Monaco, November 10 (ANI): The qualification system for athletics competition at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games, to be held between July 15 and 30, 2028, has been published by World Athletics. The qualification system approved by the World Athletics Council includes details of the qualification windows, total quota places per discipline and entry standards, according to a press release.The programme will include 23 women’s events and 23 men’s events as well as two mixed events – the 4x100m mixed relay, making its Olympic Games debut, and the 4x400m mixed relay.As has been the case for recent outdoor global championships, the qualification system is based on a dual pathway. Rather than the previous 50/50 model, 40% of athletes are expected to qualify through entry standards, and the remaining 60% are expected to qualify through world rankings, according to the press release.Should more athletes than the quota by event achieve the entry standard, qualification will be limited to those with the best performance in the qualification period, and within the quota number; thus, achieving the entry standard does not automatically guarantee a quota place. In this case, no athletes will be qualified by world rankings.For the marathon, the qualification and ranking period runs from 1 November 2026 to 30 April 2028. For the 10,000m, combined events, race walks and relays, the window is from 19 December 2026 to 18 June 2028. For all other events, the period runs from 19 June 2027 to 18 June 2028.Results from competitions for which the last day falls within the applicable qualification and ranking periods will count entirely towards the qualification. Results from national senior outdoor championships that start within the applicable qualification and ranking periods will count towards the qualification if achieved no later than Thursday, 22 June.The entry standards for the men’s and women’s events include 9.93 seconds and 10.96 seconds in the 100m, 19.95 seconds and 22.25 seconds in the 200m, and 44.40 seconds and 49.90 seconds in the 400m, respectively.In the middle and long-distance events, the standards are 1:43.00 and 1:57.00 in the 800m, 3:30.00 and 3:57.50 in the 1500m, 12:50.00 and 14:34.00 in the 5000m, and 26:48.00 and 30:30.00 in the 10,000m. For hurdles, the standards are 13.18 seconds in the men’s 110m hurdles and 12.58 seconds in the women’s 100m hurdles, while the 400m hurdles standards are 48.00 and 54.00 seconds, respectively.In the 3000m steeplechase, the standards are 8:07.50 for men and 9:06.00 for women. For field events, the respective men’s and women’s standards are 2.32m and 1.97m in high jump, 5.90m and 4.80m in pole vault, 8.30m and 6.90m in long jump, 17.35m and 14.50m in triple jump, 21.50m and 19.30m in shot put, 67.20m and 65.00m in discus throw, 78.50m and 74.00m in hammer throw, and 85.50m and 63.80m in javelin throw.The standards for the decathlon and heptathlon are 8,650 points and 6,550 points, respectively, while the marathon standards are 2:05:00 for men and 2:22:20 for women. For the half marathon race walk, the qualification standard is listed as WRWTC for both categories.The methodology for determining the entry standards used the qualification periods of the past four global championships – the World Athletics Championships in 2022, 2023 and 2025 and the Olympic Games in 2024 – as references.Top lists using the start and end dates of those four qualification periods were calculated with three athletes per country. Based on the trends, performance levels and expected improvements, all were factored in to determine the entry standards, which also take into account the events where trends clearly require higher entry standards for the future than those used for past championships. This includes the marathon, where trends show that in an Olympic year, times are between 30 and 60 seconds faster than the trends would forecast.For the marathon, any athlete ranked higher than the 56th athlete on the filtered Quota Place ‘Road to LA’ list (three per national Olympic committee) on 19 March 2028 will be considered qualified. After 19 March 2028, the remaining 15 athletes will be determined by the same dual pathway qualification criteria outlined above, without displacing the athletes qualified by 19 March 2028.The first five finishers at the Platinum Label marathons held during the whole qualification period will also be considered as having achieved the entry standard and will be listed first on the ‘Road to LA’, World Athletics’ official qualification monitoring tool. Any national Olympic committee may choose to reallocate, at the time of the final entries, a quota place to an unqualified athlete provided the athlete in the whole qualification window has achieved at least a 2:11:00 (men) or 2:29:00 (women) performance, according to the press release.For race walks, the first 12 placed athletes at the World Athletics Race Walking Team Championships in Hefei, China, on 9 April 2028 shall automatically qualify for the half marathon race walk events at LA28. If a quota place is declined, it shall be allocated via the world rankings. The remaining 36 places will be allocated via the world rankings.For the relays, the first 14 placed national Olympic committees at the World Athletics Relays held in The Bahamas on 22-23 April, 2028 shall automatically qualify for LA28. Teams will have two opportunities to qualify at the World Relays – if unsuccessful on day one, another chance will be provided on day two of the competition. The remaining teams will be selected according to the World Athletics performance list for relays during the qualification period. (ANI)(This content is sourced from a syndicated feed and is published as received. The Tribune assumes no responsibility or liability for its accuracy, completeness, or content.)