TRACK & FIELD
The Road to The
Budapest
Qualified : Akani Simbine ( left ); Chasing Qualification : Benjamin Richardson
All track and field roads lead to Budapest in August as the next instalment of the World Championships roll round again . Some athletes have already qualified , but many others are still looking for that qualifying time or distance . Here ’ s what they need to do to book their ticket to Hungary .
– BY MANFRED SEIDLER
World Championships take place again this year - this time in Budapest , Hungary , from 19-27 August – and once again South Africa ’ s athletes will be looking to book their tickets to the global championships . However , it has become far tougher for athletes to secure their spot to compete at these championships , thanks to stricter qualifying standards introduced by World Athletics ( WA ).
There are four ways in which athletes can book their slots at these World Championships : 1 Direct qualification by attaining the qualifying standards during the qualifying window . 2 Accumulating enough WA Label points and finishing high in the WA Rankings . 3 Finishing positions at designated competitions . 4 A wildcard entry .
1 Direct Qualification |
World Athletics has decided the maximum number of athletes that will be |
allowed to compete at these World Championships , and the list below presents a |
breakdown of how many athletes will start in each event . Each federation ( country ) |
is allowed to enter up to three athletes per event , but for relay races , the maximum |
number of entries is one team per nation per event . |
100m / 200m / 400m |
48 |
800m / 1500m |
56 |
3000m Steeplechase |
36 |
5000m |
42 |
10,000m |
27 |
110m / 100m / 400m Hurdles |
40 |
4x100m / 4x400m Relays |
16 |
Field Events |
36 |
Combined Events |
24 |
Marathon |
100 |
20km / 35km Race Walk |
50 |
To qualify directly for the World Championships , World Athletics has set out specific performance standards for athletes in each event , as shown in the table below . For most events , the 12-month qualification period is from 31 July 2022 to 30 July 2023 , so athletes are now watching the calendar carefully , with less than two months left to post a qualifier .
Some events do have a different qualification window , however . For the marathon and 35km race walk , the qualifying period opened earlier on 1 December 2021 , and closed earlier on 30 May 2023 . This gave athletes 18 months in which to qualify ,
MEN EVENT WOMEN MEN EVENT WOMEN
SPRINTS
10.00 100m 11.08 20.16 200m 22.60 45.00 400m 51.00
HURDLES
13:38 110m H / 100m H 12:78 48:70 400m H 54.90
WC22 Top 8 + Rankings Top 8
WC22 Top 8 + Rankings Top 8
WC22 Top 8 + Rankings Top 8
RELAYS
4x100m Relay
4x400m Relay
4x400m Mixed Relay
MIDDLE DISTANCES
1:44.70 800m 1:59.80 3:34.20 1500m 4:03.50 13:07.00 5000m 14:57.00 27:10.00 10,000m 30:40.00
8:15.00 3000m Steeplechase 9:23.00
52 ISSUE 159 | www . modernathlete . co . za
WC22 Top 8 + Rankings Top 8
WC22 Top 8 + Rankings Top 8
FIELD EVENTS : JUMPS
8.25m |
Long Jump |
6.85m |
17.20m |
Triple Jump |
14:52m |
2.32m |
High Jump |
1.97m |
5.81m |
Pole Vault |
4.71m |
FIELD EVENTS : THROWS
21.40m |
Shot Put |
18.80m |
67.00m |
Discus |
64.20m |
85.20m |
Javelin |
63.80m |
78.00m |
Hammer Throw |
73.60m |
COMBINED EVENTS
8460 pts |
Decathlon |
N / A |
N / A |
Heptathlon |
6480 pts |
ROAD : RUNNING
2:09:40 Marathon 2:28:00
ROAD : RACE WALKING
1:20:10 |
20km Walk |
1:29:20 |
2:29:40 |
35km Walk |
2:51:30 |
Images : Barco Greeff , Yolandie van Niekerk , Action Photo SA