Qualifying standards in athletics

Last updated

In sports under the athletics banner, certain competitions require an athlete to meet a qualifying standard, meaning a mark as good or better than this set mark, in order to be eligible to compete. Naturally, an elite level competition does not want to embarrass its reputation nor the competitor in an event beyond their competition level. With a limited number of lanes on the track (or field event facilities) they must limit the number of competitors participating in a given amount of time at a meet.

Contents

High level competition

For the highest elite level competitions like the Olympics and World Athletics Championships, World Athletics, the world governing body for athletics, publishes standards in advance of the competitions. The currently expressed standards are intended to qualify about 2,000 athletes across all disciplines (24 men's events and 23 women's events) to be eligible to compete in these meets. [1]

Normally an athlete has a window of time to achieve their mark at any competition "organised or authorised by the IAAF, its Area Associations or its National Member Federations in conformity with IAAF Rules. Results achieved at university or school competitions must be certified by the National Federation of the country in which the competition was organised." [1] These qualitative conduct standards would be equivalent to those requirements to certify a world record.

Entries for these high level competitions must be selected by the national governing body (NGB) or in the case of the Olympics, must be submitted by the National Olympic Committee (NOC). Each country is allowed to choose their own method of selecting the names submitted. The United States Olympic Committee, for example, conducts the Olympic Trials, through its national governing body USATF, and for events other than relays, selection is based purely on placement in that meet. However UK Athletics has a selection committee that uses a variety of athletic results in an evaluation process.

A and B standards

Prior to 2014 the Olympics and World Championships used a system with A standards and B standards, for example in qualification for the 2012 Summer Olympics and qualification the 2013 World Championships.

The A standard was the most difficult to achieve. A rule said an NOC "may enter up to three athletes for each event on the athletics program, provided they have achieved the A standard. In addition they can enter one reserve athlete for the same event provided he/she has also achieved the A standard." [1]

Alternatively NOCs could enter one athlete for each event on the athletics program if he/she had achieved at least the B standard. In addition they could enter one reserve athlete for the same event provided he/she had also achieved at least the B standard.

The qualification for the 2015 World Championships and the qualification for the 2016 Summer Olympics uses single entry standards. The rules are similar to the previous A standards with up to three athletes per NOC. The requirements are generally a little lower than the old A standard but higher than the B standard. If a country has no athletes who satisfy the standard in an event then it can no longer get one place for an athlete satisfying a lower standard. [2]

In 2017, the World Athletics Rankings were announced, and this new system was used in combination with 'A' standards to fill the fields of global championships starting in athletics at the 2021 Summer Olympics. This new system has led to more difficult 'A' standards being set, with the idea that most of the fields should be filled by descending order of world rankings position rather than achievement of any single standard. [3]

Unqualified competitors

In order to make the meet globally encompassing, every NOC or NGB, is allowed to submit one athlete to compete, even if they have not achieved the standards. The hosting country for the meet is allowed to enter one athlete per event.

Other meets

Other championship meets that have qualifying standards include the NCAA meets. While currently the Div. 1 outdoor championships is based on regional qualifying other outdoor divisions and all indoor divisions have standards.

Related Research Articles

The men's discus throw competition at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, was held at the Estádio Olímpico João Havelange on 12–13 August. Thirty-five athletes from 24 nations competed. Germany's Christoph Harting succeeded his brother Robert Harting to the Olympic title. "It was the first time in Olympic history, in any sport, that brothers succeeded each other as Olympic champions in the same individual event." It was also the nation's third victory in the event. Poland's Piotr Małachowski took the silver medal ahead of another German, Daniel Jasinski. Małachowski had also won silver eight years before, making him the 16th man to win multiple medals in the discus throw.

For the athletics competitions at the 2016 Summer Olympics, the following qualification systems were in place. Qualification ended on 11 July 2016.

