14
Italy 5 21
Tanzania 5 53
Morocco 3 8
Portugal 3 34
18 countries represented
100th = 2:11:27
WOMEN'S MARATHON 2004
Country Top 100 Highest
Japan 18 1
Russia 16 14
Kenya 13 2
China 8 6
Ethiopia 7 12
United States 7 34
Italy 5 25
Romania 3 12
26 countries represented
100th = 2:32:06
WOMEN'S 100m HURDLES 2004
Country Top 100 Highest
United States 36 1
Jamaica 9 5
France 7 22
Canada 4 3
Russia 4 10
Greece 4 35
Sweden 3 15
Nigeria 3 28
Germany 3 29
Great Britain 3 52
29 countries represented
100th = 13.26
MEN'S 400 METER HURDLES 2004
Country Top 102 Highest
United States 29 2
Jamaica 7 4
South Africa 7 5
Japan 6 15
Russia 6 24
Czech Republic 4 28
Cuba 3 26
Germany 3 81
34 countries represented
100th = 50.14
WOMEN'S 400 METER HURDLES 2004
Country Top 101 Highest
United States 21 2
Russia 15 3
Ukraine 6 6
China 6 15
Jamaica 6 17
Poland 4 13
Germany 4 23
Italy 3 22
Brazil 3 47
France 3 64
35 countries represented
100th = 57.33
MEN'S STEEPLECHASE 2004
Country Top 100 Highest
Kenya 22 2
United States 12 18
France 9 16
Morocco 7 3
Spain 7 11
Qatar 4 1
Poland 4 23
South Africa 4 64
Ethiopia 3 43
Germany 3 75
29 countries represented
100th = 8:31.06
WOMEN'S STEEPLECHASE 2004
Country Top 100 Highest
United States 24 4
Russia 10 1
Kenya 6 5
Spain 6 29
Romania 5 7
France 3 11
Poland 3 27
China 3 46
Great Britain 3 50
37 countries represented
100th = 10:18.69
MEN'S 20K WALK 2004
Country Top 100 Highest
China 20 10
Russia 19 1
Japan 7 23
Spain 6 8
Mexico 5 12
Belarus 5 24
Ecuador 4 4
Poland 4 6
Italy 4 11
Germany 4 17
United States 3 50
Colombia 3 73
26 countries represented
100th = 1:23:44
WOMEN'S 20K WALK 2004
Country Top 100 Highest
China 20 1
Russia 19 2
Spain 8 6
Romania 5 7
Italy 5 9
Greece 5 20
Belarus 5 22
Portugal 4 25
Australia 3 8
Ukraine 3 33
Japan 3 45
Mexico 3 57
United States 3 91
24 countries represented
100th = 1:35:02
(Even if the walks aren't your favorite thing, it's fun to see the
close competition between China and Russia in the 20K events.)
MEN'S 50K WALK 2004
Country Top 100 Highest
China 26 3
Russia 11 1
Italy 8 28
Mexico 7 19
Poland 6 2
Spain 6 10
Slovakia 3 32
Portugal 3 35
France 3 38
Japan 3 44
26 countries represented
100th = 4:04:18
WOMEN'S 10K WALK 2004
Country Top 100 Highest
Russia 22 6
China 12 22
Spain 6 5
Portugal 6 7
Romania 6 12
Australia 6 28
Japan 6 36
Italy 5 1
Greece 4 3
Belarus 4 18
Mexico 4 52
Poland 4 67
25 countries represented
100th = 49:50.38
You may have noted that the top-ranking U.S. athlete in the four charts
above is respectively #50, #91, #67, and none. I realize how little are
my qualifications for commenting on the walks, and I have no intention
of belittling the achievements of those who do participate in the
event, but it seems to me this inheres in the country's very limited
club system. As long as development of elite athletes depends on the
college programs, and as long as the colleges depend on the high
schools for basic skill development, and as long as there's no way any
teenager is ever going to consider the exaggerated hip movements of
racewalking to be a "cool" thing to do, there's very little opportunity
for change.
