China's Liu Xiang has moved into the top 10 of the men's overall
world rankings of the IAAF following his brilliant record-breaking
performance at the IAAF Super Grand Prix in Lausanne.
Liu, the new men's 110-meter hurdles world record holder,
clocked 12.88 in Lausanne and moved into second place in the 110m
rankings with 1,402 points, just behind Dominique Arnold of the
USA. Arnold also ran inside the old world record time and barely
held onto his lead in the rankings by a narrow margin of three
points.
Twenty-four-year-old American sprinter Justin Gatlin retains his
top place in the men's overall rankings with 1,456 points, seven
points ahead of Ethiopian runner Kenenisa Bekele (1449 points).
On the women's side, Russia's Yelena Isinbayeva was replaced at
the top by Ethiopian long-distance runner Tirunesh Dibaba after 97
consecutive weeks as the best female athlete in the world.
(CRI July 19, 2006)
