2024 LRC Women’s World & American Rankings: Who’s #1?
We reveal our top 10 international women and top 5 US women for 2024
By LetsRun.comThe LetsRun.com world rankings are back. Each year, we rank the top 10 athletes in the world (and top 5 in the US) in every distance event, 800 meters through marathon. Some events had an obvious #1, others less so. We did our best to rank every event from 2024 based on the following criteria:
- An emphasis on performance in big races. How the athlete fared at the Olympics carries a significant amount of weight but winning gold doesn’t guarantee that an athlete will earn a #1 ranking. For U.S. athletes, their performance at the U.S. championships also factors heavily in the rankings.
- Big-meet success with the Diamond League receiving emphasis.
- Season best times matter, and if an athlete has a bunch of fast performances, they’re more likely to be ranked highly.
- Indoor races are considered and can help an athlete’s ranking.
We already published our men’s rankings here; our women’s rankings are below.
Previous LetsRun rankings: *2023 *2022 *2021 *2019 *2018 *2017 *2016 *2015 *2014
Women’s 800: Hodgkinson is perfect
Good things come to those who wait. Keely Hodgkinson may still be just 22 years old, but she certainly had to wait her turn in the women’s 800 meters. Silver at the 2021 Olympics behind Athing Mu. Silver again at the 2022 Worlds — behind Mu, again, this time by just .08 of a second. In 2023, she finally beat Mu at Worlds…only for Mary Moraa to storm past both of them for gold. Three silvers in three years for Hodgkinson.
In 2024, however, the Brit would not be denied. She opened up with a commanding win at the Pre Classic, set a British record of 1:54.61 — faster than Mu or Moraa have ever run — at the London Diamond League, then broke through with the gold medal in Paris. Track fans were denied a Hodgkinson-Mu rematch after Mu’s fall at the US Olympic Trials, but there is no denying Hodgkinson was the world’s premier women’s 800 runner in 2024 after an undefeated season.
There was something of a changing of the guard at the US level in 2024.
A staple atop our US rankings, Mu didn’t crack our top 5 in 2024 as she battled a torn hamstring — she raced just once apart from the Trials and ran an unimpressive 2:00.29. Mu, 22, should be back in 2025 assuming she heals up from her hamstring injury. But two-time global medalist Raevyn Rogers failed to make our US rankings for the first time since 2016, while Ajee’ Wilson missed out for the first time since we restarted our world rankings in 2014. Can Rogers, 28, and Wilson, 30, two of America’s greatest-ever half milers, rebound in 2025, or have they reached the end of the road?
Instead, US #1 honors went to Nia Akins, who repeated as US champion, though Addy Wiley came on strong at the end of the year. Wiley’s 1:56.83 in Szczecin made her the fifth-fastest American of all time and she figures to be a serious threat moving forward.
LRC World Indoors recap Tsige Duguma wins world title 10 months after running her first career 800
LRC Olympic Trials recap Nia Akins Dominates Women’s 800 at 2024 Olympic Trials after Athing Mu Falls & Misses Team
LRC Olympic recap Olympics Day 4: Mondo WR, Hodgkinson Gold, Chebet Stuns Kipyegon
World rankings
1. Keely Hodgkinson, Great Britain
1:54.61 SB (#1); 1st Pre, 1st Euros, 1st Hengelo, 1st London, 1st Olympics
2. Mary Moraa, Kenya
1:56.56 SB (#4); 1st Kip Keino, 1st Doha, 2nd Pre, 2nd Kenyan trials, 3rd Olympics, 1st Lausanne, 1st Zurich, 1st Brussels (DL final), 2nd Athlos
3. Tsige Duguma, Ethiopia
1:57.15 SB (#10); 1st World Indoors, 1st African Games, 2nd LA Grand Prix, 8th Pre, 7th Oslo, 2nd Olympics, 1st Athlos
4. Jemma Reekie, Great Britain
