Female shot, discus, hammer and javelin throwers from 2021 are judged by the Athletics International panel of statisticians as our global rankings series continues

Once again Athletics International has been pleased to collaborate with Athletics Weekly in producing these annual statistics, writes Peter Matthews.

As always, our world top-10 merit rankings, compiled by an international panel of experts, will no doubt provoke discussion. There can be no definitive pecking order for 2021, but the panel has done its best by carefully applying the various criteria for judging athletes’ performances over the year.

For our annual world merit rankings, the International selection panel comprised Mirko Jalava (FIN), Alfons Juck (SVK), A Lennart Julin (SWE), Stuart Mazdon UK) and Ed Gordon (USA) joined by Elliott Denman for the walks and this year by Mark Butler, with the editor of “Athletics International”, Peter Matthews.

After the extraordinary year in 2020 compilation there remained difficulties and cancellation of various meetings, particularly early on in 2021. However, the Olympic Games were held successfully as were most of the Diamond League fixtures and, vitally for depth of performance, US collegiate action returned.

Following each athlete’s name in these event-by-event rankings are: date of birth (day.month.year), and in brackets: number of years ranked and 2019 and 2020 top-10 rankings. Then their five/six best marks in 2021 and details of placings and performances in significant competitions. In these results marks in brackets were in qualifying, marks after w/ are best ‘wind legal’ marks in that competition.

Note that I do not accept World Athletics final 3 results, but use performances throughout the competition in Diamond League events.

SHOT
1. Gong Lijiao CHN
24.1.89 (15y, 20- 1, 19- 1)
20.58, 20.39, 20.31, 19.88, 19.70, 19.58
1 Jinan 19.45i
1 Chengdu 19.54/19.58
1 Dalian 19.50
1 CHN Ch 20.31
1 Chongqing 20.39 (19.40)
1 OG 20.58 (19.46)
1 CHN NG 19.88
1 NG Team 19.70
2. Valerie Adams NZL
16.10.84 (17y, 20- 6)
19.75, 19.65, 19.62, 19.26, 18.91, 18.83
1 Hastings 18.34
1 Christchurch 18.41
1 Hamilton 18.68
1 Auckland 19.65
1 NZL Ch 18.43
1 Luzern 18.91
1 Stockholm 19.26
1 Cetniewo 19.75
3 OG 19.62 (18.83)
3. Auriole Dongmo POR
3.8.90 (2y, 20- 2)
19.75, 19.65i, 19.57, 19.35, 19.34i, 19.32
1 Karlsruhe 19.65i
1 Liévin 19.18i
1 Braga 18.91i
1 Eur Ind 19.34i (18.55i)
1 Pombal 19.20i
1 Gateshead 19.08
1 Eur Team 18.74
1 Huelva 19.75
1 Maia 19.17
2 Stockholm 19.05
