World Athletics has ranked Malawi’s female athlete Asimenye Simwaka sixth in Africa out of 76 in the 400-metre (m) category in the newly-introduced global ranking system where athletes score points based on a combination of results.

The ranking is also based on place depending on the level of the competition in which the result is achieved.

Simwaka in full-flight during a previous international tourney

Simwaka is one of only two Malawian athletes  alongside Stern Liffa ranked due to the country’s irregular participation in international competitions.

The latest rankings released yesterday show that globally, she is ranked 344 out of 875 in all categories.

The ranking is based on her performance at African Athletics Championships in June 2022 where she won gold and Commonwealth Games in August 2022 where she reached the semi-final and finished sixth.

Nigerian Tobi Amusan is the highest ranked athlete followed by Ethiopian Gudaf Tsegay and Kenyan Faith Kipyegon on third.

In the men’s category, Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge is the best athlete followed by Ethiopian Tamirat Tola and Soufiane El Bakkali from Morocco.

Liffa is on position 1 025 out of 1 470 on world rankings and 88 out of 172 in 100-metres category.

In a statement, the world athletics governing body said it has been compiling results from January 1 2023 across the world which it has used for the rankings.

The statement reads in part: “From 1 January 2023, World Athletics has been processing results which have been achieved in a competition listed in the World Athletics global calendar.

“Because of their nature, the world rankings can also be used as a tool to compare multiple performances across a range of competitions.

“By applying standardised compilation methods, it is therefore, possible to evaluate the comparative quality of the participating fields at competitions of the same type and to produce competition performance rankings.”

The ranking is also based on results of African Athletics Championships in June 2022 and Commonwealth Games in August 2022.

In an interview yesterday, Simwaka said her target is to be top in Africa.

She said: “But it depends on the frequency in participation in big tournaments. Otherwise, it is not a far-fetched dream.

“I believe with regular participation, I can even make it into the top 100.”

Former Athletics Association of Malawi (AAM) general secretary Mzee Makawa said this is because Malawian athletes have not been regularly participating in international competitions.

He said: “As you can see, the rankings consider the results from international competitions.

“For Malawi, it’s only Asimenye and Liffa who recently participated in such competitions when they represented Malawi at Commonwealth Games and Africa Championships.”

Makawa said there is need for more athletes to participate in such competitions because the rankings are important as they will determine who will represent Malawi at international competitions.

He said: “World Athletics and Africa Athletics will be inviting athletes for international competitions based on the rankings. If you are not ranked, you cannot be invited for such competitions.”

However, currently, Malawian athletes are not participating in international competitions due to a stand-off between Malawi National Council of Sports and AAM’s former executive committee.

Sports Council dissolved the committee and appointed a new caretaker committee led by Justice of Appeal Sylvester Kalembera.

However, the dissolved committee contends it is still in charge and is backed by Africa Athletics.

Kalembera, in an interview, said he was aware that the stand-off is affecting the athletes’ participation in international competitions.

He said: “That’s why we are trying to reorganise athletics in the country as soon as possible so that the athletes can resume participating in international competitions.”

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