LOL at new Olympic standards

Once again, you can go by world rankings. A 2:08 at boston (equivalent result score of a 2:09 high with no net drop, and 11th place gets bonus points) plus a 2:11:40 and top 3 at US championships which also gets bonus points, would be enough to qualify by ranking. There will be 80 runners in the olympic marathon, only 3 per country. Right now the last one in by ranking would be Thomas De Bock of Belgium, he has run 2:11:27 and 2:11:54, no placing bonuses for either performance. So someone who is a consistent 2:11:40 guy would be able to qualify if they were top 3 in their country. And someone with a 2:11:40 top 3 at US olympic trials with mega bonus points would only need another performance at 2:13 or better in the past 18 months to be enough to qualify.

I think it is very unlikely that a time slower than 2:11:30 will be top 3 at our trials in 2024. It would have to be reeeaaaally hot and humid.

If WA continues to grow this route, I would hope that they apply some better common sense flexibility on extra points per their current "Categories of Competitions" hierarchy.

worldathletics.org

1. Basics of the Rankings

World Athletics Rankings Rules - description of the basic rules of the Rankings.

Open link

For instance,

- NCAA outdoor champs is a far better meet than say the Pan American games yet it's a tier below.

- US Outdoor senior champs shouldn't be valued the same as the Greek outdoor senior chaps like it would under this format.

I think they should scrap doings these points by meet and instead do it by event. For instance the NCAA men's 100 final can be worth a lot of points because it's champions are routinely medal contenders while the men's 10,000 final at NCAAs can be worth much less.

They can use data of past performances of X event to justify how much points it's worth and the value can change on an annual basis if needed.

NCAA XC championships doesn't even factor in the world rankings, does it? Going to be really tough for US college distance athletes to make the standard and qualify. They are not spending summers at DL, they are prepping for XC.

worldathletics.org

1. Basics of the Rankings

World Athletics Rankings Rules - description of the basic rules of the Rankings.

Open link

Looking at the thearchy again. USATF and other North American federations need to make a much better effort to promote an "Area Senior Outdoor Championship" meet (is there even one?). This meet would help a lot for rankings as it would be worth more points than some diamond league meets . North Americans will continue to be at a ranking disadvantage compared to the Europeans until they implement this.

My scenario had an ELEVENTH place finish which is not top 5 and ELEVENTH in Boston is not a great deal of points either. A sub 2:11:30 elsewhere is a guarantee.
Boston has turned into a poor option for Americans this year.

There are other factors of course but with the shoes taking 'chunks' of time off of distance efforts, why would it seen to surprise many that the standards seem much tougher?

Is 13:05 the pre-shoes 13:20? My question is not rhetorical. There is no way to know the exact benefits but these standards should provide at least minimal understanding.

"You can go by world ranking."

What part of 2:08.10 do you not understand?"

The 80th Fastest Marathon Time in The World for 2022 is

2:06.55 For Men

2:23.11 For Woman

So if they want a Field of 80 People, They would have to set the Standard A Little Higher

Source Tilastopaja

How many times has 2:08 been ELEVENTH at Boston?

A 2:11:30 does not get you in. It's 2:08:10. And as mentioned a 2:08 at Boston gets you a lot better than 11th. Boston is a perfectly valid option to collect ranking points.

The NACAC meet is the championship for North America, Central America, and Carribean

They could make all of the time standards the world record, it doesn't matter. The fields will be filled by world ranking.

As others have noted, there is no expectation that many athletes will actually achieve these marks.

By ensuring that ranking is the more likely method of qualification, it forces the athletes to compete in more of the Diamond League and World Challenge meetings. It’s done to benefit those meetings and save them on costs by making more athletes reliant on them as the path to qualification.

If Nico Young can run 13:11 as a collegiate runner...the 5000m standards is not tough enough. If you can wear super spikes....standards are not tough enough.

But isn’t there an advantage to Euro-centered athletes competing in the Diamond League, since most DL meets are ‘over there’?

For the first time since 1972, for Paris 2024, athletes can also qualify for the Olympic 1500 meters with Mile times: 3:50.40 = men and 4:20.90 = women.