4 OG 19.57 (18.80)
1 Budapest 19.35
1 Chorzów 19.32
2 Zürich 18.86
4. Raven Saunders USA
15.5.96 (4y)
19.96, 19.79, 19.57i, 19.22, 19.16, 18.66i
8 Karlsruhe 17.23i
2 Liévin 18.66i
1 Braga 18.91i
1 Fayetteville 19.57i
7 Miramar 17.95
3 Nashville 18.50
2 US Ch/OT 19.96 (19.16)
2 OG 19.79 (19.22)
5. Maggie Ewen USA
23.9.94 (3y, 19- 6)
19.54i, 19.41, 19.32, 19.31, 19.22, 19.04
2 Fayetteville 19.54i
2 Miramar 18.69
1 Walnut 19.32
2 Gateshead 18.54
4 US Ch/OT 18.92 (18.78)
3 Stockholm 19.04
2 Memphis 18.81
2 Bern 18.68
3 Budapest 19.22
2 Chorzów 19.31
1 Zürich 19.41
6. Fanny Roos SWE
2.1.95 (3y, 20- 8, 19- 8)
19.34, 19.33, 19.30, 19.29i, 19.01, 19.01
1 Växjö 18.16i/18.29i/18.85i
2 Karlsruhe 18.64i
1 Sätra 18.66i
4 Liévin 18.51i
1 SWE Ind Ch 18.51i
2 Eur Ind 19.29i (18.45i)
5 Gateshead 18.33
1 Växjö 19.30
1 Gothenburg 18.56
1 Södertälje 18.82
1 Sollentuna 19.33
1 Kladno 19.34
1 Karlstad 18.75
5 Stockholm 18.96
2 Bottnaryd 18.52
7 OG 18.91 (19.01)
3 Bern 18.81
2 Budapest 19.01
1 SWE Ch 18.50
1 v FIN 18.65
3 Chorzów 18.74
3 Zürich 18.75
1 Kristianstad 18.32
7. Song Jiayuan CHN
15.9.97 (1y)
19.75, 19.32, 19.23, 19.14, 18.95, 18.91
2 Chengdu 18.91/18.79
1 Shaoxing 17.69
1 Zhaoqing 19.32
1 Xi’an 18.62
2 CHN Ch 18.95
5 OG 19.14 (19.23)
2 CHN NG 19.76
8. Jessica Ramsey USA
26.7.91 (2y, 20- 7)
20.12, 19.50i, 19.21, 18.82, 18.78, 18.75
1 Carbondale 17.94i
3 Fayetteville 19.50i
1 Oxford MS 18.63i
3 Miramar 18.61
3 Eugene 23/4 18.40
2 Walnut 18.58
2 Tucson 18.63
2 Nashville 18.78
1 US Ch/OT 20.12 (18.82)
nt OG (18.75)
1 Memphis 19.21
9. Alyona Dubitskaya BLR
25.1.90 (6y, 20- 3, 19- 5)
19.65, 19.03, 18.98, 18.89, 18.84, 18.79
1 BLR Ind Ch 18.40i
4 Eur Ind 18.86i (18.74i)
2 E.Throws 18.79
1 BLR Cup 18.98
1 BLR Ch 19.65
4 Stockholm 19.03
9 OG 18.73 (18.89)
4 Bern 18.53
4 Budapest 18.84
6 Zürich 18.34
10. Chase Ealey USA
20.7.94 (3y, 20- 4, 19- 3)
19.45, 19.05, 18.93, 18.70, 18.69, 18.65
4 Karlsruhe 18.34i
5 Liévin 17.67i
4 Fayetteville 17.61i
2 Chula Vista 3/4 18.02
5 Miramar 18.31
1 Eugene 23/4 18.93
7 Walnut 17.84
6 Gateshead 18.12
5 US Ch/OT 18.39 (18.69)
6 Stockholm 18.65
2 Cetniewo 18.23
1 Mission Viejo 19.45
3 Memphis 18.70
1 Bern 19.05
7 Budapest 18.37
4 Chorzów 18.56
4 Zürich 18.49
Gong had the top three performances in 2021 and is top for the fifth successive year. Ramsey, was the only other women to go over 20m. Adams – Dongmo is close, but Adams beat her 2-0 and 3rd at Olympics was only loss. Song is hardest to rank as 5th in the Olympics was her only competition outside China.

