Scheduling and Qualifying Rounds at International
Track & Field Meets
Posted October 18th, 2007 at 8:53 PM by Jimson Lee
Section: News & Results, Track & Field, Masters
Scheduling an international track meet with a full program of events is no easy task, especially when it involves a large number of competitors.
Add both genders, five year age groups starting from age 35 up to 100, and you’ll certainly run out of time and space. Often, multiple stadiums are used and the 2007 World Masters Athletics in Riccione, Italy, was no exception; hosting events in three different stadiums.
Of course, athletes representing our Italian host accounted for almost one-third of the 9000+ participants, and the most popular age groups (M40-44, M45-49, and M50-54) accounted for almost a third as well. Unlike local Masters competitions, straight finals are non-existent for these age groups.
Let’s take a look at the M40 100m event which featured 97 entries, and 72 declared athletes, in 9 heats on an 8 lane track.
“2P6T” or “Top Two Advance on Place” and the next six fastest times advancing to a 3-heat semifinal of 24 athletes. Then from the semi-final, “2P2T” (or top two advanced on place and the next two fastest times) advance to the 8 lane final.
81 declared athletes or more would result in an additional Preliminary round.
In the qualifying rounds, how you place in your race guarantees your spot in the next round, but your time guarantees your lane assignment. The fastest qualifying time are assigned Lanes 3, 4, 5, 6 and the slower times gets Lanes 1, 2, 7, 8, hence a good reason not to run your rounds too easily.
The 200m had 3 rounds scheduled over 2 consecutive days: Heats one day, then Semi-Final & Final the next. Because there were more than 81 declared athletes (112 entered, 89 declared), a forth round was required according to IAAF rules. The organizers fit the bonus QF round immediately following the Heats, about 2 hours later. This is perfect for running a 100m or 200m, as you are already warmed up, and you don’t have time to cool down.
The M45 400 meters was a different story.
The 3 rounds were scheduled on 3 consecutive days. With 113 entries, and 86 declared athletes, a forth round was required. With all the age groups, and the number of participants, it would be impossible to schedule the QF right after heats, so the QF and Semi-Final were scheduled the day 6 hours apart, with the Finals on the third day.
It is not uncommon to have two 400m races in one day. In the early days of the Olympics, they would run the semi-final and final on the same day. Then racing on consecutive days was the standard.
Today, with emphasis on records and performances, organizers at the World & Olympic level are inserting a rest day between the semi-final and finals for both the 200m and 400m.
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Tags: advance, athletes, declared athletes, entries, event planning, final, heats, italy, lane, masters running, participants, place, qualifying round, race, Riccione, running events, semi final, track and field, world masters athletics
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October 18th, 2007 at 9:54 pm