In addition to the auto time, all of those in the top 65 on the filtered World Athletics list on 1/30 are qualified. So if the US has 3 on that list by 1/30, before the trials, then the US has three spots to award at the Trials. Those can go to the top three at the trials as long as each has run 2:11:30 or better. If someone in the top three hasn’t run 2:11:30 or faster then World Athletics doesn’t allow that runner to go to the Games regardless of the number of slots a country has to award. So in this case the US will move down the finish order until 3 with that result have been selected. Hopefully no one has to be skipped. If it happens, its because the athlete isn’t fast enough.
The US isn’t allowing athletes to chase 2:11:30 between the trials and May 5. This allows a team to be selected at the trials, rather than selection being on hold for months.
Right now the US has 3 in the top 65 filtered and we’ll know more solidly after Valencia results are on the WA list. There are not a lot of other opportunities before 1/30 for the list to change.
The part of the system Rojo is fixated on is only if the US doesn’t have three spots to award on 1/30 per World Athletics rules. The US is not going to award a spot at the Trials that it doesn’t know it has to award.
So I’m this case, this final piece of the system becomes active because the US didn’t have the spot to award at the trials in the first place.