DISCUS
1. Valarie Allman USA
23.2.95 (3y, 20- 1, 19- 6)
71.16, 70.01, 69.92, 69.63, 69.20, 68.98
1 TexasR 66.46
1 Chula Vista 65.50/68.13
1 Doha 65.57
1 Prairie View 67.74
1 US Ch/OT 69.92 (70.01)
1 OG 68.98 (66.42)
3 Paris 64.51
3 Brussels 64.25
1 Zürich 69.20
1 Berlin 71.16
1 Zagreb 69.63
2. Yaimí Pérez CUB
29.5.91 (9y, 20- 5, 19- 1)
68.99, 67.90, 67.73, 66.82, 66.68, 66.47
1 Havana 62.65/66.68
1 Havana 64.16/67.73
1 Havana 22/5 68.99
1 Havana 21/2 63.80
2 Doha 63.75
1 Hengelo 65.91
2 Florence 66.82
1 Leverkusen 63.33
1 Castellón 67.90
1 Lignano 64.20
2 Sotteville 64.76
3 OG 65.72 (63.18)
2 Paris 63.51
1 Brussels 66.47
3 Zürich 64.53
3. Sandra Perkovic CRO
21.6.90 (11y, 20- 3, 19- 3)
68.31, 67.22, 66.48, 66.13, 66.11, 66.08
1 E.Throws 65.25
3 Doha 63.60
1 Montreuil 66.11
2 Hengelo 65.80
1 Florence 68.31
1 Sotteville 66.13
4 OG 65.01 (63.75)
1 Paris 66.08
2 Brussels 65.14
2 Zürich 67.22
2 Zagreb 66.48
4. Kristin Pudenz GER
9.2.93 (3y, 20- 2, 19- 8)
66.86, 66.31, 66.27, 64.52, 64.42, 64.07
1 Berlin 63.82
1/2 Neubrandenburg 66.27/63.02
1 Halle 66.31
3 Schönebeck 61.47
1 GER Ch 64.07
3 Florence 64.42
5 Leverkusen 60.24
2 OG 66.86 (63.73)
7 Paris 61.78
7 Brussels 61.37
2 Berlin 64.52
5. Liliana Cá POR
5.11.86 (1y)
66.40, 65.10, 65.07, 63.93, 63.71, 63.60
1 Lisbon 57.69/63.28/57.93
1 Leiria 62.88/66.40/62.18
1 Vagos 65.10
1 Faro 62.98
1 E.Throws 62.80
1 Eur Team 61.36
2 Montreuil 63.60
1 Huelva 63.71
3 Hengelo 65.07
6 Florence 62.30
1 Leiria 63.24
2 Braga 59.04
2 Maia 61.32
1 POR Ch 61.51
2 Cetniewo 63.53
5 OG 63.93 (62.85)
4 Paris 62.43
6 Brussels 61.66
5 Zürich 61.92
3 Berlin 62.45
6. Jorinde van Klinken NED
2.2.00 (1y)
70.22, 65.94, 65.01, 64.44, 64.28, 63.02
1 Tucson 57.74/58.77
1 Phoenix 58.90/59.17
1 Eugene 17/4 59.71
1 Tallahassee 62.88
1 Pac 12 62.58
1 Tucson 65.94/70.22
1 NCAA 65.01 (64.44)
1 NED Ch 64.28
1 Eur 23 63.02 (61.97)
dnq 14 OG 61.15
7. Kamalpreet Kaur IND
4.3.96 (1y)
66.59, 65.06, 64.00, 63.70
1 Feb Cup 65.06
1 Patiala 66.59
6 OG 63.70 (64.00)
8. Shadae Lawrence JAM
31.12.95 (1y)
67.05, 63.77, 63.75, 62.88, 62.48, 62.27
1 Tampa 63.75
1 Tallahassee 62.88
1 Prairie View 3/4 57.76
1 Gainesville 57.86
2 Jacksonville 58.66
2 Tucson 67.05
2 Prairie View 62.48
2 JAM Ch 61.42
1 Kingston 63.77
7 OG 62.12 (62.27)
3 Brussels 64.25
5 Berlin 60.49
3 Zagreb 60.80
9. Marike Steinacker GER
3.4.92 (1y)
64.03, 64.02, 63.22, 63.06, 62.72, 62.52
3 Berlin 56.73
3/2/3 Neu’burg 57.02/60.32/60.38
2 Halle 64.03
2 Schönebeck 61.88
2 Eur Team 59.29
2 GER Ch 64.02
2 Leverkusen 61.54
1 Thum 63.00
8 OG 62.02 (63.22)
9 Paris 54.24
4 Berlin 61.29
10. Claudine Vita GER
19.9.96 (3y, 19- 10)
64.25, 63.52, 63.43, 63.06, 62.72, 62.52
2 Berlin 61.04
1 Neubrandenburg 63.52
1 Schönebeck 62.52
4 Doha 63.06
3 GER Ch 61.43
5 Florence 62.72
3 Leverkusen 61.46
2 Thum 60.39
9 OG 61.80 (62.46)
8 Paris 58.09
9 Brussels 57.09
Allman dominated, with 5 of the top 6 and 8 of the top 12 performances. But Perkovic v Pérez was very close (4-4 on win-loss). Five newcomers to the top ten is most unusual for the discus. Van Klinken hardest to rank.