1:55.61 SB (#2); 2nd World Indoors, 2nd Doha, 3rd Pre, 1st Stockholm, 2nd British champs, 2nd London, Olympic semis, 3rd Lausanne, 4th Zurich, 5th Brussels (DL final)
5. Georgia Bell, Great Britain
1:56.28 SB (#3); 3rd London, 2nd Lausanne, 2nd Zurich, 2nd Brussels (DL final)
6. Renelle Lamote, France
1:57.06 SB (#8); 4th French champs, 5th London, 5th Olympics, 5th Lausanne, 5th Zurich, 4th Brussels (DL final)
7. Prudence Sekgodiso, South Africa
1:57.26 SB (#11); 1st Marrakech, 1st Oslo, 2nd Hengelo, 8th Olympics, 6th Zurich, 8th Brussels (DL final)
8. Natoya Goule-Toppin, Jamaica
1:56.83 SB (#5); World Indoor semis, 6th Doha, 9th Pre, 2nd Oslo, 1st Jamaican champs, 4th London, Olympic semis, 8th Lausanne, 2nd Zagreb, 3rd Brussels (DL final), 3rd Athlos
9. Shafiqua Maloney, St. Vincent & the Grenadines
1:57.59 SB (#17); 4th LA Grand Prix, 7th Hengelo, 4th Olympics, 6th Lausanne, 7th Zurich
10. Halimah Nakaayi, Uganda
1:57.26 SB (#11); 6th World Indoors, 2nd African Games, 5th Kip Keino, 5th Doha, 1st LA Grand Prix, 5th Pre, 9th Hengelo, 6th London, Olympic semis, 4th Lausanne, 7th Brussels (DL final), 5th Athlos
US rankings
1. Nia Akins, Brooks Beasts/unattached
1:57.36 SB (#2); 3rd USA indoors, 4th Pre, 1st Portland Track Festival, 1st Olympic Trials, Olympic semis, 10th Lausanne, 8th Zurich, 6th Athlos
2. Addy Wiley, adidas
1:56.83 SB (#1); 2nd USA indoors, World Indoor prelims, Olympic Trials semis, 3rd Zurich, 2nd Bellinzona, 4th Athlos
3. Allie Wilson, Nike
1:57.52 SB (#3); 1st Millrose, 1st USA indoors, World Indoor prelims, 6th LA Grand Prix, 2nd Olympic Trials, 7th London, Olympic repechage, 11th Lausanne
4. Juliette Whittaker, Stanford University
1:57.76 SB (#5); 1st NCAA indoors, 1st NCAA outdoors, 3rd Olympic Trials, 7th Olympics
5. Sage Hurta-Klecker, On Athletics Club
1:57.53 SB (#4); 3rd LA Grand Prix, 7th Pre, 1st NYC Grand Prix, 5th Olympic Trials, 4th Zagreb
Women’s 1500/mile: Kipyegon remains the GOAT
Faith Kipyegon had one of the greatest seasons in the history of track & field in 2023. Where did she go from there in 2024? How about another world record (3:49.04), a third straight Olympic gold medal (the first woman to accomplish that in any track event), and another perfect season in the 1500, running her unbeaten streak to more than three years. At 30 years old (she turned 31 in January 2025), Kipyegon was as good as ever last year.
Behind her, Australia’s Jessica Hull made a massive breakthrough, dropping her pb from 3:57.29 to 3:50.83 to earn the silver medal. And yet she did not even make the biggest improvement among Olympic medalists as bronze medalist Georgia Bell of Great Britain went from 4:06.20 to 3:52.61.
We had a tough call to make in our rankings with Gudaf Tsegay. The Ethiopian ran 3:50.30 in Xiamen in April to move to #3 on the all-time list, but only ran three other 1500 finals all year and finished dead last in the Olympic final (though this came after running both the 5,000 and 10,000 in Paris). We thought about not ranking her at all but realized she raced the same amount in the 1500/mile as Elle St. Pierrer and was the world #2 (and world #4 indoors) so she made it at #8.
The woman we have the most sympathy for is Ethiopia’s Freweyni Hailu. The world indoor champ is our world #4 but didn’t even get to compete in the Olympics.
In the US, Nikki Hiltz built on a career year in 2023 and was even better in 2024, earning a second straight US title and a silver at World Indoors. Hiltz’s 3:55.33 pb trails only Shelby Houlihan on the all-time US women’s list at 1500 meters. That time came in the insanely competitive Olympic Trials final, where the top three all broke 3:56 and Sinclaire Johnson somehow missed the team by running 3:56.75 — a time only two US women had bettered prior to 2024.
