No Standards
|Though there is a consensus belief that a credible world rankings system is long overdue in Athletics, not everyone found the new system to their liking, which is understandable. Among others, the North American, Central American and the Caribbean Championships (NACAC), one of the strongest member associations in the IAAF, took issue. ‘Understanding the system in the athletics community is limited, and on critical points, there are widely disparate views about fairness and viability of the system.’
In short: The IAAF World Rankings system, which was intended to create a “more clear understanding” for athletes, media and fans when it was launched in 2017, as well as to be part of the qualifying criteria for the Olympic Games, has only made things really f*cking confusing for everyone involved. And while it’s been stated that the world rankings system should have zero effect on qualifying in the non-track events (i.e. the marathon and race walking), here we are a little less than 18 months away from the Olympic Marathon and the qualifying standards for those events remain unknown. Way to go, Seb Coe.