The World Athletics Council has approved the qualification systems for the World Athletics Championships Oregon22 and the World Athletics U20 Championships Nairobi 2021.
As was the case in 2019, athletes will be able to qualify for the World Championships by achieving an entry standard or through their placing on the world rankings.
In line with the recommendation from the Race Walking Committee, approved by the Council last year and confirmed again last week, the World Championships will feature 20km and 35km race walking events for men and women in Oregon.
The qualification period for the marathon and 35km race walk opened on 30 November 2020 and ends on 29 May 2022. For the 10,000m, 20km race walk, relays and combined events, the window runs from 27 December 2020 until 26 June 2022. For all other disciplines, the qualification period is 27 June 2021 to 26 June 2022.
Defending world champions will be offered a wild card entry, as will the winners of the 2021 Diamond League, Race Walk Challenge, Combined Events Challenge and the leading hammer performers on the Continental Tour. Area champions in selected disciplines and top-10 finishers at Platinum Label marathons during the qualification period shall also be considered as having achieved the entry standard.
The target number of athletes for each discipline is the same as in 2019, with one exception: there will be 60 places available in both the men’s and women’s 35km race walks; an increase on the 50 places for men and 30 places for women in the 50km race walk in 2019.
With the World U20 Championships in Nairobi having been postponed from its original dates in 2020, the qualification period has been updated. The new qualification windows are: 1 October 2019 to 5 April 2020 and 1 December 2020 to 8 August 2021. – World Athletics