LRC World Indoors recap Freweyni Hailu Wins Gold As Americans Hiltz & Mackay Go 2-3
LRC Olympic Trials recap Nikki Hiltz (3:55.33) wins historically fast Olympic Trials 1500 final as 3 break 3:56.00
LRC Olympic recap Untouchable: Faith Kipyegon and Jakob Ingebrigtsen Reign Supreme on Final Day in Paris
World rankings
1. Faith Kipyegon, Kenya
3:49.04 SB (#1, WR); 1st Kenyan trials, 1st Paris, 1st Olympics, 1st Rome, 1st Brussels (DL final), 1st Athlos
2. Jessica Hull, Australia
3:50.83 SB (#3); 2nd Millrose, 1st Australian champs, 2nd Doha, 2nd Pre, 2nd Paris, 2nd Olympics, 4th Rome, 3rd Brussels (DL final)
3. Diribe Welteji, Ethiopia
3:52.75 SB (#5); 5th World Indoors, 4th Xiamen, 1st LA Grand Prix, 1st Pre, 4th Olympics, 1st Silesia, 2nd Brussels (DL final), 2nd Athlos
4. Freweyni Hailu, Ethiopia
3:54.16 SB (#8); 1st World Indoors, 5th Xiamen, 1st Doha, 2nd LA Grand Prix, 2nd Silesia, 2nd Rome, 4th Brussels (DL final)
5. Georgia Bell, Great Britain
3:52.61 SB (#4); 1st British indoor champs, 4th World Indoors, 6th Doha, 8th Pre, 2nd Euros, 1st British champs, 5th Paris, 3rd Olympics, 3rd Silesia, 7th Brussels (DL final)
6. Laura Muir, Great Britain
3:53.37 SB (#7); 4th Pre, 1st Stockholm, 2nd British champs, 3rd Paris, 5th Olympics
7. Nikki Hiltz, USA
3:55.33 SB (#9); 1st USA indoors, 2nd World Indoors, 5th Pre, 1st US Olympic Trials, 3rd Sunset Tour, 7th Olympics
8. Gudaf Tsegay, USA
3:50.30 SB (#2) 1st NBIGP, 1st Xiamen, 12th Paris, 4th Athlos
9. Birke Haylom, Ethiopia
3:53.22 SB (#6); 9th World Indoors, 2nd Xiamen, 4th Stockholm, Olympic semis, 3rd Rome, 8th Brussels (DL final)
10. Elle St. Pierre, USA
3:55.99 SB (#11); 1st Millrose, 3rd Pre, 3rd US Olympic Trials, 8th Olympics
US rankings
1. Hiltz, Lululemon
2. St. Pierre, New Balance Boston
3. Emily Mackay, New Balance Boston
3:55.90 SB (#2); 2nd USA indoors, 3rd World Indoors, 5th LA Grand Prix, 6th Pre, 2nd Olympic Trials, Olympic semis
4. Sinclaire Johnson, Nike Union Athletics Club
3:56.75 SB (#4); 4th Payton Jordan, 7th LA Grand Prix, 9th Pre, 4th Olympic Trials
5. Cory McGee, New Balance/Team Boss
3:57.44 SB (#5); 12th LA Grand Prix, 14th Pre, 8th Stockholm, 5th Olympic Trials, 13th Paris, 13th Silesia, 5th Athlos
Women’s 3000/5000: Beatrice Chebet is the the new queen
Beatrice Chebet finished 2nd in our rankings in 2022 and third in 2023 but her path to the top spot appeared blocked. How was she meant to find a way past Faith Kipyegon, Sifan Hassan, Gudaf Tsegay, or Letesenbet Gidey? The 24-year-old Chebet showed exactly how in 2024, reaching a new level to upset Kipyegon at the Olympics and assert herself as the world’s top female distance runner.
Behind Chebet, Kipyegon and Hassan both had terrific Olympics, but Tsegay bit off more than she could chew by chasing three medals in the 1500/5k/10k and wound up with none. Gidey, meanwhile, was MIA after running one race in Suzhou in April, and her immediate future in the sport remains unclear.
