by Lia Skoufos, MS
This article is a part of a USATF Campus exclusive series to help understand the World Athletics Rankings. For track fans and elite athletes alike, this series aims to provide clarity, analysis, and education on all things World Rankings, and what they mean for Team USATF. For more information on how the World Rankings system works, see this article.
From October 27-November 3, one U.S. athlete in the top 100 of their respective event had the biggest absolute improvement to their World Ranking, improving by 20 spots. Jessica McClain’s second-place finish at the TCS New York City Marathon marked her best finish at a World Marathon Major and the fastest she has ever run on a record-eligible course. It also breaks the drought of U.S. women on the podium at the TCS New York City Marathon, dating back to Shalane Flanagan’s third-place finish in 2018. With this performance of 2:24:42, McClain improved her world ranking from 59th to 39th in the women’s marathon. The marathon has an 18-month world ranking period, and each marathon that McClain runs seems to have more historical significance. Last year, she was 1 of 2 Americans in the top ten at the World Athletics Championships Tokyo 25. In April of 2025, she ran the fastest time for a U.S. woman ever at the Boston Marathon. These two races previously made up her ranking score, but now the TCS New York City Marathon replaces the World Athletics Championships and is responsible for her 20-place improvement. When assessing improvement based on percentage increase in ranking (e.g. 2nd to 1st is a 50% improvement as is moving from 30th to 15th), Jessica McClain also had the biggest improvement at 34%. More details on rankings, results, and scenarios can be found on the World Athletics website. You can also experiment with my World Athletics Rankings Dashboard & Calculator and World Rankings Over Time Dashboard, hosted exclusively on USATF Campus.
Lia Skoufos is a Sports Scientist at USATF specializing in throwing events. She holds a BS in Kinesiology from the University of Illinois Chicago and MS in Sport and Exercise Analytics from Marquette University and supports a range of analytics-based projects at USATF. In addition to her work with the throws group, she focuses on creating data-driven visuals and bridging the gap between technical analytics and practical applications by translating complex information into clear, actionable insights for coaches, athletes, and all USATF Campus members.