For the athletics at the 2020 Summer Olympics competitions, the following qualification systems were in place. Qualification ended on 29 June 2021, but for marathon and 50 km race walking, it ended on 31 May 2021. Some 1900 athletes, from 196 countries, competed. 103 countries qualified also through Universality places.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Athletics at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Men's 20 kilometres walk</span> Olympic athletics event

The men's 20 kilometres walk event at the 2020 Summer Olympics took place on 5 August 2021 in Sapporo. Approximately 60 athletes competed; the exact number was dependent on how many nations use universality places to enter athletes in addition to the number qualifying through time. The reigning champion is Wang Zhen of China.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Athletics at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Women's 20 kilometres walk</span> Olympic athletics event

The women's 20 kilometres walk event at the 2020 Summer Olympics took place on 6 August 2021 in Sapporo. Approximately 60 athletes has qualified; the exact number depended on how many nations use universality places to enter athletes in addition to the number qualifying through time. The actual number of participants was 58 walkers, and the winner was Antonella Palmisano of Italy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Athletics at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Men's 50 kilometres walk</span> Olympic athletics event

The men's 50 kilometres walk event at the 2020 Summer Olympics took place on 6 August 2021 in Sapporo. 59 athletes competed; the exact number was dependent on how many nations use universality places to enter athletes in addition to the number qualifying through time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Athletics at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Men's long jump</span> Olympic athletics event

The men's long jump event at the 2020 Summer Olympics took place between 31 July and 2 August 2021 at the Japan National Stadium. Approximately 35 athletes were expected to compete; the exact number was dependent on how many nations use universality places to enter athletes in addition to the 32 qualifying through time or ranking. 31 athletes from 20 nations competed. Miltiadis Tentoglou won the gold medal, Greece's first medal in the men's long jump. Cuban athletes Juan Miguel Echevarría and Maykel Massó earned silver and bronze, respectively, the nation's first medals in the event since 2008.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Athletics at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Men's triple jump</span> Olympic athletics event

The men's triple jump event at the 2020 Summer Olympics took place between 3 and 5 August 2021 at the Japan National Stadium. Approximately 35 athletes were expected to compete; the exact number was dependent on how many nations use universality places to enter athletes in addition to the 32 qualifying through time or ranking. 32 athletes from 19 nations competed. Pedro Pichardo of Portugal won the gold medal, the nation's second victory in the men's triple jump. China's Zhu Yaming took silver, while Hugues Fabrice Zango earned Burkina Faso's first Olympic medal in any event.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Athletics at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Women's triple jump</span> Olympic athletics event

The women's triple jump event at the 2020 Summer Olympics took place between 30 July and 1 August 2021 at the Japan National Stadium.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Athletics at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Women's high jump</span> Olympic athletics event

The women's high jump event at the 2020 Summer Olympics took place on 5 and 7 August 2021 at the Japan National Stadium. Even though 32 athletes qualified through the qualification system for the Games, only 31 took part in the competition. This was the 22nd appearance of the event, having appeared at every Olympics since women's athletics was introduced in 1928.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Athletics at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Men's pole vault</span> Olympic athletics event

The men's pole vault event at the 2020 Summer Olympics took place between 31 July and 3 August 2021 at the Japan National Stadium. 29 athletes from 18 nations competed. Armand Duplantis of Sweden won gold, with Christopher Nilsen of the United States earning silver and Thiago Braz of Brazil taking bronze. It was Sweden's first victory in the event and first medal of any color in the men's pole vault since 1952. Braz, who had won in 2016, became the ninth man to earn multiple medals in the pole vault.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Athletics at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Men's shot put</span> Olympic athletics event

The men's shot put event at the 2020 Summer Olympics took place between 3 and 5 August 2021 at the Japan National Stadium. Thirty-one athletes from 22 nations competed. For the first time in Olympic history, the same three competitors received the same medals in back-to-back editions of an individual event. Americans Ryan Crouser and Joe Kovacs and New Zealander Tom Walsh repeated their gold, silver, and bronze (respectively) performances from the 2016 Summer Olympics. They became the 15th, 16th, and 17th men to earn multiple medals in the shot put; Crouser was the 4th to repeat as champion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Athletics at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Women's shot put</span> Olympic athletics event

