The charts summarize the number of athletes each country placed in the
world top-100 outdoor rankings for 2003 (plus ties) and the highest-ranked
of these. Since one or two placings may represent only exceptional
individuals, rather than national program strength, I've listed only
countries with three or more athletes in the top 100. The data base drawn
upon is the world deep list from Mirko Jalava's web site
<http://www.tilastopaja.com/>.


MEN'S 50 KILOMETER WALK 2003            WOMEN'S 10 KILOMETER WALK 2003
Country      Top 100  Highest           Country      Top 96*  Highest

China           22       9              China           27       1
Russia          10       2              Spain           11      10
Spain           10       7              Japan            9      27
Japan            6      16              Romania          6      14
Poland           5       1              Portugal         5      18
Ukraine          5      52              Italy            5      24
Germany          4       3              Ukraine          3       3
France           4      19              Lithuania        3      11
Italy            4      61              Slovakia         3      20
Australia        3       6              Belarus          3      42
Slovakia         3      35
Sweden           3      46
Greece           3      49

26 countries represented                25 countries represented
100th = 4:08:38                         96th = 49:59

China's domination of the top placings in the 10K walk (8 of the top 10)
equals that of Kenya in the marathon, although Kenya had nearly twice as
many, total, in the top 100 of the marathon.

* - With only 96 results listed, world-wide, one has to wonder whether this
should be a World Championship and Olympic event. Peter Matthews' ATFS
compilation of 2002 performances lists 121 at 46:59 or better; still a
short list in comparison with other events. A quick check finds Jalava's
heptathlon list to be the next shortest, with 298 athletes shown.

Okay, I'll postpone any further rant on that (and next posting of other
depth charts) until after a short camping trip in the glorious Pacific
Northwest. Cheers!


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