World Athletics announces new qualifying rules for three major tournaments in 2026 season

World Athletics has announced the qualifying system for three major events of the 2026 season: the Kujawy Pomorze Indoor Championships, the Gaborone Relays and the Oregon U20 Championships, following council approval last September in Tokyo.

The qualifying criteria for each event outlines the qualifying period, entry format and the connection of each event to future international competitions. For the 26th Kujawy Pomorze World Athletics Indoor Championships, which will take place from 20-22 March next year in Poland, qualifying will begin on 1 November and end on 8 March 2026. Selection will be based on entry criteria and the best indoor record list.

Indoor, Relay and U20 events all merged under new World Athletics qualifying rules

Individual athletes, excluding combined events, can qualify in three ways: by meeting the entry criteria within the time limit, through a World Indoor Tour wildcard, or by placing on the top-ranking list. In addition, World Athletics announced that a weekly Road to Kujawy Pomorze list will be published from December 1 on its website to update results and positions of candidates.

For the Gaborone 26 World Athletics Relays, to be held in Botswana on 2-3 May 2026, the top eight relay teams at the 25th Tokyo World Athletics Championships will automatically qualify. The remaining places will be allocated based on the best results recorded between 1 January and 5 April 2026, with Botswana guaranteed entry in all events as the host nation. Each event will have a maximum of 24 teams and in the 4x100m medley relay, all 24 teams will be selected based on the best results.

World Athletics also explained that the Gaborone Relays World Championships will serve as the main qualifying event for the relay events at the Ultimate World Athletics Championships Budapest 2026 and the Beijing 2027 World Athletics Championships. The top six teams in the 4x100m and 4x400m medley relays will qualify directly for Budapest, while the top 12 teams in each event will qualify for Beijing.

Meanwhile, the Oregon 26 World U20 Athletics Championships, scheduled to take place from August 5-9, 2026 in the United States, will have a qualifying system based entirely on entry standards, with a validity period from October 1, 2025 to July 26, 2026. The youth championships will introduce two new events: the 4x100m medley relay and the 5,000m race walk, replacing the traditional 10,000m race walk.

World Athletics has created a global ranking system to allow athletes to score points based on a combination of results and rankings, depending on the level of competition the results are achieved at. The rankings are based on an athlete's average score in a number of competitions over a specified period of time.

According to the International Federation, the process is still evolving, but after receiving feedback and to further strengthen the reliability of the results achieved the latest updates approved by the Council are the next step to make the system more balanced between different levels of competition.

With these three announcements, World Athletics has consolidated its competition roadmap to 2026, with a calendar that strengthens the links between indoor, relay and age group championships, and establishes transparent and consistent selection criteria for athletes and federations worldwide.

Source: https://bvhttdl.gov.vn/dien-kinh-the-gioi-cong-bo-quy-dinh-moi-ve-vong-loai-ba-giai-dau-chinh-mua-giai-2026-20251015104650921.htm