Four NSW athletes in Track and Field News Rankings

2 January 2022

Four NSW athletes in Track and Field News Rankings

Last week the prestigious Track and Field News magazine top-10 merit rankings for 2021 were announced with an outstanding four NSW athletes included. Three high jumpers Nicola McDermott, Eleanor Patterson, Brandon Starc and metric miler Ollie Hoare were ranked in the top-six.

Since the 1947 for men, and 1956 for women, the Track and Field News magazine rankings have been greatly anticipated by athletes. In recent decades, they have been written into athlete’s contracts with their sponsors and can lead to bonuses. They are based on three criteria in this order: 1. honours won; 2. head-to-head results with other athletes; 3. sequence of marks.

Nicole McDermott 3rd

Olympic silver medallists Nicola McDermott was rankled third but must have been close to claiming second ahead of Ukraine’s Yaroslava Mahuchikh as Nicola defeated her in the most important meet of the year – the Olympics. This is what Track and News magazine said about the two:

“The only one to beat Lasitskene twice was teenager Yaroslava Mahuchikh, who also had the year’s best sequence of marks. She topped the 2-meter (6-6¾) barrier in 11 meets, compared to 5 for Lasitskene… Nicola McDermott beat Mahuchikh for Tokyo silver, but in addition to her raft of high marks the Ukrainian beat the Aussie 4-2 overall…”

Ollie Hoare 4th

Ranked ‘just’ sixth by the other major merit ranking magazine ‘Athletics International’, Ollie was treated more favourably here with an outstanding fourth, behind Stewart McSweyn’s third.

Ollie’s ranking was the highest by a NSW athlete on the track for 35 years – since Darren Clark’s fourth in the 400m in 1986.

Although he was 11th in Tokyo, Ollie was rewarded with his outstanding Diamond league campaign where he claimed two seconds, a fourth and a fifth.

Track and Field news wrote:

“Newcomer Stewart McSweyn was a busy-busy man on the DL Circuit, scoring a pair of wins, a pair of 2nds a 3rd and a 4th. And he beat Cheruiyot once. Olli Hoare checks in right behind McSweyn at No. 4, giving Australia a pair of rankers for the first time since the glory years when Herb Elliott & Merv Lincoln went 1-2 in ’58…”

Eleanor Patterson 5th

Overcoming an injury hampered summer, Eleanor Patterson was outstanding at the Tokyo Olympics placing fifth. Her ranking matched that placing, but was backed up by a good sequence of performances on the Diamond League circuit with a third, a fourth and two sixths.

Eleanor would have likely been ranked in 2020 when she cleared a national record of 1.99m, but full rankings were not compiled due to limited competitions because of COVID.

Brandon Starc 6th

It was a third consecutive high jump ranking (except for the COVID interrupted 2020 season) for Brandon Starc, following third in 2018, sixth in 2019. Fifth at the Olympics, he placed second, fourth and sixth in his three Diamond league appearances.

The four NSW athletes were part of a record breaking Australian performance of 13 athletes gaining 74 points – the best results in 51 years since 1970.

Overall - superlatives:

-13 ranked athletes is an Aussie best since 1970 – 51 years ago

-74 points is a staggering 13 points better than any year in the last 51 years - since 1970.

(best in last 52 years was in 2006 when we tallied 11 athletes with 61 points)

Men – superlatives:

-7 ranked athletes is an Aussie best since 1975 – 46 years ago

-40 points is best since 1970 – 51 years

-2 athletes in the top-4 same men’s event (1500m) just second occasion in 51 years

David Tarbotton for Athletics NSW

Image: Nicola McDermott (courtesy of David Tarbotton)