Qualifying Information

Last Updated: 3/6/2025

GUIDELINES

1. All qualifying performances for the Championships must be attained on an eligible track in the period June 1, 2024 to June 8, 2025 at 11:59 p.m. PDT for all events except the 10,000 meter Race Walk. The qualifying window for the 10,000 meter Race Walk is January 1, 2024 to June 8, 2025, at 11:59 p.m. PDT.

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.

   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 section below on 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. The maximum allowable wind is 2.0 meters per second.

5. There will be no adjustment for marks made at altitude.

6. 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 2025 USATF U20 Outdoor Championships in that event.

STANDARDS

Events in bold will be contested at the Championships. Events listed directly below those being contested may be used as alternates for qualifying. See Qualifying Guidelines below for full details.

USATF Sport Committees may accept a non-qualified mark to fill the field only if there is an insufficient number of athletes entered who have met the qualifying standard for that event. In this case, the sport committee may accept entered and declared athletes (who have not met the qualifying standard), up to a maximum of the maximum field sizes indicated.

Pay special attention to qualifying information and dates below and note that the qualifying deadline is after the entry deadline. Athletes who enter prior to the entry deadline may still attempt to qualify until the qualifying deadline, but all athletes must be entered on time to be considered.

*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.
**A manual time may be used for qualifying in events with a double asterisk only if no fully automatic qualifying time exists for the individual in that event during the qualifying period. A manual time may not supersede any fully automatic qualifying time for an event. Qualifying manual times, for eligible events, not already listed, are always the FAT qualifying time without the last zero. Manual times will be converted for seeding purposes using USATF Rule 166.7.

The Sport Committee Chair will adjust the standards, where necessary, forty-five days prior to the competition, based on received entries at that time.  Therefore, early submission of an entry close to the standard is advised.

Additional competitors, from those who have submitted entries, may be allowed to declare through petition to the Sport Committee Chair.

CRITERIA FOR A LEGAL MEET

Criteria for a Meet/Event to be acceptable for qualifying for 2025 USATF U20 Championships
In order for a mark from a meet or single event to be accepted for qualifying for the USATF U20 Championships or U.S. Olympic Team Trials – as well as for USATF to be able to validate the mark(s) to the World Athletics World Championships qualifying purposes, the following criteria apply:

1. The meet/event must appear on an organization’s previously published calendar of events.

2. Meets which are not on an organization’s previously published calendar of events, must be reported to highperformance@usatf.org no later than May 1, 2025.

   1. Note: Doing so will permit the USATF staff member designated by the Sports Committee Chairs, to review the proposed meet/event. If the meet/event were then approved, this would give sufficient time for meet information to be disseminated to as wide a range of interested athletes as possible.

   2. Note: Failure to adhere to this protocol will likely result in the performance(s) being disallowed for qualifying for these Championships.

3. The meet/event must be sanctioned in advance by USATF or the Governing Body of another nation.  While they might not be sanctioned by USATF, high level collegiate and high school meets, such as a high school or college invitationals, championships, relay carnivals, etc., will be recognized as valid meets for qualifying provided all other criteria are met.

4. The meet/event must be held on a legal facility as per USATF and/or World Athletics rules.

5. USATF certified or recognized officials must officiate at the meet/event.

6. In the 100m, 200m, 400m, 100m hurdles, 110m hurdles and 400m hurdles, only marks made using FAT (full automatic timing to the hundredth of a second [.01]) will be accepted for QUALIFYING PURPOSES.  The provisions of USATF Rule 165 shall apply for video tape timing.

7. In the short sprints (100m & 200m), short hurdles (100m & 110m), horizontal jumps (long jump & triple jump), a wind gauge must be used and reported.  A mark made with a wind reading exceeding 2.0 meters per second or higher will not be acceptable for qualifying.

8. At least five (5) competitors must participate in each event.  All such athletes must be of the same gender and may not be a mix of masters and/or youth athletes.

9. In throwing events, all implements must be officially measured and certified according to USATF and/or World Athletics rules.

10. Mixed competitions for events inside the stadium are generally not acceptable.  However, in field events and races of 5000m or longer, mixed competition may be approved by the respective Sport Committee - this approval being needed in advance of the event.

11. Trials-finals, qualifying-finals, rounds in running events, etc. must be run according to USATF and/or World Athletics rules & regulations.  Duplicate events on the same day, unless following the World/Olympic same day qualifying & finals format, will not be acceptable for qualifying purposes.

12. Meet results for each jumping and throwing event, including field event recording sheet(s) and throwing implement verification sheets, may be requested and sent/faxed (317-261-0514) to the USATF National Office, attn:  Ed Gorman.

13. Meet results should always be faxed or e-mailed to: USATF Stats, and Ed Gorman.