HAMMER
1. Anita Wlodarczyk POL
8.8.85 (13y, 19- 7)
78.48, 77.93, 76.99, 74.76, 74.06, 73.87
1 Antalya 73.87
2 Eur Throws 72.37
3 Ostrava 72.72
2 Samorín 72.95
3 Turku 72.42
2 Chorzów 73.59
2 POL Ch 74.06
1 Bydgoszcz 77.93
1 Székesfehérvár 74.76
1 OG 78.48 (76.99)
2. Malwina Kopron POL
16.11.94 (4y, 20- 2)
75.49, 75.42, 75.41, 75.40, 75.28, 74.93
1 Eur Throws 72.82
1 Ostrava 74.74
2 Eur Team 73.18
1 Turku 75.40
1 Poznan 72.57
1 Chorzów 74.93
1 POL Ch 75.42
2 Bydgoszcz 76.41
3 Székesfehérvár 74.02
1 Cetniewo 75.28
3 OG 75.49 (73.06)
1 Lublin 71.75
2 Chorzów 69.75
3. Wang Zheng CHN
14.12.87 (8y, 19- 2)
77.03, 74.65, 74.29, 73.55, 73.38, 72.59
1 Chengdu 71.93/73.55
1 Zaozhuang 72.59
1 CHN Ch 73.38
2 OG 77.03 (74.29)
1 CHN NG 74.65
4. DeAnna Price USA
8.6.93 (5y, 19- 1)
80.31, 78.60, 77.10, 76.82, 76.15, 75.88
1 Carbondale 76.82/78.60
2 Eugene 23/4 76.15
1 Tucson 75.88
1 US Ch/OT 80.31 (77.10)
8 OG 73.09 (72.55)
5. Brooke Andersen USA
23.8.95 (2y, 19- 8)
78.18, 77.99, 77.72, 76.36, 74.96, 74.00
1 Emporia 73.84
1 Prairie View 74.96
1 Wichita 78.18
1 Eugene 23/4 77.99
2 Tucson 76.35
2 US Ch/OT 77.72 (72.16)
10 OG 72.16 (74.00)
6. Alexandra Tavernier FRA
13.12.93 (5y, 20- 1, 19- 5)
75.38, 75.06, 74.69, 74.41, 73.87, 73.85
1 FRA-w 75.38
3 Eur Throws 70.55
2 Ostrava 73.30
1 Eur Team 75.06
2 Turku 72.80
1 FRA Ch 73.85
3 Bydgoszcz 73.87
2 Székesfehérvár 74.69
4 OG 74.41 (73.51)
4 Chorzów 68.33
2 Nairobi 69.62
7. Gwen Berry USA
29.6.89 (4y, 20- 3)
76.79, 75.25, 73.73, 73.50, 73.19, 73.16
1 Houston 73.16/75.25
1 Walnut 73.73
1 Tucson 76.79
1 Prairie View 72.80
3 US Ch/OT 73.50 (70.74)
11 OG 71.35 (73.19)
8. Camryn Rogers CAN
9.6.99 (1y)
75.52, 74.35, 73.97, 73.09, 72.22, 72.16
1 Stanford 71.73
1 Berkeley 71.16/71.39
1 Eugene 17/4 73.09
1 Pac 12 72.12
1 NCAA 75.52 (72.16)
5 OG 74.35 (73.97)
9. Bianca Ghelber ROU
1.6.90 (4y, 20- 5)
74.18, 71.97, 71.94, 71.72, 71.31, 71.19
1 ROU-w Ch 70.64
1 Bucharest 71.31
1 Arad 71.97
1 Pitesti 68.32
1 ROU Ch 71.94
1 Eur Team I 71.19
2 Balkan Ch 70.00
1 Cjlu-Napoca 70.22
6 OG 74.19 (71.72)
10. Joanna Fiodorow POL
4.3.89 (7y, 19- 4)
73.83, 72.52, 72.32, 72.31, 71.77, 71.59
1 Kielce 72.52
4 Ostrava 70.57
4 Turku 70.82
2 Poznan 69.71
4 Chorzów 70.58
3 POL Ch 72.31
6 Bydgoszcz 71.77
6 Székesfehérvár 67.83
2 Cetniewo 71.59
7 OG 73.83 (72.32)
1 Lublin 71.75
3 Chorzów 68.56
Wlodarczyk, world no. 1 in 2009 and 2013-18, returned to top ranking with her third successive Olympic win, The panel was split over Wang v Kopron and Andersen v Tavernier.