Elle St. Pierre had the performance of the year from a US women’s distance perspective by winning a shock World Indoor gold in the 3,000 meters Glasgow, running 8:20.87 to destroy the American record in the process. She was our #1 even though she opted out of running the 5,000 at the Olympics after winning the US Olympic Trials. Her new New Balance Boston teammate Parker Valby joined her in our US top five alongside Whittni Morgan and mainstays Elise Cranny and Karissa Schweizer.
1. Beatrice Chebet, Kenya
8:25.72/14:09.52 SBs (#11/#1); 1st Doha, 2nd Kenyan trials, 1st Olympics, 1st Zurich, 1st Brussels (DL final)
2. Faith Kipyegon, Kenya
14:29.60 SB (#9); 1st Kenyan trials, 2nd Olympics
3. Ejgayehu Taye, Ethiopia
14:18.92 SB (#3); 2nd Doha, 2nd Pre, 6th Olympics, 2nd Zurich, 4th Brussels (DL final)
4. Sifan Hassan, Netherlands
14:30.61 SB (#11); 1st Track Fest, 7th Pre, 1st Portland Track Festival, 3rd Olympics
5. Medina Eisa, Ethiopia
8:32.35/14:21.89 SBs (#21/#5); 1st African Games, 3rd Doha, 1st Marrakech, 7th Olympics, 1st World U20s, 2nd Brussels (DL final)
6. Tsigie Gebreselama, Ethiopia
8:24.40/14:18.76 SBs (#9/#2); 1st Pre, 3rd Lausanne, 3rd Zurich, 9th Brussels (DL final)
7. Nadia Battocletti, Italy
14:31.64 SB (#12); 7th Marrakech, 1st Euros, 1st Italian champs, 5th Monaco, 4th Olympics
8. Melknat Wudu, Ethiopia
8:32.02/14:46.65 SBs (#19/#21); 2nd Millrose, 3rd African Games, 4th Doha, 4th Marrakech, 6th Monaco, 5th Zurich, 7th Brussels (DL final)
9. Fotyen Tesfay, Ethiopia
14:28.53 SB (#8); 2nd Marrakech, 6th Zurich, 3rd Brussels (DL final)
10. Elle St. Pierre, USA
8:20.87/14:34.12 SB (#2/#16); 1st USA indoors, 1st World Indoors, 1st US Olympic Trials
US rankings
1. St. Pierre, New Balance Boston
2. Karissa Schweizer, Nike Bowerman Track Club
8:34.96/14:36.88 SBs (#4/#3); 3rd Portland Track Festival, 3rd Olympic Trials, 10th Olympics, 7th Lausanne, 4th Zurich, 8th Brussels (DL final)
3. Elise Cranny, Nike
8:25.10/14:40.36 SBs (#2/#4); 2nd Portland Track Festival, 2nd Olympic Trials, 11th Olympics, 4th Lausanne, 8th Zurich
4. Parker Valby, University of Florida/New Balance Boston
8:41.50/14:51.44 SBs (#8/#7); 1st NCAA indoors (3k/5k), 1st NCAA outdoors, 4th Olympic Trials
5. Whittni Morgan, adidas
14:53.57 SB (#8); 8th LA Grand Prix, 5th Olympic Trials, 14th Olympics, 9th Zurich
LRC World Indoors recap USA’s Elle St. Pierre Wins 3000m World Indoor Gold in Huge Upset Over Gudaf Tsegay
LRC Olympic Trials recap Elle St. Pierre Edges Elise Cranny as Top 3 All Break Meet Record with Valby 4th at 2024 US Olympic Trials 5000m
LRC Olympic recap Olympics Day 4: Mondo WR, Hodgkinson Gold, Chebet Stuns Kipyegon
Women’s steeple: Yavi tops Chemutai
The women’s steeplechase enjoyed a vintage year in 2024. The Olympic final produced an incredible duel between reigning Olympic champ Peruth Chemutai of Uganda and reigning world champ Winfred Yavi of Bahrain, with Yavi prevailing in 8:52.76 as both women broke the Olympic record. Yavi came a whisker away from breaking the world record three weeks later in Rome, having to settle for #2 all-time at 8:44.39; Chemutai, again, finished second in that race in 8:48.03 to become just the third woman under 8:50.
It may be even tougher to medal in 2025 as Chemutai and Yavi, both 25, are firmly in their primes while 20-year-old Faith Cherotich, the World U20 champion in 2022, continued to improve, clocking 8:55.15 for bronze in Paris to move to #7 all-time. Then she beat both Chemtai and Yavi in the DL final.
