2016 U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Track & Field

Athlete Manuals

• Hayward Field Athlete Manual
• Salem Athlete Manual

Qualifying Standards

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 standard. The number of rounds in the 100m, 200m, 100mH and 110mH coincide with the Olympic Games program, where those who achieve the standard will advance directly to the quarter-final round.

The Men’s and Women’s T&F Chairs will handle all entry appeals up to 48 hours prior to the start of competition in each event. 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 Automatic standards that will be used for the 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials.

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 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 in order to fill the field in an event(s) where there are an insufficient number of athletes with the “Automatic” standard. An invitation will be extended to these additional persons based on verified entries in their performance rank order.
 
2016 USOT - QUALIFYING GUIDELINES:

1. All qualifying performances for the U.S. Olympic Trials must be attained on a standard outdoor track in the period Friday, May 1, 2015 through Sunday, June 26, 2016, or on an indoor track, in the same event, in the period Friday, January 1, 2016 through Sunday, June 26, 2016; except for the 10,000 meters, Decathlon & Heptathlon and 20km Race Walks, whose qualifying period is from Thursday, January 1, 2015 through Sunday, June 26, 2016. The qualifying performance for the USOT-men’s 50km Race Walk must be attained in the period Sunday November 24, 2013 through Sunday, January 31, 2016.
2. Qualifying marks must be made in accordance with USATF Rule 149 and verifiable in one of the following:
3. USATF or IAAF sanctioned meets/events which prescribe to or exceed USATF competition rules, or 
   1. college meets/events which prescribe to or exceed USATF competition rules, or 
   2. high school meets but not dual or triangular meets, which prescribe to or exceed NFHS rules of competition, or
   3. 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.
   4. Please refer to the following link for “Criteria for a Legal Meet.”
4. 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 166-6 for the purposes of seeding.
5. Wind-assisted performances (exceeding 2.0 meter/second) will not be accepted for 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials qualifying in the men's and women's 100m, 200m, 100mH, 110mH, long jump, and triple jump.
6. There will be no adjustment for marks made at altitude.
7. Qualifying marks must be attained in a 2016 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 2016 season, from Friday, January 1, 2016 through Sunday, June 26, 2016, and the mark is 3:54.00 or better for the men and 4:28.43 for the women.
8. 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 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials in that event - this date being 48 hours prior to the first day of competition in the event.
9. 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.
10. 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 166.1.(d).i. Each qualified entrant in each event should submit a 2016 season best (January 1, 2016 – June 26, 2016) performance, if one exists, whether it meets the qualifying standard or not. Seeding for the first round of competition is based, first, on all 2016 season performances in rank order, followed by any 2015 season performances, even if they do not meet the qualifying standard (Rule 166-1.(d) i ). Note that a 2015 season mark may qualify an individual into the competition, but will not be used for seeding purposes when a 2016 season mark exists.