MAY 2023 (excuse the change in format midway through, as I redesigned my collection template)
2 May: Multistars, in Desenzano de Garda was the next significant influence on the rankings, as Karel Tilga re-entered the top 100 in 20th position. Devon Williams returned from a few years in the wilderness to 50th place with his score just short of 8000. Tim Nowak climbed from 32 to 28, Samuelsson 53 to 34, Laserich 63 to 52. Jose Fernando Ferreria Santana moved up another 6 places, from 67 to 61, while Nino Portmann entered the top 100.
In the heptathlon, Sarah Lagger arrived back in the rankings at 32, and Myke Van de Wiel jumped from 75 to 57. Celine Albisser moved from 60 to 47. Like Harrison Williams at Mt SAC, Taliyah Brooks won the competition but remained unranked for now, until she can log a second score.
9 May: Darko Pesic scored 7862 at his nationals and that combined with his indoor score from Tallinn in February brought him back into the rankings at 54th place.
There are now multiple ranked meetings in Asia, and the competition in Osaka helped Shun Taue re-enter the rankings at 90, and Yumi Yamasaki rise from 73 to 71 in the heptathlon.
16 May: The college season approached its conclusion in May , and as Till Steinforth scored his first competition over 8000 at the Big Ten meet, he jumped from 49 to 35, signalling the likelihood that he will be contending for selection in major championships before too long. Jack Turner’s 8011 at the Conference champs took him into the top 100 at 81. Ryan Talbot climbed from 84 to 77.
In the heptathlon, Allie Jones was the most significant mover, taking herself from 28 to 23 at the PAC meet, and bringing herself into the qualifying envelope for Budapest.
23 May: The Portarathlon in Naxos is enjoying its new position in the Combined Events tour, and it was the scene for yet another 8000 score (8007) from Jose Fernando Ferreira Santana, which gave him another 10 places, to 50. Harry Kendall became the top ranked British decathlete, moving to 62 from 73 after finishing 3rd in Naxos. Tori West won and moved from 56 to 48 (although this wasn’t captured in the rankings until a later date).
Katre Sofie Palm moved from 91 to 78 at Valmiera, and Vilma Itallina entered the top 100 at 88 after Tampere.
30 May: Unsurprisingly, Gotzis had the most significant impact on the top end of the rankings table. Anna Hall’s sensational 6988 took her from fifth place into second place behind Nafi Thiam.
Sophie Weissenberg moved from 11th to 9th, Saga Vanninen made a big jump from 19th to 11th to move her away from the danger zone for world champs qualification, and Sofie Dokter moved from 20th to 18th.
Marijke Esselink improved from 35th to 31st, and Celine Albisser continued her run of 6000 point scores, this time taking herself from 48th to 44th.
Vanessa Grimm returned from injury to re-enter the rankings at 28th, Jana Koscak debuted at 29 (although too young to participate at Worlds in the heptathlon), Isobel Posch’s 6021 took her to a new entry at 78th, and Sandra Rothlin returned to claim a ranking at 87th.
In the decathlon, Pierce LePage had been unranked since his Olympic score expired in January 2023. When his 8701 from Eugene was coupled with his 8700 Gotzis score, with 250 and 210 placing points respectively, that put him in front of Kevin Mayer (8816/6348 and 280/80) at the top of the rankings. Tilga’s second 8400 of the season, together with 65 placing points, moved him into 13th spot. Fredrik Samuelsson improved from 34th to 32nd, and Kendrick Thompson’s 8182 catapulted him from 64 to 38th. While Sander Skotheim improved his score by almost 300 points, it didn’t result in an improvement in ranking, still in 11th (albeit irrelevant for him with an automatic Worlds Q score).
Eitel’s 8351 moved him from 16th to 14th, Gletty’s 8211 from 27 to 26 . Sven Roosen moved up one place from 37th to 36th. Both Jente Hauttekeete (first time over 8000) and Marcel Meyer (7983) improved their ranking score, but were pushed down the rankings by others moving in front of them – Hauttekeete 38 to 39 and Meyer 61 to 62.
The same weekend at the Defi’Athlon, Auriana Lazraq was the big mover, from 80th to 36th. In parallel, Germany’s Felix Wolter leaped from 63 to 37, and Teo Bastien from 73 to 57. Elisa Pineau also improved from 54 to 51.
In Bernhausen Marie Dehning came into the top 100 rankings at 72, and Lewis Church’s win at the English championships took him from 92 to 90.