LONDON : Athletes seeking to qualify for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics will face significantly tougher entry standards than those set for Paris 2024, with World Athletics tightening benchmarks across track and field events and placing greater emphasis on world rankings.
The governing body said about 40% of athletes would qualify through entry standards and 60% through world rankings, compared with an even 50-50 split for the Paris Games.
The qualification system covers 23 men’s events, 23 women’s events and two mixed relays – the 4×100 metres mixed relay, which will make its Olympic debut, and the 4×400 metres mixed relay.
The biggest increases in difficulty come in endurance events, with athletes required to achieve substantially faster times than those needed for Paris.
The men’s marathon entry standard has been lowered from 2:08:10 to 2:05:00, while the women’s mark has been cut from 2:26:50 to 2:22:20.
In the men’s 5,000 metres, the qualifying time has been reduced from 13:05 to 12:50, while the women’s standard has dropped from 14:52 to 14:34.
Sprint events will also have tougher requirements. The men’s 100 metres standard has been lowered from 10.00 seconds to 9.93, while the women’s mark has fallen from 11.07 to 10.96.
Middle-distance runners face higher targets, with the men’s 1,500 metres standard reduced from 3:33.50 to 3:30.00 and the women’s mark from 4:02.50 to 3:57.50.
World Athletics said achieving the entry standard would not automatically guarantee an Olympic place. If more athletes meet the mark than there are available quota places in an event, qualification will be determined by the best performances during the qualifying period.
“In this case no athletes will be qualified by world rankings,” the governing body added.
The marathon qualification period will run from November 1, 2026, to April 30, 2028. The window for the 10,000 metres, combined events, race walks and relays will open on December 19, 2026, while qualification for all other events will run from June 19, 2027, to June 18, 2028.
The athletics competition at the Los Angeles Games will take place from July 15-30, 2028, at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, which will host the main track and field programme.
