Athletics Australia publishes Selection Policy for 2015 IAAF World Championships

Athletics Australia has today published the Selection Policy for the 2015 IAAF World Championships in Beijing (CHN) on 22-30 August 2015.

With the aim of nominating the most competitive possible team to compete for Australia, the Selection Policy (download here) details the implications of the new IAAF entry process, which includes a single qualification standard and the delivery of desired field sizes.

“In 2015, the IAAF are introducing a new entry process which for many events is likely to make qualification tougher. With this in mind, Athletics Australia has adhered to the qualification standards set out by the IAAF and we will select the maximum number of individual athletes eligible within the Selection Policy and the IAAF limits of, for example, three athletes per individual event,” Dion Russell, Athletics Australia Chairman of Selectors, said.

“Athletics Australia will also accept invitations to compete for athletes who are extended the offer via the newly developed Roll Down process. The Roll Down process is a mechanism that will be used to achieve the desired field size if this is not met through enough athletes achieving the qualification standard. Simply put, invitations to fill the field will be extended to the highest-ranked non-qualified athletes based on Top Lists for the qualification period and if applicable, Athletics Australia will take the spot.

“To put the new entry process into perspective, Athletics Australia data suggests that despite the changes we will likely have a team of a similar size to that selected for the 2013 IAAF World Championships in Moscow.”

Marking the return of an international athletics event to the world-renowned Olympic stadium of Beijing 2008, the 2015 IAAF World Championships deliver an important competition milestone as the penultimate championship to the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

“Beijing is a crucial stepping stone toward competition at Rio 2016, and it will be a vital gauge of how we are progressing,” Simon Nathan, Athletics Australia High Performance Director, said.

“The team that will compete at the IAAF World Championships will be the most competitive that we can select and I am confident that they will perform to the best of their availability.”

The 2015 IAAF World Championships will be held in Beijing (CHN) on 22-30 August 2015.

Two years ago at Moscow 2013, Australia won three medals – Sally Pearson (silver, 100mH), Kim Mickle (silver, javelin) and Jared Tallent (bronze, 50km walk) – and delivered a further two top-eight performances to Zoe Buckman (1500m) and the men’s 4x400m relay.

For more information on the IAAF World Championships, please click here.

Athletics Australia has also published the Selection Policy for the 2015 IAAF World Relays, which is available for download here.

To be held for a second consecutive year in Nassau (BAH), the event pits the world’s best relay teams against each other across the championship events of men’s and women’s 4x100m and 4x400m relays, as well as medley relays and distance relays.