MEN'S DECATHLON 2004
Country Top 100 Highest
United States 27 2
Germany 11 15
Russia 7 11
France 6 12
Estonia 4 7
Spain 4 36
Czech Republic 3 1
Finland 3 33
Cuba 3 58
32 countries represented
100th = 7560
WOMEN'S HEPTATHLON 2004
Country Top 101 Highest
United States 15 9
Germany 13 10
Russia 9 2
China 7 39
Ukraine 4 5
France 4 11
Netherlands 4 14
Poland 4 28
Great Britain 3 4
India 3 13
Belarus 3 31
Finland 3 32
32 countries represented
100th = 5631
Sweden's Carolina Klüft, #1 on the heptathlon list (6952 points), was
also her country's only athlete to make the top 100 in the event. I'm
thankful that--this being the last summary I'll prepare for this
year--it's the last time I'll have to be embarrassed by having earlier
called that a "very unusual situation." It happened six times in the
2004 stats. Cheers, Roger
MEN'S HIGH JUMP 2004
Country Top 118 Highest
United States 23 5
China 10 35
Russia 8 11
Poland 6 3
Italy 6 13
France 5 29
Ukraine 4 2
Czech Republic 4 6
Cuba 4 26
Belarus 4 27
Japan 4 91
Sweden 3 1
Germany 3 14
Great Britain 3 39
36 countries represented
100th = 2.21m = 7'3"
I've become accustomed to wide distributions of national representation
in the high jump lists, but this time that factor is increased by a
19-way tie at 2.21m. Just lots of quality jumpers around these days. I
can remember a time (ca. 1970), when the University of British Columbia
was thought to be the only college with three seven-footers competing
at the same time.
WOMEN'S HIGH JUMP 2004
Country Top 101 Highest
Russia 12 1
United States 11 8
Ukraine 8 4
Germany 7 35
Czech Republic 5 27
China 4 21
Great Britain 4 59
Romania 3 20
Sweden 3 46
Canada 3 48
Kazakhstan 3 53
Italy 3 54
41 countries represented
100th = 1.86m = 6'1"
MEN'S POLE VAULT 2004
Country Top 102 Highest
United States 26 1
France 10 13
Germany 9 12
Russia 8 19
Australia 4 11
Ukraine 4 27
Netherlands 3 8
Sweden 3 17
Czech Republic 3 33
Finland 3 41
29 countries represented
100th = 5.50m = 18' 1/2"
WOMEN'S POLE VAULT 2004
Country Top 104 Highest
United States 24 3
Russia 10 1
Germany 10 8
Poland 5 5
China 5 24
France 4 18
Greece 4 20
Australia 4 31
Ukraine 3 15
Spain 3 19
Canada 3 21
Hungary 3 41
30 countries represented
100th = 4.15m = 13'7 1/4"
MEN'S LONG JUMP 2004
Country Top 101 Highest
United States 13 1
Russia 7 19
France 5 9
Spain 4 5
Ukraine 4 15
Brazil 4 17
Germany 4 28
Great Britain 3 13
Cuba 3 16
Japan 3 23
Bulgaria 3 25
Greece 3 27
Italy 3 29
China 3 40
42 countries represented
100th = 7.89m = 25'10 1/2"
That's lots of countries to have athletes in the top 100. Most ever?
Nope.
WOMEN'S LONG JUMP 2004
Country Top 101 Highest
Russia 14 1
United States 13 4
Germany 7 20
Greece 5 21
Ukraine 5 31
Romania 4 11
China 4 16
Jamaica 3 3
Australia 3 7
Czech Republic 3 25
37 countries represented
100th = 6.49m = 21'3 1/2"
Six athletes tied for the 96th place in the rankings. Last of these to
reach 6.49 (on 16 December) was Germany's Heike Drechsler, and only
with that jump did she make the top-100 list. Now 40, and with her
7.48m PB now 16 years in the past, it may be that her quality jumping
is behind her. If so, she will long be remembered as one of the event's
greatest--Olympic Champion at Barcelona in 1992 and at Sydney in 2000.
MEN'S TRIPLE JUMP 2004
Country Top 102 Highest
United States 16 2
Cuba 12 8
Russia 11 4
Ukraine 7 14
Great Britain 5 9
Bulgaria 4 18
France 4 19
Brazil 3 3
Germany 3 11
33 countries represented
100th = 16.49m = 54'1"
Another instance of the #1-ranked athlete (Christian Olsson) being the
sole representative of his country (Sweden) in the world top 100. I
guess I'm going to have to stop calling that "unusual."
