World Athletics Championships 2023 qualifying standards: How can Indian athletes make the cut for Budapest
Know the entry standards Indians need to meet to qualify for the Budapest 2023 world athletics championships. Full list of qualifying standards for each event.
The countdown to the World Athletics Championships 2023, to be held in the Hungarian capital of Budapest from August 19 to 27 this year, has already started.
With World Athletics revealing the qualifying standards for Budapest23, athletes, including Indian track and field stars like Neeraj Chopra, Hima Das and Avinash Sable now know what they need to do to get a direct entry to the 2023 world championships.
Here’s how athletes can qualify for the World Athletics Championships 2023.
World Athletics Championships 2023 qualification process
Athletes have three ways to qualify for the World Athletics Championships 2023 in Budapest.
The most straightforward method is to meet the world athletics championships qualifying standards during any recognised World Athletics event within the specified qualification window. It gives athletes a direct entry to the 2023 world athletics championships.
Athletes can also qualify through their world rankings positions at the end of the qualification period. Number of slots available through rankings depends on the number of athletes who qualified directly.
The third way to qualify is through finishing positions at particular athletics events. For example, reigning Area champions or continental champions in most individual events become eligible to compete at Budapest23.
For the relay races, the first 12 teams from the World Relays 2023 qualify directly for Budapest23 while the remaining four places are filled by the best-ranked teams at the end of the qualification period. Performances at World Athletics-approved events are considered for the rankings.
For every event at the world athletics championships, each federation (country) is allowed to enter up to three athletes. For relay races, the maximum number of entries is one team per nation.
In addition to these, wild card entries are reserved only for reigning world champions and winners of certain athletics events like the 2022 Diamond League, Continental Tour - Hammer Throw, Race Walk Challenge and Combined Events Challenge.
The final selection, however, is subject to approval by a country’s athletics federation.
World Athletics Championships 2023 qualifying window
World Athletics has also confirmed the qualification window for the World Athletics Championships 2023. Qualification window means athletes need to breach the qualifying mark in an event held within that particular time frame to earn a direct entry. World rankings are also based on the performances within the period.
For the marathon and 35 km race walk, the qualifying period opened on December 1, 2021, and will close on May 30, 2023. For the 10,000m, 20km race walk and combined events, the window runs from January 31, 2022, to July 30, 2023.
For every other event, the qualification period is July 31, 2022, to July 30, 2023.
The World Athletics Championships 2023 qualifying standards for most events are substantially tougher than what it was for the last edition.
For instance, the qualifying standards for the 100m sprint at Oregon 2022 was 10.05s for men and 11.15s for women. For Budapest 2023, the bar has been raised to 10.00s and 11.08s, respectively.
Among Indian athletes, Avinash Sable has already breached the 3000m steeplechase qualifying mark (8:15.00) for the World Athletics Championships 2023. He achieved the mark with his national record-setting 8:11.20 run, which won him a historic silver medal at the Commonwealth Games 2022 in Birmingham.
Here’s a look at the entry standards athletes need to breach to qualify for the World Athletics Championships 2023 in Budapest.
World Athletics Championships 2023 qualifying standards
* WR – World Relays