In the US, Val Constien enjoyed a resurgent year, bouncing back stronger than ever from ACL surgery to win the US Olympic Trials in 9:03.22 — a time that is less than a second slower than the pb of fellow University of Colorado alum Emma Coburn. Will Coburn and Courtney Frerichs, both of whom missed the Olympic Trials due to injury, return strong in 2025? To do so, they’ll have to get through a new generation of athletes — Constien, Courtney Wayment, Gabbi Jennings, Olivia Markezich, Krissy Gear — in an event that is suddenly quite deep in the US.
1. Winfred Yavi, Bahrain
8:44.39 SB (#1); 9th Pre, 1st Paris, 1st Olympics, 1st Rome, 2nd Brussels (DL final)
2. Peruth Chemutai, Uganda
8:48.03 SB (#2); 2nd African Games, 3rd Xiamen, 2nd Suzhou, 1st Pre, 2nd Olympics, 2nd Rome, 3rd Brussels (DL final)
3. Faith Cherotich, Kenya
8:55.15 SB (#3); 2nd Xiamen, 3rd Pre, 1st Kenyan trials, 3rd Olympics, 3rd Rome, 1st Brussels (DL final)
4. Beatrice Chepkoech, Kenya
8:55.40 SB (#4); 1st African Games, 1st Xiamen, 1st Suzhou, 2nd Pre, 2nd Kenyan trials, 9th Paris, 6th Olympics
5. Alice Finot, France
8:58.67 SB (#5); 1st Euros, 1st French champs, 2nd Paris, 4th Olympics
6. Sembo Almayew, Ethiopia
9:00.83 SB (#6); 4th African Games, 4th Suzhou, 4th Pre, 5th Olympics, 1st World U20s
7. Elizabeth Bird, Great Britain
9:04.35 SB (#8); 9th LA Grand Prix, 3rd Euros, 1st British champs, 3rd Paris, 7th Olympics
8. Val Constien, USA
9:03.22 SB (#7); 1st Track Fest, 5th Pre, 1st US Olympic Trials, 15th Olympics, 4th Rome, 7th Brussels (DL final)
9. Gesa Felicitas Krause, Germany
9:08.94 SB (#15); 3rd Suzhou, 2nd Euros, 2nd German champs, 14th Olympics, 4th Brussels (DL final)
10. Norah Jeruto, Kazakhstan
9:08.97 SB (#15); 3rd LA Grand Prix, 10th Pre, 9th Olympics, 7th Rome
US rankings
1. Constien, Nike
2. Courtney Wayment, On
9:06.50 SB (#2); 2nd Payton Jordan, 6th Pre, 2nd Olympic Trials, 12th Olympics, 9th Rome
3. Gabbi Jennings, adidas/Team Boss
9:07.70 SB (#3); 5th Suzhou, 7th Pre, 4th Olympic Trials, 6th Rome, 5th Brussels (DL final)
4. Olivia Markezich, University of Notre Dame/On Athletics Club
9:14.67 SB (#6); 2nd NCAAs, 6th Olympic Trials, 4th Paris, 9th Brussels (DL final)
5. Marisa Howard, Tracksmith
9:07.14 SB (#3); 3rd Payton Jordan, 4th Portland Track Festival, 3rd Olympic Trials, Olympic semis
LRC Olympic Trials recap Val Constien Wins Instant Classic as Marisa Howard Stunningly Makes the Team
LRC Olympic recap Winfred Yavi wins steeple in Olympic record as Gabby Thomas dominates 200m
Women’s 10,000
We stopped ranking the 10,000 as it is so rarely run. Might as well just look at the 10,000 results from the Olympics.
Women’s marathon: What a wild year
Fourteen months ago, the women’s world record in the marathon stood at 2:14:04. Something had started to change in the marathon, the advent of supershoes pushing truly elite times from the 2:18-2:19 range to 2:15-2:16. But that was merely the beginning. In Berlin in September 2023, Tigst Assefa lowered the world record 2:11:53. Barely a year later, Ruth Chepgnetich smashed that time by running 2:09:56 in Chicago. We are in the midst of a turbulent era of change in the women’s marathon, and the entire running world is still struggling to make sense of it. Have we been blessed by a few generational talents all smashed into the same generation? Are we poised for some major doping positives? Are the shoes just that good? It is difficult to say for sure. Our best bet for an answer is time — 10 years from now, maybe we’ll have more context and a fuller picture of what, exactly, has led to the explosion of crazy fast times. Maybe.
