World champion Liu Xiang again stands atop the men's hurdles
event in updated rankings released just before the World
Championships in athletics, according to the International
Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF).
The world record holder tightened his grip on the top place with
1387 points. Burgeoning Cuban hurdler Dayron Robles came second
with 1378, followed by the US veteran Alan Johnson.
The ranking is expected to be re-shuffled after the week-long
World Championships, which will be held in Osaka from this
Saturday. During the event, Liu Xiang and Dayron Robles are
expected to vie for top position, however Alan Johnson will not be
able to join the race as he failed to qualify for the upcoming
competitions.
Another Chinese athlete Shi Dongpeng, who has an eye on making
the top eight at the World Championship, slipped down four spots to
19.
In the overall standings for male track and field athletes, Liu
Xiang was elevated to fourth spot. And US star Tyson Gay exceeds
Jamaican Asafa Powell to climb to the number one spot.
(CRI August 23, 2007)