Seven New Zealand athletes have finished 2011 ranked in the top 50 in the world in 10 different events.
Valerie Adams leads the way with a number 1 ranking in the shot put, followed by Kimberley Smith at number 4 in the half marathon while Nick Willis leads the menat number 8 in the 1500m.
Junior shot put sensation Jacko Gill makes his first appearance at number 30.
Willis also features in the mile rankings, while Kimberley Smith also appears in the 10,000 metres and 5000 metres.
Others to make the cut include javelin thrower Stuart Farquhar (17th), decathlete Brent Newdick (23rd) and Nikki Hamblin (35th) in the 1500 metres.
Four throwers appear in the top 20 juniors in the world. Gill, Tomas Walsh, Julia Ratcliffe and Siositina Hakeai are ranked.
Gill is number 1 in the shot put and 5th in the discus and Hakeai is also 5th in discus and 16th in the shot put.
Joshua Hawkins (3rd 110 metres hurdles and 20th 200 metres) makes the youth list, along with pole vaulter Nicholas Southgate at 13th and Merewarihi Vaka at 14th in the discus.
New Zealand Athletes Ranked in the World Top 50 in 2011
Men 1500m 3:31.79 8th Nick Willis Mile 3:51.95 13th Nick Willis Javelin Throw 84.21m 17th Stuart Farquhar Decathlon 8114 points 23rd Brent Newdick Shot Put 20.38m 30th Jacko Gill
Women Shot Put 21.24m 1st Valerie Adams Half-marathon 67:11 4th Kimberley Smith 10km 32:06 22nd Kimberley Smith 5000m 15:14.02 40th Kimberley Smith 1500m 4:04.82 35th Nikki Hamblin
