Pick'Em — How To Play

Welcome to USATF Pick ‘Em!

How To Play

• First and foremost, fantasy players will select who they believe will win in each event contested at the featured meet of the week.
• Next, players will assign a point value to each of their picks, with 1 being the least confident.
• Each of these point values can be viewed as a confidence score. An example of this is below:
  • If a player was to pick Jane Doe to win the Women’s 400m and felt extremely confident, the player would use their highest point value available. If Jane Doe wins, the player will receive the selected number of points. If Jane Doe loses, the player will receive 0 points.
  • Conversely, if the player was NOT confident in their pick, they would assign a lower point value (as low as "1”). If Jane Doe wins, the player will receive the selected number of points. If Jane Doe loses, the player will receive 0 points. 
  • A player cannot "reuse" point values — in other words, the player will order their picks based on how confident they are. Their most confident pick should be their highest point value, the next most confident pick should be the next highest point value, and so on until the player reaches their least confident pick at 1.
  • The player with the highest score at the end of the competition is the winner. 
• "Nearly Live" results will populate at the following link: USATF Pick ‘Em Leaderboard. The leaderboard is best viewed on a laptop or tablet. If viewing the leaderboard on mobile, it is suggested that you flip your phone to a landscape (horizontal) view.
• Tie breakers will first be determined using traditional track meet scoring. Your "picks" will score points based on place finish (1^st-8^th place; 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1). There is a 2^nd page labeled "tiebreaker" that will show "Nearly Live" track meet style results. If ties remain, the number of correctly picked winners will be the 2^nd tie breaker. For the season-long leaderboard: If ties still remain after the 2^nd tie breaker, the player with the highest average percentile rank across all Journey To Gold competitions throughout the season will be the winner. In the unlikely event that ties still remain, a coin flip will determine who wins the grand prize.

Entries must be submitted at least 30 minutes before the first event begins and the leaderboard will update for the first time shortly after the first final has completed. The leaderboard will then continue to refresh shortly after the completion of each event.
 
It is the responsibility of the player to keep track of late adds or drops on the start lists; if you select an athlete who drops late from the field and you’re able to change your picks, you are welcome to do so until the first event begins. Simply use the same email address and your latest entry will be kept and used for official scoring.