IAAF RELEASES OLYMPIC GAMES QUALIFYING STANDARDS

By David Monti

(c) 2011 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved. Used with permission.

(15-Apr) -- The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) released the qualifying standards for the 2012 Olympic Games today, and most standards for the middle and long distance events have been tightened from the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Most of the adjustments are modest, however, but will likely reduce slightly the number of qualifiers in each discipline.  For instance, the "A" standard (the time standard necessary to field full three-person teams) in the men's 10,000m has been lowered by 5 full seconds to 27:45.00.  In the men's 5000m, the standard was shaved by 1.5 seconds to 13:20.00, and the men's 800m "A" standard contracted to 1:45.60 from 1:46-flat.

In the case of the women's 5000m, the "A" standard was actually softened to 15:15-flat from 15:09.00.

For the marathons, the standards are essentially the same as 2008.  For the men, the "A" and "B" standards remained at 2:15:00/2:18:00, respectively, and the women's "A" standard held steady at 2:37:00.  However, the women's "B" standard was softened by one minute to 2:43:00.  Performances must be achieved on courses pre-approved by the IAAF for qualifying.

The attached file displays the full list of qualifying standards which can be saved for reference.  The file also has links for the qualification process guidelines, and the approved marathon courses for qualifying.  Remember, individual nations are free to set more stringent qualifying standards than those listed.