World champions Jana Rawlinson and Nathan Deakes have been named as world number ones in their respective events by authoritative American magazine, Track and Field News.

Rawlinson, 25, won her second women's world 400 metres hurdles title while Deakes, 30, won his first world title in the men's 50km walk at the 2007 athletics world championships.

It is the first time in a decade that Australia has achieved two No.1 rankings and just the seventh time in the rankings' 58-year history that two Australian athletes have achieved the honour in the same year.

The last time two Australians reached the top spot was 1997 when Cathy Freeman (400m) and Emma George (pole vault) reached No.1.

For Rawlinson it is the second time she has been ranked at No.1, the first coming in 2003 following her world title win in Paris.

It is the first time that Deakes has reached the No.1 spot, after his world record in Geelong came too late to be considered in the 2006 rankings.

"That's great news," Deakes said in a statement.

"Track and Field news is the bible for us in athletics; we tend to live by those rankings, so it's a nice way to finish off the year," he said.

Six other Australian athletes made the top ten, including Craig Mottram at No.2 in the 3000m.

Pole vaulter Steve Hooker, slipped to number five, women's 1500m runner Sarah Jamieson placed seventh, the same ranking as 20km walker Luke Adams.

2006 Commonwealth Games gold medallist John Steffensen was ranked eighth while Sally McLellan made the top ten for the first time in her career with her 10th ranking in the women's 100m hurdles.

The annual Track and Field News rankings are based on major honours, the win-loss records of the leading athletes and the standards of the best performances recorded by athletes in the year in review.

Rawlinson joins the likes of Ron Clarke (five times ranked No.1), Marlene Mathews and Betty Cuthbert (both four times) and Cathy Freeman, Pam Ryan, Kerry Junna-Saxby and Herb Elliott (all three times) with multiple No.1 rankings.

Deakes joins John Landy, Rob de Castella, Ralph Doubell, Simon Baker, Betty Moore, Maureen Caird, Emma George, Dixie Willis, Kerry O'Brien, Dmitri Markov and John Winter as athletes to achieve the top spot on one occasion.

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