Athletics at LA Olympics 2028: Qualification system, entry standards, total quotas

World Athletics on Tuesday published the qualification system for the Los Angeles Olympics 2028 where the track and field events will be held between July 15-30.

The qualification system approved by the sport's global governing body mentions details of the qualification windows, total quota places per discipline and entry standards.

The programme will include 23 women's events and 23 men's events as well as two mixed events - the 4x100m mixed relay, making its Olympic Games debut, and the 4x400m mixed relay.

Forty per cent of athletes are expected to qualify through entry standards and the remaining 60 percent through world rankings.

In case more athletes than the quota by event meet the entry standard, qualification will be limited to those with the best performance in the qualification period, and within the quota number, thus achieving the entry standard does not automatically guarantee a quota place. In this case, no athletes will be qualified by world rankings.

What is the qualification and ranking period?

For the marathon, the qualification and ranking period runs from 1 November 2026 to 30 April 2028.

For the 10,000m, combined events (decathlon and heptathlon), race walks and relays, the window is from 19 December 2026 to 18 June 2028.

For all other events, the period runs from 19 June 2027 to 18 June 2028.

However, the results from national senior outdoor championships that start within the applicable qualification and ranking periods will count towards the qualification if achieved no later than 22 June.

What are the entry standards for the respective events?

How can athletes qualify for marathon, race walks and relays?

Marathon

For the marathon, any athlete ranked higher than the 56th athlete on the filtered Quota Place 'Road to LA' list (three per national Olympic committee) on 19 March 2028 will be considered qualified. After 19 March 2028, the remaining 15 athletes will be determined by the same dual pathway qualification criteria outlined above, without displacing the athletes qualified by 19 March 2028. The first five finishers at the Platinum Label marathons held during the whole qualification period will also be considered as having achieved the entry standard and will be listed first on the 'Road to LA', World Athletics' official qualification monitoring tool. Any National Olympic Committee (NOC) may choose to reallocate, at the time of the final entries, a quota place to an unqualified athlete provided the athlete in the whole qualification window has achieved at least a 2:11:00 (men) or 2:29:00 (women) performance.

Race Walk

For race walks, the first 12 placed athletes at the World Athletics Race Walking Team Championships (WRWTC) in Hefei, China, on 9 April 2028 shall automatically qualify for the half marathon race walk events at LA28. If a quota place is declined, it shall be allocated via the world rankings. The remaining 36 places will be allocated via the world rankings.

Relays

For the relays, the first 14 placed NOCs at the World Athletics Relays held in The Bahamas on 22-23 April 2028 shall automatically qualify for LA28. Teams will have two opportunities to qualify at the World Relays - if unsuccessful on day one, another chance will be provided on day two of the competition. The remaining teams will be selected according to the World Athletics performance list for relays during the qualification period.

How many quotas are there for each event?

The total number of quotas, including those for USA (the host nation) and universality places, are 1810 - divided equally amongst men and women.

For individual events, every NOC can have a maximum of three men and three women.

For every relay event, an NOC is allowed only team.

NOCs that fulfil the maximum quota per event can nominate a maximum of one reserve or alternate qualified athlete for the same event.

Do the quotas belong to the athletes or the NOCs?

Quota places are allocated to the athlete(s) by name in all individual events (except the Marathons).

If an NOC has more than three qualified athletes in individual events, the NOC can decide which of these athletes will receive the quota places.

For Marathons and Relay events, quotas are allocated to the NOCs.

Is there an age restriction for competing in athletics at LA Olympics 2028?

Here are the following age requirements for the athletes to be eligible to participate at the LA Olympics:-

Senior Athletes - Any athlete aged 20 on December 31 in the year of the competition (born in 2008 or earlier) may compete in any event.

U20 & U18 Athletes - Any athlete aged 16, 17, 18 or 19 years on December 31 in the year of the competition (born in 2009, 2010, 2011 or 2012) may compete in any event except the Marathon.