WOMEN'S TRIPLE JUMP 2004
Country Top 100 Highest
Russia 18 1
China 11 12
Greece 6 2
Cuba 6 14
Italy 5 6
Romania 5 11
United States 5 37
Jamaica 4 5
Ukraine 3 10
Bulgaria 3 18
Brazil 3 68
Germany 3 76
France 3 78
I think, though, that I can feel confident in describing the women's TJ
rankings as unusual. The first eight jumpers all represented different
countries and each set new national records for the event. They are,
respectively,
1 15.34m Tatyana Lebedeva, Russia
2 15.32m Hrisopiyi Devetz, Greece
3 15.30m Francoise Mbango, Cameroon
4 15.28m Yamil Aldama, Sudan
5 15.16m Trecia Smith, Jamaica
6 15.03m Magdelin Martinez, Italy
7 15.00m Kene Ndoye, Senegal
8 14.89m Baya Rahouli, Algeria
There were 35 countries
represented and 100th place = 13.64m = 44'9".
MEN'S SHOT PUT 2004
Country Top 100 Highest
United States 24 1
Finland 8 16
Russia 7 25
Germany 6 17
Belarus 4 7
Ukraine 4 8
Australia 4 20
India 4 32
Greece 4 48
34 countries represented
100th = 19.15m = 62'9 3/4"
WOMEN'S SHOT PUT 2004
Country Top 100 Highest
United States 17 18
China 15 15
Russia 9 1
Germany 7 6
Belarus 5 3
Ukraine 5 10
Italy 4 12
Cuba 3 5
Greece 3 13
Japan 3 26
32 countries represented
100th = 16.70m = 54'9 1/2"
MEN'S DISCUS THROW 2004
Country Top 100 Highest
United States 20 9
Germany 7 6
Finland 5 55
Hungary 4 2
Belarus 4 17
Italy 4 45
Ukraine 4 52
Russia 4 76
South Africa 3 8
Canada 3 14
Poland 3 47
Greece 3 53
38 countries represented
100th = 60.02m = 196'11"
WOMEN'S DISCUS THROW 2004
Country Top 100 Highest
United States 17 9
China 13 13
Russia 9 2
Germany 6 7
Greece 5 3
Ukraine 5 4
Belarus 4 1
India 4 14
Cuba 4 24
Poland 3 23
Great Britain 3 43
33 countries represented
100th = 56.04m = 183'10"
When I noticed that Virgilijus Alekna, who led the men's rankings was
the only Lithuanian in the top 100, I thought this must be a very
unusual circumstance. A quick check, though, of only this year's
summaries I've completed so far found two other examples: Ivet Lalova,
who ranked at the top of the women's 100 meters was the only Bulgarian,
and Felix Sanchez leads the 400m hurdles as the Dominican Republic's
only representative on that list. How do they get that good, without
high-level training partners?
MEN'S HAMMER THROW 2004
Country Top 100 Highest
United States 12 19
Belarus 9 1
Russia 8 13
Ukraine 7 7
Germany 7 21
France 5 39
Italy 5 40
Hungary 4 2
Poland 4 17
Finland 3 3
Czech Republic 3 23
38 countries represented
100th = 71.21m = 233' 11"
WOMEN'S HAMMER THROW 2004
Country Top 100 Highest
United States 17 13
Russia 8 2
Germany 7 8
China 7 11
Belarus 6 3
Cuba 4 1
Ukraine 4 4
France 4 7
Hungary 4 22
Greece 4 27
Australia 4 34
Poland 3 10
Finland 3 28
31 countries represented
100th = 63.65m = 208'10"
MEN'S JAVELIN THROW 2004
Country Top 101 Highest
Finland 11 6
Germany 9 4
Russia 7 1
United States 7 2
Latvia 6 10
Great Britain 4 16
Korea 4 17
China 4 19
South Africa 4 27
Cuba 4 34
Poland 4 39
Estonia 3 3
Sweden 3 45
36 countries represented
100th = 76.07m = 249'7"
WOMEN'S JAVELIN THROW 2004
Country Top 100 Highest
Germany 11 4
China 8 32
Russia 7 6
United States 6 49
Cuba 5 1
Finland 5 16
Greece 4 5
Ukraine 4 10
Romania 4 11
Czech Republic 3 3
Italy 3 15
Lithuania 3 18
Poland 3 26
Great Britain 3 34
Latvia 3 51
36 countries represented
100th = 55.06m = 180'7"
Finland (population 5.2 million) has led the men's javelin list in six
of the eight years I've been doing these summaries, otherwise tying
with Germany (population 82 million) in 2002 and losing out to Germany
in 2003. It seems clear that there's something special of national
tradition and pride that enters here. Anyone know of a publication
reference that explains how this came to be?
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