Kerr leaps to No.1 world ranking
New Zealand's Olympic Games high jump champion Hamish Kerr has been ranked world No.1 in his discipline by the athletics bible Track and Field News in its annual rankings list.
At the same time the magazine assessed New Zealand was the equal 16th men's track and field nation in the world, sharing its placing with Botswana and the Netherlands. The United States, Ethiopia and Kenya took the first three placings respectively while Australia shared 24th place.
New Zealand's women were ranked 24th in the world with the United States, Kenya and Ethiopia taking the first three places while Australia was seventh.
Commenting on its decision for the men's high jump, the magazine remarked: "Those who like jumpoffs got their wish in Paris, but in the final analysis Hamish Kerr liked things better than Shelby McEwen (US) did, claiming the win. That made their yearly sequence 4-1 in favour of the Kiwi.
"With their 1-2 finishes at both the World Indoor and Olympics they were clearly at the top of the heap."
His 2.36m was the second highest leap of the year, 1cm behind Italian Gianmarco Tamberi.
Kerr wasn't alone in the rankings.
New Zealand's shot putters Tom Walsh and Jacko Gill took seventh and ninth respectively behind the dominant American Ryan Crouser at No.1.
On the track, Kiwi miler George Beamish with his time of 3min 49.09sec was the 12th fastest individual in the event while his time of 8min 6.73sec made him the fourth fastest in the world over two miles. Rounding out his year, he was 13th fastest man over the 3000m steeplechase with his time of 8min 9.64sec.
Pole vaulter Eliza McCartney achieved a seventh ranking with her vault of 4.84 making her the sixth best performer in the event in 2024.
Shot putter Maddison-Lee Wesche was ranked fourth in the world, despite her performance only making her the eighth best performer.
Miler Maia Ramsden was the 17th fastest women with her time of 4min 24.79sec.