Qualifying Standards

Last updated: 3/7/2022.

Men

Women

^Note that the 10,000 meters, Decathlon & Heptathlon, and 20 km Race Walks will be held as separate events and will not be contested during the 2022 Toyota USATF Outdoor Championships on June 23-26, 2022. Detailed information about these events can be found at their respective event pages. 

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 “Automatic” standard that is superior to the Olympic “A” standard. 

The Men’s and Women’s T&F Chairs will handle all entry appeals. 

For each event, the approximate field size (not the minimum) and number of rounds are shown. 

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

2022 QUALIFYING GUIDELINES

1. All qualifying performances for the Championships must be attained on a standard outdoor track in the period Tuesday, June 1, 2021 through Sunday, June 12, 2022, or on an indoor track, in the same event, in the period Wednesday, December 1, 2021 through Sunday, June 12, 2022; except for the 10,000 meters, Decathlon & Heptathlon, and 20 km Race Walks, whose qualifying periods are listed below.
   1. 10,000 meters: Wednesday, December 1, 2020 – Sunday, May 15, 2022
   2. Decathlon & Heptathlon: Wednesday, December 1, 2020 – Sunday, April 24, 2022
2. Qualifying marks must be made in accordance with USATF Rule 149 and verifiable in one of the following:
   2. 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
   2. High school meets but not dual or triangular meets.
   2. 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.
   2. 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 2022 Toyota USATF Outdoor Championships qualifying (maximum allowable wind is 2.0 meters per second).
5. There will be no adjustment for marks made at altitude.
6. Qualifying marks must be attained in a 2022 Toyota USATF Outdoor Championships event. No qualifying marks will be allowed using alternate events, except for the men's Mile run as follows: An appeal to use a Mile qualifying mark for the 1500m will be accepted only if the mile mark was made during the 2022 season, from Wednesday, December 1, 2021 through Sunday, June 12, 2022, and the mark is 3:54.00 or better (men) and 4:24.25 (women).
7. An athlete must be U.S. citizen and eligible to represent the United States in international competition, as well as being a U.S. citizen on the date of Declaration for the 2022 Toyota USATF Outdoor Championships in that 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.
8. At the 2022 Toyota USATF Outdoor Championships, 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 2022 season best (December 1, 2021 – June 12, 2022) performance, if one exists, whether it meets the qualifying standard or not. Seeding for the first round of competition is based, first, on all 2022 season performances in rank order, followed by any 2021 season performances, even if they do not meet the qualifying standard (Rule 166-2.(d).i). Note that a 2021 season mark may qualify an individual into the competition, but will not be used for seeding purposes when a 2022 season mark exists.