IAAF Announces Standards Based Qualification for 2019 IAAF World Outdoor Championships Will Be Used Instead of New World Rankings

By Adam Kopet

The IAAF announced Sunday that it has delayed the use of the new world rankings system and will return to the existing standards based qualification system for the 2019 IAAF World Outdoor Championships.

The move to a world rankings system that weighted athletes' performances partially based on the quality of the meet they competed in has been met with skepticism. Paul Chelimo noted on Twitter that he would not have qualified for the 2016 Olympics had the world rankings system been used. He went on to capture a silver medal in the 5,000 meters.

That year(2016) I was ranked 6th place in the US based on the times which would not qualify me to the Olympics based on the new qualification roles that @iaaforg was planning to adopt.

— Paul Chelimo🇺🇸🥈🥉 (@Paulchelimo) November 12, 2018

The IAAF still plans to use the new world rankings system for qualification for global championships in the future, however, the rankings will be calculated and published so that athletes and fans can learn the new system for future years.