● From our sister site, TheSportsExaminer.com ●
The shock has not worn off from Kenyan Ruth Chepngetich’s startling 2:09:56 world-record victory at the Chicago Marathon on Sunday, shattering the barely-year-old mark of 2:11:53 by Ethiopian Tigst Assefa in Berlin in September 2023.
There is the usual disbelief from those who are sure that, since Chepngetich – the 2019 World Champion in the marathon – is from Kenya, she must be doping. In fact, she was politely asked exactly that at the post-race news conference, and she responded, “You know people must talk but … people must talk, so I don’t know.”
So, this barrier-shattering performance must be the greatest ever, right?
No.
Although imperfect, there has long been a statistician’s model for comparing track & field performances across events. The current version is the 2022 edition of the World Athletics Scoring Tables, an update from the work of Bulgarian engineer and statistician Dr. Bojidar Spiriev (1932-2010), whose original tables were published in 1982. .
Using the 2022 edition, which assigns points to various performances in 114 events, but warns, “Due to obvious biological differences, it is not proposed to fully compare men’s and women’s performances.”
But it gives us a clue, so let’s see what the tables tell us, comparing the 2:09:56 with other world records:.
As far as women’s events so, Chepngetich’s 2:09:56 is scored as 1,339 points. It’s one of the greatest performances ever, with only two world records scoring better:
● 1,390 pts: W DT: 76.80 m (252-0) by Gabrielle Reinsch/GDR 1988
● 1,372 pts: W SP: 22.63 m (74-3) by Natalia Lisovskaya/URS 1987
Now both of those performances can be legitimately doubted as due to doping, since both were from countries with state-sponsored doping programs. So the doubters can wag their fingers.
The next-best women’s world-record performances include some more recent marks:
● 1,333 pts: W LJ: 7.52 m (24-8 1/4) by Galina Chistyakova/URS 1988
● 1,331 pts: W Hep: 7,291 by Jackie Joyner-Kersee/USA 1988
● 1,322 pts: W 400H: 50.37 by Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone/USA 2024
● 1,319 pts: W HJ: 2.10 m (6-10 3/4) by Yaroslava Mahuchikh/UKR 2024
● 1,314 pts: W 100: 10.49 by Florence Griffith-Joyner/USA 1988
● 1,309 pts: W 10,000: 28:54.14 by Beatrice Chebet/KEN 2024
● 1,308 pts: W 200: 21.34 by Florence Griffith-Joyner/USA 1988
Including Chepngetich, that’s the top 10 for women’s world records according to the tables.
If we include men’s events, there are five world records which score higher, and a tie:
● 1,365 pts: M JT: 98.48 m (323-1) by Jan Zelezny/CZE 1996
● 1,356 pts: M 100: 9.58 by Usain Bolt/JAM 2009
● 1,351 pts: M 200: 19.19 by Usain Bolt/JAM 2009
● 1,346 pts: M LJ: 8.95 m (29-4 1/2) by Mike Powell/USA 1991
● 1,341 pts: M 400H: 45.94 by Karsten Warholm/NOR 2021
● 1,339 pts: (tie) M PV: 6.26 m (20-6 1/2) by Mondo Duplantis/SWE 2024
Interestingly, all six of these performances are in the era of better doping controls and four of the six are in the 21st Century. And fellow Kenyan Kelvin Kiptum, who set the men’s world mark of 2:00:35 in Chicago in 2023 was not far behind at 1,322 points.
If we combine – because we want to – the men’s and women’s world-record scoring, we find Chepngetich in a tie for eighth place, with Duplantis:
● 1. 1,390 pts: W DT: 76.80 m (252-0) by Gabrielle Reinsch/GDR 1988
● 2. 1,372 pts: W SP: 22.63 m (74-3) by Natalia Lisovskaya/URS 1987
● 3. 1,365 pts: M JT: 98.48 m (323-1) by Jan Zelezny/CZE 1996
● 4. 1,356 pts: M 100: 9.58 by Usain Bolt/JAM 2009
● 5. 1,351 pts: M 200: 19.19 by Usain Bolt/JAM 2009
● 6. 1,346 pts: M LJ: 8.95 m (29-4 1/2) by Mike Powell/USA 1991
● 7. 1,341 pts: M 400H: 45.94 by Karsten Warholm/NOR 2021
● 8=. 1,339 pts: M PV: 6.26 m (20-6 1/2) by Mondo Duplantis/SWE 2024
● 8=. 1,339 pts: W Mar: 2:09:56 by Ruth Chepngetich/KEN 2024
● 10. 1,334 pts: M SP: 23.56 m (77-3 3/4) by Ryan Crouser/USA 2023
Looked at another way, of the 41 world records in Olympic track & field events, plus the mile (walks excluded) outside of the women’s marathon, Chepngetich’s 2:09:56 was better than all but seven, with one tie.
It’s an amazing performance and among the greatest ever, but not the greatest. In an era where technology has completely changed the nature of running, Chepngetich’s time may be eclipsed again soon. But for now, she is among the best in history, awaiting – of course – the results of her doping-control tests.
~ Rich Perelman
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