Qualifying Standards

USATF / Olympic Trials COVID-19 Protocols

* F.A.T. is the only method of timing acceptable for qualifying marks for events listed with an asterisk. Times submitted in hundredths of a second must be fully automatic times.
# Wind-assisted performances will not be accepted for 2020 U.S. Olympic Trials qualifying.

The Sport Committee Chair will, and only where necessary, adjust the standards no later than 45 days prior to the competition, based on entries received up to that time.

As required, USATF may have no standard that is superior to the Olympic standard.

The Men’s and Women’s T&F Chairs will handle all entry appeals up until the end of the qualifying window. Thereafter, the Entry Appeals Committee, consisting of two Athletes Advisory Committee members, one Men’s T&F Committee member, and one Women’s T&F Committee member will have the sole responsibility to handle entry appeals.

For each event, the approximate field size (not the minimum) and number of rounds are shown. Also shown are the standards that will be used for the 2020 U.S. Olympic Trials.

All verified entries who have met the standard within the prescribed period and at a bona fide meet (see guidelines below), shall be qualified to participate in the U.S. Olympic Trials. Additional verified entries from the rank order list of those who have entered and declared shall be invited to participate in the Trials only to the extent that the indicated field size has not been filled by those with the standard. An invitation will be extended to these additional persons based on verified entries in their performance rank order.

2020 USOT Qualifying Guidelines

1. All qualifying performances for the U.S. Olympic Trials (Track & Field) must be attained on a standard outdoor track (or on an indoor track, in the same event) in the period Tuesday, January 1, 2019 through Sunday, June 13, 2021.
2. Qualifying marks must be made in accordance with USATF Rule 149 and verifiable in one of the following:
   1. USATF or World Athletics sanctioned meets/events which prescribe to or exceed USATF competition rules, or
   2. college meets/events which prescribe to or exceed USATF competition rules, or
   3. high school meets but not dual or triangular meets, or
   4. meets or events which meet a minimum for competitiveness as set by the Chair of the Sport Committee and determined to be valid by the USATF staff member responsible for the verification and validity of marks.
   5. Please refer to the following link for Criteria for a Legal Meet
3. * Hand times are acceptable only for those events in which the distance is equal to or greater than 800 meters. No timing allowance factor for qualifying shall be made for hand times. Hand times will be adjusted using USATF Rule 166-7 for the purposes of seeding.
4. # Wind-assisted performances will not be accepted for 2020 U.S. Olympic Trials qualifying.
5. There will be no adjustment for marks made at altitude.
6. Qualifying marks must be attained in a 2020 U.S. Olympic Trials event. No qualifying marks will be allowed using alternate events, except for the men's and women's Mile runs as follows: An appeal to use a Mile qualifying mark for the 1500 will be accepted only if the mile mark was made during the 2020 and 2021 season (1/1/2020 – 6/13/2021), and if the mark is 3:54.00 or better for the men and 4:28.43 for the women.
7. An Athlete must be U.S. citizen and eligible to represent the United States in all levels of international competition, as well as being a U.S. citizen on the date of Declaration for the 2020 U.S. Olympic Trials in that event - this date being 48 hours prior to the first day of competition in the event.
8. Athletes who have earned Automatic Qualification into the meet under USATF Rule 8 must follow all entry procedures and declarations procedures, and will be counted in that event’s field sizes by the seeding committee.
9. At the U.S. Olympic Trials, the mark used for qualifying and the mark used for first round seeding might not be the same, as described per USATF Rule 166.2.(d).i. Each qualified entrant in each event should submit a best performance from the 2021 season (1/1/2021 through 6/13/2021) if one exists, whether it meets the qualifying standard or not. Seeding for the first round of competition is based, first, on these performances in rank order, followed by any 2019 or 2020 season performances, even if they do not meet the qualifying standard (Rule 166.2.(d).i). Note that a 2019 or 2020 season mark may qualify an individual into the competition but will not be used for seeding purposes when a mark from the 2021 period exists.