The race to the 2024 Paris Olympics is well and truly on after World Athletics (WA) released the qualification system for the various events ahead of the commencement of the qualification period starting December 31.
According to a schedule of activities released on Tuesday, athletics will be represented by 23 men and women’s events as well as two mixed events – the 35km mixed team walk race and the 4x400m relay.
The qualification period for the marathon began on November 1 and is expected to run until April 2024 as the one for 10,000m, relays, race walks and combined events commence on the 31st of this month.
Consequently, the qualification period for the other events begins July 1 next year, until 30 June 2024.
As was the case with the World Championships in Oregon and the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, 50 per cent of the athletes are expected to qualify via entry standards whereas the other half will make it through their respective world ranking system.
In the case of the marathon, any athlete ranked higher than the 65th athlete on the filtered Quota Place “Road to Paris” list on 30 January 2024 will be considered qualified. After 30 January 2024, the remaining 20% of the quota will be determined by the same dual pathway qualification criteria outlined above, without displacing the athletes qualified per 30 January 2024.
Any national Olympic committee may choose to reallocate a quota place to an unqualified athlete, provided the athlete in the qualification window has achieved at least a 2:11:30 (men) or 2:29:30 (women) performance.