How to Qualify for Athletics at Paris 2024: Olympics Qualifying Standards for Track Events

Martin Moses

updated at December 14, 2023 at 12:49 PM

A total of 1810 track and field athletes will participate in next year's Olympic games in France
World Athletics unveiled the criteria they will use to determine who will qualify for the games
The set standards will be attained at recognised events in different timeframes before June next year

Join our WhatsApp channel to stay in the game and never miss a beat with our real-time updates.

The 2024 sports calendar will be busy, with its climax coming in July when more than 10,000 athletes head to Paris, France, for the Summer Olympics.

Track and field events are among the major attractions of the games, with current world champions like Noah Lyles and Shericka Jackson going for their maiden Olympic gold medals.

Usain Bolt, Paris Olympics 2024 — Usain Bolt during the Olympic torch presentation in Paris on July 25, 2023. Photo by Alain Jocard.
Source: Getty Images

Eliud Kipchoge and Faith Kipyegon will be chasing their third successive gold medals at the games. No Kenyan has ever achieved such a fete before.

How to qualify for Olympics 2024 athletics

World Cup prize money: How much do the World Cup winners and runners-up get?

Football

But how do you qualify for the Olympics? The World Athletics Council published criteria last year of the standards athletes must meet to be eligible for participation in Paris.

One thousand eight hundred ten athletes will be in France for the games - 905 for each gender. For every individual category, every member country (National Olympic committees) will be required to produce at most three athletes, provided they meet the qualifying standards.

50% of the qualification will be based on achieving the entry standards within the set timeframes, with another 50% judged from the World Athletics ranking from the ranking period.

Entry standards for Paris 2024 athletics

Event	Men	Women
100m	10.00	11.07
200m	20.16	22.57
400m	45.00	50.95
800m	1:44:70	1:59:30
1500m	3:33.50	4:02.50
5000m	13:05.00	14:52.00
10,000m	27:00:00	30:40.00
110m/100m hurdles	13.27	12.77
400m hurdles	48.70	54.85
3000m steeplechase	8:15.00	9:23.00
High jump	2.33	1.97
Pole vault	5.82	4.73
Long jump	8.27	6.86
Triple jump	17.22	14.55
Shot put	21.50	18.80
Discus throw	67.20	64.50
Hammer throw	78.20	74.00
Javelin throw	85.50	64.00
20km race walk	1:20:10	1:29:20
Marathon	2:08:10	2:26:50

Best duos in the NBA: The 10 best one-two punches in the NBA right now

NBA

The time frames for attaining the set standards are as follows;

Individual events - other than the 10,000m, marathon, combined events and race walks: July 1 2023 and June 30 2024
10,000m, combined events, race walks and relays: December 31 2022 and June 30 2024
Marathon: November 1 2022 and April 30 2024

The Olympics will run from July 26 to August 11, with the athletics program starting on August 1.