JAVELIN
1. Maria Andrejczyk POL
9.3.96 (3y, 20- 5)
71.40, 65.24, 64.61, 63.63, 62.67, 61.77
1 Eur Throws 71.40
1 POL Ch 59.69
1 Oslo 62.67
1 Monaco 63.63
1 Cetniewo 59.96
2 OG 64.61 (65.24)
1 Chorzów 61.77
6 Zürich 52.30
2. Christin Hussong GER
17.3.94 (5y, 20- 6, 19- 3)
69.19, 66.96, 66.63, 66.56, 66.44, 66.06
2 Eur Throws 66.44
1 Ostrava 66.56
1 Rehlingen 66.96
1 Eur Team 69.19
1 GER Ch 63.30
1 Turku 66.63
1 Zweibrücken 64.60
1 Luzern 64.02
2 Oslo 62.62
3 Monaco 61.65
9 OG 59.94 (61.68)
1 Rovereto 66.06
1 Zürich 65.26
3. Liu Shiying CHN
24.9.93 (5y, 20- 3, 19- 4)
66.34, 64.56, 64.33, 63.01, 62.98, 62.16
1 Chengdu 30/3 64.56
2 Chengdu 2/4 62.16
1 Dalian 62.98
2 Fuzhou 59.12
2 CHN Ch 57.22
2 Changqing 62.13
1 OG 66.34 (61.95)
1 CHN NG 64.33 & 63.01
4. Lu Huihui CHN
26.6.89 (9y, 20- 1, 19- 1)
66.55, 65.71, 64.40, 63.41, 62.90, 62.72
2 Chengdu 30/3 62.90
1 Chengdu 2/4 66.55
1 Zhaoqing 64.40
1 Xi’an 65.71
1 CHN Ch 59.35
1 Changqing 62.72 (61.11)
5 OG 63.41 (61.99)
2 CHN NG 62.43
5. Kelsey-Lee Barber AUS
21.1.91 (4y, 19- 2)
64.56, 62.68, 62.59, 61.09, 60.86, 60.72
1/2 Canberra 55.93/53.46
3 Brisbane 57.74
2 AUS Ch 61.09
4 Gold Coast 54.10
1 Kuortane 60.05
3 Oslo 60.86
3 OG 64.56 (62.59)
7 Bern 58.11
4 Rovereto 60.72
3 Chorzów 60.61
2 Zürich 62.68
6. Maggie Malone USA
30.12.93 (1y)
67.40, 66.82, 63.81, 63.50, 63.07, 62.70
1 Montevallo 61.41
1 Austin 62.28
1 Starkville 60.94
1 Fort Worth 62.70
1 Tucson 63.81
1 Chula Vista 66.82
1 USA Ch/OT 63.50
1 E.Stroudsburg 67.40
10 OG 59.82 (63.07)
5 Rovereto 60.25
2 Chorzów 61.46
7. Kathryn Mitchell AUS
10.7.82 (5y, 19- 2)
63.50, 63.49, 63.34, 61.85, 61.82, 61.67
1 Ballarat 60.25
1 Melbourne 62.49/60.50
1 AUS Ch 63.34
1 Gold Coast 61.67/63.50
3 Townsville 57.66
1 Cairns 56.25
6 OG 61.82 (61.85)
8. Eda Tugsuz TUR
27.3.97 (2y)
64.00, 62.31, 60.19, 60.17, 59.78, 58.69
1 Bursa 58.69/58.61
1 Mersin 60.19
6 E.Throws 59.78
5 Prague 56.35
1 Istanbul 58.22/60.17
1 Izmir 57.18/56.58
4 OG 64.00 (62.31)
1 Gaziantep 58.90
9. Nikola Ogrodníková CZE
18.8.90 (4y, 20- 7, 19- 8)
65.13, 64.16, 62.56, 62.12, 61.86, 61.41
1 Ostrava 2/5 62.12
2 Ostrava 65.13
1 Linz 59.15
1 Eur Team I 61.86
2 Székesfehérvár 62.56
6 Monaco 56.87
dnq 16 OG 60.03
1 Bern 64.16
3 Rovereto 60.87
4 Chorzów 58.03
3 Zürich 61.54
1 Turnov 58.22
10. Barbora Spotáková CZE
30.6.81 (15y, 20- 4, 19- 9)
63.08, 61.95, 61.45, 61.43, 61.38, 61.29
8 E.Throws 58.24
4 Ostrava 59.49
1 Plzen 60.25
1 Prague 60.21
1 CZE Ch 61.38
4 Oslo 60.38
2 Monaco 63.08
dnq 14 OG 60.52
1 Ústí 61.45
2 Bern 61.95
6 Rovereto 59.59
4 Zürich 61.43
1 Cheb 61.29
After Lu Huihui had been top ranked for the previous two years, Liu Shiying went 3-3 against her, and was clearly ahead at Olympic Games and Chinese National Games. These Chinese throwers did not compete in the Diamond League. Maria Andrejczyk was the one women to surpass 70m, but despite only 9th at the Olympic Games, Hussong had 7 of the top 13 performances, with Andrejczyk’s next best 14th on the list. Spotáková completed 15 years in the top ten, 1st in 2006-10, 2012, 2014 and 2017. Split on Malone v Mitchell and Tugsuz v Ogrodníková.

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