The marathon is always a tough event to rank given the top athletes only race a couple times a year, but we had to reward Chepngetich’s monster world record so she is #1. Sifan Hassan won the most important race of the year against one of the strongest Olympic marathon fields ever, so she’s #2. Former WR holder Assefa is #3 — despite failing to win a marathon, she finished 2nd in the two best races of 2024. We will not have to wait long for those three to duke it out against each other in 2025 as all of them are heading to London in April along with the #7 (Peres Jepchirchir) and #8 (Megertu Alemu) in our rankings.
The US rankings were nearly impossible to calculate as most women only had one good race. Dakotah Lindwurm ran two very good marathons at the Olympic Trials (3rd) and Olympics (12th), and that was enough to put her as our #1. But as well as Lindwurm ran in Orlando, she finished more than three minutes behind Fiona O’Keeffe at the Trials. Betsy Saina‘s 2:19:17 in Tokyo (#3 all-time US) was the US leader but she was bad in her two other marathons and we valued the Trials A LOT, so she only ended up #4. Sisson beat Saina at the Trials and also ran faster at the Olympics than Saina did in Chicago.
1. Ruth Chepngetich, Kenya
9th London (2:24:36), 1st Chicago (2:09:56 WR)
2. Sifan Hassan, Netherlands
4th Tokyo (2:18:05), 1st Olympics (2:22:55)
3. Tigst Assefa, Ethiopia
2nd London (2:16:23), 2nd Olympics (2:22:58)
4. Hellen Obiri, Kenya
1st Boston (2:22:37), 3rd Olympics (2:23:10), 2nd New York (2:24:49)
5. Tigist Ketema, Ethiopia
1st Dubai (2:16:07), 7th London (2:23:21), 1st Berlin (2:16:42)
6. Sutume Asefa Kebede, Ethiopia
1st Tokyo (2:15:55), 2nd Chicago (2:17:32)
7. Peres Jepchirchir, Kenya
1st London (2:16:16), 15th Olympics (2:26:51)
8. Megertu Alemu, Ethiopia
4th London (2:16:34), DNF Olympics, 1st Valencia (2:16:49)
9. Sharon Lokedi, Kenya
2nd Boston (2:22:45), 4th Olympics (2:23:14), 9th New York (2:27:45)
10. Amane Beriso, Ethiopia
3rd Tokyo (2:16:58), 5th Olympics (2:23:57)
US rankings
1. Dakotah Lindwurm, Puma/Minnesota Distance Elite
3rd Olympic Trials (2:25:31), 12th Olympics (2:26:44), 17th New York (2:31:45)
2. Fiona O’Keeffe, Puma Elite
1st Olympic Trials (2:22:10), DNF Olympics
3. Emily Sisson, New Balance
2nd Olympic Trials (2:22:42), 23rd Olympics (2:29:53)
4. Betsy Saina, Asics
DNF Olympic Trials, 5th Tokyo (2:19:17), 19th Chicago (2:31:51)
5. Susanna Sullivan, Brooks
7th Chicago (2:21:56)
More 2024 end-of-year coverage:
- LRC Welcome to the 2024 LetsRun.com Awards From world records to unlikely breakthroughs to one very strange session of Kenyan parliament, we recap the highs and lows of running in 2024.
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LRC The 2024 Race of the Year: Cole Hocker’s Olympic 1500m Win From novice fans to running diehards, there was something for everyone (except perhaps Brits and Norwegians) to enjoy about one of the greatest middle distance races ever run.
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LRC Mondo Duplantis & Beatrice Chebet Crowned 2024 LetsRun.com Athletes of the Year We actually hand out six awards in this piece – overall Athlete of the Year, Runner of the Year, and Distance Runner of the Year – but Chebet swept all three for the women, edging out SML. For the men, our Runner of the year goes to Grant Holloway over Rai Benjamin and our Distance Runner of the Year is Jakob Ingebrigtsen.