The year end TFN world rankings are out.
http://www.trackandfieldnews.com/images/stories/Rankings/2012worldm.pdf
For the men's steeple, it looks like this:
STEEPLE
1. Paul Koech (Kenya)
2. Brimin Kipruto (Kenya)
3. Ezekiel Kemboi (Kenya)
4. Conseslus Kipruto (Kenya)
5. Abel Mutai (Kenya)
6. Jairus Birech (Kenya)
7. Mahiedine Mekhissi-Benabbad
(France)
8. Roba Gari (Ethiopia)
9. Hillary Yego (Kenya)
10. Evan Jager (USA)
Your thoughts?
I like how they don't necessarily give it to the guy who win's Olympic gold (unlike NCAA awards which always go to the winning team/runner/coach), but if it was me I'd make Kemboi #1.
Yes, because of his legal problems Kemboi didn't really have a season (his only other steeple beside the Olympics or Trials was a 4th in Rome).
But he won his 2nd Olympic title in impressive fashion to become the first Kenyan with 2 Olympic steeple golds.
The two biggest races of the year in the steeple in my mind are the Kenyan Trials and the Olympic games and Kemboi won* them all.
Well he technically lost the Kenyan trials but that was only after the showman/jerk (depending on if you are a fan or not) let Kipruto win it. Clealry Kemboi made this next to impossible as he barely raced and lost certain races on purpose.
Does anyone have the language that TFN uses to describe the criteria they use in their rankings?
I guess if it was like tennis one would say that Kemboi didn't compete enough to have a high ranking (maybe the IAAF should mandate a minnimum # of races) but Kemboi is far from a 1-hit wonder.
To those of you complaining about Jager at #10 even though he was 6th in the Olympics. Please realize he was #8 on the year in terms of time and 2 guys below him on time went 1-2 at the Olympics.
Im confused as to why Jager is lower than Roba Gabri. They ran almost identical times and think Jager came ahead of him in all races where they competed (need to double check this)
Never mind Roba beat him in the Olympics I was mistaken
Agreed. No doubt in my mind Kemboi is the king. He could have easily run 7:54 in a DL steepl (assuming no at home conflict). We are talking about one of the best steeplers of all time.
I think it's hilarious when people criticize a rankings system without ever knowing what the ranking criteria are. Here's a thought: get a copy of the magazine and read the commentary that comes with each ranking.
Paul Koech seems to be a unique character, a sensationally good racer who is a Kenyan who does NOT run well at altitude and thus doesn't make Kenyan Olympic teams. If Kenyans weren't already dominating the event at Olympics anyway, maybe they'd think this was a problem. It's only a problem for Koech.