The women's shot put event at the 2020 Summer Olympics took place on 30 July and 1 August 2021 at the Japan National Stadium. Approximately 35 athletes are expected to compete; the exact number will depend on how many nations use universality places to enter athletes in addition to the 32 qualifying through distance or ranking.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Athletics at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Men's discus throw</span> Olympic athletics event

The men's discus throw event at the 2020 Summer Olympics took place between 30 and 31 July 2021 at the Japan National Stadium. Approximately 35 athletes were expected to compete; the exact number depended on how many nations use universality places to enter athletes in addition to the 32 qualifying through distance or ranking. 32 athletes from 24 nations competed. Daniel Ståhl of Sweden won gold, with his countryman Simon Pettersson earning silver. It was the first victory in the event for Sweden and the first men's discus throw medal of any color for the nation since 1972. Lukas Weißhaidinger took Austria's first-ever Olympic in the men's discus with his bronze.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Athletics at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Men's hammer throw</span> Olympic athletics event

The men's hammer throw event at the 2020 Summer Olympics took place between 2 and 4 August 2021 at the Japan National Stadium. Approximately 35 athletes were expected to compete; the exact number was dependent on how many nations used universality places to enter athletes in addition to the 32 qualifying through distance or ranking. 31 athletes from 21 nations competed. Wojciech Nowicki of Poland won the gold medal, adding to his 2016 bronze to become the 15th man to earn multiple hammer throw medals. It was Poland's second gold medal in the event, after Szymon Ziółkowski's 2000 victory. Nowicki's countryman Paweł Fajdek took bronze. Between them was Norwegian thrower Eivind Henriksen, with his silver being Norway's first-ever Olympic medal in the men's hammer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Athletics at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Women's hammer throw</span> Olympic athletics event

The women's hammer throw event at the 2020 Summer Olympics took place on 1 and 3 August 2021 at the Japan National Stadium. Approximately 35 athletes competed; the exact number was dependent on how many nations use universality places to enter athletes in addition to the 32 qualifying through distance or ranking.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Athletics at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Women's javelin throw</span> Olympic athletics event

The women's javelin throw event at the 2020 Summer Olympics took place on 3 and 6 August 2021 at the Japan National Stadium. Approximately 35 athletes competed; the exact number was dependent on how many nations use universality places to enter athletes in addition to the 32 qualifying through distance or ranking.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Athletics at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Men's decathlon</span> Olympic athletics event

The men's decathlon event at the 2020 Summer Olympics took place on 4 and 5 August 2021 at the Japan National Stadium. 23 athletes competed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Athletics at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Women's heptathlon</span> Olympic athletics event

The women's heptathlon event at the 2020 Summer Olympics took place on 4 and 5 August 2021 at the Japan National Stadium. 24 athletes competed.

This article details the qualifying phase for athletics at the 2024 Summer Olympics. More than 1,800 athletes, with an equal split between men and women, will compete across forty-eight medal events at the Games. The qualification window for the marathon races will occur from 1 November 2022 to 30 April 2024; for the 10,000 metres, combined events, racewalks, and relays from 31 December 2022 to 30 June 2024; and for the remaining events on the program lineup from 1 July 2023 to 30 June 2024.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Qualification System
  2. ↑ Rowbottom, Mike (16 April 2015). "IAAF confirm single entry standards for Rio 2016 Olympic Games". insidethegames.biz. Retrieved 30 June 2015.
  3. ↑ Kelly, Madeleine (2019-03-04). "What is the IAAF world ranking system and why does it matter?". Canadian Running Magazine. Retrieved 2024-02-03.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.