World Athletics announced its revised Olympics qualification system ahead of the 2028 Games in Los Angeles that will put more emphasis on global rankings as entry in some events becomes more competitive.
The global governing body said on Tuesday that it will stick to its “dual pathway” of qualifying, but in a shift from a model of event standards and world rankings having equal representation like global championships, the 2028 Olympics will now prioritize 60 percent of those achieving top rankings.
This revised move means that the road to the Games has gotten increasingly challenging, as only 40 percent of athletes can qualify via event standards and those not holding a major world ranking will find it tougher to make their national teams.
For 2028, the track and field program will feature an equal slate of 23 men’s and women’s events at 66 disciplines in total, with two mixed events including the 4x400m mixed relay and 4x100m mixed relay, which will make its Olympic Games debut.
In the men’s and women’s marathon, in particular, the new criteria are noticeably more demanding, as men will need to run 2:05 to achieve the Olympics standard, compared with 2:08:10 for Paris in 2024. The women’s marathon qualifier will shift from 2:26:50 to 2:22:20 over the previous Games.
Both moves will point to a push for quicker times in the events, while other disciples have also seen their qualification standards get adjusted as the road to Los Angeles ups its pace.
On the track, the men’s 100m standard has been lowered from 10 seconds to 9.93, while the women’s standard in the 100m dips from 11.07 to 10.96. And in the 1500m, the men’s standard is now 3:30, with the women’s set at 3:57.50.
World Athletics also noted that the qualification and ranking period for the marathon runs from November 1, 2026 to April 30, 2028, with the 10,000m, combined events, race walks and relays having a qualification window that stretches from December 19, 2026 to June 18, 2028.
For all other events, the period runs from June 19, 2027 to June 18, 2028.
Track and field will lead off the Olympics on July 15, 2028 and marking the first time it will not be part of the second week of the program. All three rounds of the women’s 100m will take place that same day, including the final, while the men’s 100m is set for the following day.
Swimming will be pushed to the second week of the schedule and essentially reverses its positioning with track and field, but the half-marathon race walks will be on July 27 and not part of the first week of action.
And like in Games’ past, the women’s and men’s marathon are part of the events that will close the Olympics on July 29 and July 30, respectively, along with the men’s basketball final, swimming finals, women’s volleyball final and boxing finals.
