How To Qualify For The 2025 World Championships – FloTrack
Qualifying for the 2025 World Championships isn’t as straight-forward as it seems. With World Championship Provisionals, Wanda Diamond League Byes, and World Ranking quota in the conversation – athletes and fans have to navigate a mucky landscape that can leave you scratching your head. Here’s a guide to help breakdown the path to World Championship…
Qualifying for the 2025 World Championships isn’t as straight-forward as it seems. With World Championship Provisionals, Wanda Diamond League Byes, and World Ranking quota in the conversation – athletes and fans have to navigate a mucky landscape that can leave you scratching your head. Here’s a guide to help breakdown the path to World Championship qualification.
To start, we’ll discuss the US Track and Field Championships.
The US Track and Field Championships serve as USATF’s selection procedure. Other countries choose different ways of selecting their teams – for example, Great Britain automatically selects the top two in each event at its championship and leaves room for a discretionary third pick.
Team USA takes discretion (for the most part) out of the conversation.
The top three finishers at the US Championships earn a Team USA Bid to the World Championship meet – as long as they have the World Championship Ranking Quota or a World Championship Standard.
A World Championship Standard is a mark that athletes must achieve to be eligible to compete at a World Championship. If they do not have this standard, they must rely on the World Ranking Quota.
World Rankings are calculated by taking a results score (calculated based on the World Athletics Scoring Tables and a placing score to determine a performance score. World Athletics eligible meets are categorized and the placing scores will vary based on the level of the competition.
For the 2025 World Championship, the qualifying window for most events opened on August 1, 2024 and they will remain open until August 24, 2025. The windows for the 10,000m, multis and relays opened on February 25, 2024.
Approximately 50% of competitors will be selected via World Ranking Quota, so there is no hard number for each event, but athletes are mindful of where they currently rank.
World Champion Provisional And Wild Cards
Right when you were starting to understand the procedures, I’m going to throw a new wrench into the conversation. If an athlete won the 2023 World Championship in their discipline, they receive a bye and are automatically qualified for the 2025 World Championship. This is considered a Wild Card Qualification
An athlete can also receive a Wild Card by winning the 2025 Wanda Diamond League Title in their event.
If an athlete from Team USA has a Wild Card (such as Noah Lyles, Grant Holloway, etc), then Team USA can send four athletes in that event. Noah Lyles won the 200m at the US Championships, which would mean that whoever came in fourth (Courtney Lindsey) would earn a Team USA Bid.
However, if a second athlete from a country earns a Wild Card from the Diamond League in the same event, a country can not send a second wild card. Each member federation is limited to four athletes in each event. So, an athlete like Trey Cunningham (who could very well win the Diamond League final), would not earn a bid because Team USA would likely use the wild card on Grant Holloway.
Some US Athletes Who Could Qualify Via Diamond League Wild Card
Note – this is not a comprehensive list, but it makes note of several high profile track athletes who currently have a shot of qualifying. Be on the lookout for a list highlighting field athletes on FloTrack.
- Vernon Norwood – 400m
- Quincy Hall – 400m (If Healthy)
- Josh Hoey – 800m
- Brandon Miller – 800m *** Brandon Miller only has five points. With 1 Diamond League 800m remaining, it is going to be very difficult for him to qualify on points. Technically not impossible, but very unlikely.
- Yared Nuguse – 1500m
- Graham Blanks – 5k
- Brittany Brown – 200m
- McKenzie Long – 200m
- Lynna Irby-Jackson – 400m
- Addie Wiley – 800m
- Heather MacLean – 1500m
- Keni Harrison – 100mH
- Gabi Jennings – Steeple
- Courtney Wayment – Steeple
What Are The World Championship Standards?
Here are the qualifying standards for the 2025 World Championships
Men’s Events
- 100m – 10.00
- 200m – 20.16
- 400m – 44.85
- 800m – 1:44.50
- 1500m (Mile / Road Mile standard) – 3:33.00 (3:50.00)
- 5000m / 5km road – 13:01.00
- 10,000m / 10km road – 27:00.00
- Marathon – 2:06:30
- 3000m Steeplechase – 8:15.00
- 110m Hurdles – 13.27
- 400m Hurdles – 48.50
- High Jump – 2.33
- Pole Vault – 5.82
- Long Jump – 8.27
- Triple Jump – 17.22
- Shot Put – 21.50
- Discus Throw – 67.50
- Hammer Throw – 78.20
- Javelin Throw – 85.50
- Decathlon – 8550
Women’s Events
- 100m – 11.07
- 200m – 22.57
- 400m – 50.75
- 800m – 1:59.00
- 1500m (Mile) – 4:01.50 (4:19.90)
- 5000m / 5km Road – 14:50.00
- 10,000m / 10km Road – 30:20.00
- Marathon – 2:23:30
- 3000m Steeplechase – 9:18.00
- 100m Hurdles – 12.73
- 400m Hurdles – 54.65
- High Jump – 1.97
- Pole Vault – 4.73
- Long Jump – 6.86
- Triple Jump – 14.55
- Shot Put – 18.80
- Discus Throw – 64.50
- Hammer Throw – 74.00
- Javelin Throw – 64.00
- Heptathlon – 6500
Don’t Miss A Second Of The 2025 Diamond League
This year, the Diamond League is streaming live on FloTrack and the FloSports app, and FloTrack is giving fans more Diamond League access than ever before. For the first time ever, the Diamond League is streaming to fans all the feeds, not just the traditional world feed.
Fans will have uninterrupted coverage for every throw, leap and run during the meets as well as the traditional broadcast.
Where To Watch Diamond League?
The Wanda Diamond League will be broadcast on FloTrack and the FloSports app starting with the 2025 season.
FloTrack Archived Footage
Video footage from each event will be archived and stored in a video library for FloTrack subscribers to watch for the duration of their subscriptions.
