Whats crazy about the Repechage round in EVERYONE who finishes their heat and does not get DQed is able to run it, even if you finish last in an embarassingly slow time. For example, Andrew Coscoran (IRL) who ran 3:42 in the mens 1500m to finish last will go through, same for the 2:13 woman in the 800m.
This system can be gamed and I'm shocked we haven't seen anyone take advantage of it yet.
Say you are a good athlete who might barely make the semi-final directly, but will have to go all out to do it, and still would be highly uncertain to get in. Why not make getting to the semi-final a bit easier by gaming this Repechage system.
Jog a 5 min 1500m, then in the repechage easily qualify in your heat. The heat is likely to be slow. The athletes are worse, and they are tired from the heat the previous day. You might even exert yourself less than if you ran the heat hard the day before. Sure you get less rest for the final if you make it, but seems like this is an easier way to get in for someone who would be a stretch for making the final. Heck running a bit easier over two days might even make you more rested than running hard and having an extra days rest.
The 2 Repechage heats take the top 3 in the 1500m. In the 800 there is 3 heats, and they take the top 2 and the next 2 fastest, which might things even more certain.
This seems like quite a good way to get through the semi-finals. Surprised we aren't seeing anyone try it. World Athletics created this stupid system, it would be fun to see an athlete have a go at maybe exploiting it.