Rankings Analysis: 14 November 2023

The changes to the top 100 decathlon and heptathlon world rankings on 14 November 2023 reflected the expiry of results from May 2022, most significantly Ratingen, Big 10, PAC 12, Sun Belt and Mountain West champs.

Scores can only be included for rankings purposes if they occur within the previous 18-month period, other than certain circumstances for area championships.

You can find an explanation of the rankings system here.

PLACING POINTS

These are the placing points for the competitions featured in this week’s update.

WHO ENTERED THE RANKINGS

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WHO MOVED UP

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WHO MOVED DOWN

• Carolin Schaefer: 13^th to 14^th
• Annalena Obermaier: 74^th to 77^th
• Lovisa Karlsson: 78^th to 80^th
• Lexie Keller: 94^th to 95^th
• Simon Ehammer: 12^th to 16^th
• Tim Nowak: 28^th to 52nd
• Nico Beckers: 55^th to 82nd
• Malik Diakite: 58^th to 63rd
• Ryan Talbot: 70^th to 89th
• Kristo Simulask: 85^th to 107th

WHO DROPPED OUT THE RANKINGS

• Max Vollmer: 96^th to unranked

HEPTATHLON

The expiry of scores from Ratingen 2022 – which was a GL meeting at the time – caused a number of athletes to drop in position.

Sophie Weissenberg won Ratingen in 2022 with 6273 (and 110 placing points), and that score was replaced by her 6375 from fifth place in Götzis in 2023 (with 55 placing points). Although her overall ranking score dropped from 1277 to 1260, she remained in ninth place in the rankings.

Carolin Schafer was second in Ratingen in 2022 in 6170 points and that score was replaced by a significantly better performance of 6312 in Götzis this year, where she finished eighth. However, her Ratingen score came with 90 placing points, whereas eighth in Götzis brought only 40, causing her to drop.

Annalena Obermeier’s score from Ratingen in 2022 (with 65 points for fourth) was similarly replaced by a better score from the German championships later that year, but with fewer placing points so causing her to drop from 13^th to 14^th.

Lovisa Karlsson dropped two places from 78^th to 80^th, her 2022 Ratingen score replaced by an indoor score from the 2023 Swedish Indoor championships.

Lexie Keller dropped one place from 94^th to 95^th, her 2022 Mountain West score replaced by her 2022 NCAA score.

DECATHLON

Expiry of scores from Ratingen 2022 caused Simon Ehammer, Tim Nowak, Nico Beckers and Malik Diakite to drop in rankings.

While Nowak and Beckers’ scores were replaced by lower scores from other competitions, as for several of the women Ehammer’s and Diakite’s new second most valuable scores were better than the ones that had just expired.

Ehammer’s 8354 to win in Ratingen in 2022 (with 110 placing points) was replaced by his third place in Götzis with 8377 a few weeks later (with only 75 placing points).

This is another example of how the rankings system is a disincentive to participate in the world’s greatest decathlon. Why go to Götzis when you can score fewer points at a weaker meet and still improve your ranking?

For Malik Diakite, the drop is even more frustrating. His 7856 from Ratingen in 2022 expired and was replaced by an 8000+ score from the Thorpe Cup that year. Fifty-five placing points for fifth in Ratingen, but only six for finishing second with a decathlon score some 200 points higher – in an intense team competition between two of the top decathlon nations in the world.

Ryan Talbot dropped from 70^th to 89^th due to expiry of his 2022 Big 10 score. Kristo Simulask dropped out of the top 100 due to expiry of his 2022 Big 12 score. Max Vollmer dropped out of the rankings altogether with the expiry of his PAC 12 score.

You can find an analysis of previous changes here.