New logo and qualifying standards released a year ahead of next World Athletics Championships

A logo evoking a famous Budapest monument and some tough new qualification standards mark the one-year-to-go countdown for the next World Athletics Championships.

Budapest 23 released a short video Friday showing landmarks along the Danube River, including the National Athletics Stadium which is still under construction. The video closes with the iconic monument known as the Statue of Liberty, which looks out over the city which will celebrate its 150th anniversary in 2023.

The logo is a representation of the head and upper body of the female figure holding a palm branch, which is “a symbol of victory and heroism, the reward of ancient athletes,” according to organizers.

The Szabadsag Szobor was erected in 1947 on Gellert Hill in remembrance of the Soviet Liberation of Hungary from Nazi forces.

The bright orange hue of the logo is one of the World Athletics colors.

The competition, which is the third-largest sporting event in the world, will be held for the first time in Hungary, which has previously hosted every other major age-group and adult world championships in the sport of athletics.

Hungary has put on the World Aquatics Championship twice in the last five years, including this summer.

“One year before the starting gun is fired, I am proud to say that the organization is going very well and we are ready to stage a fantastic world championships,” said Peter Deutsch, CEO of the local organizing committee.

Due to a compressed schedule caused by the pandemic, Budapest 23 will be the third major championship in four years, culminating with the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

The world governing body also released its six-page qualification system and entry standards for Budapest 23. Some of the marks are notably tougher than they were for Oregon22, which concluded last month.

There are four ways to qualify: via entry standard, finishing position in area championships, wild card (defending world champion, winner of 2022 Diamond League, World Race Walking tour, World Combined Events tour or leading hammer thrower on Continental Tour) or by world ranking.

The entry standards ensure that only elite athletes qualify by that route.

In the 100 meters, men will have to hit 10.00 seconds and women 11.08. That compares to 10.05 and 11.15 for Eugene. And back in 2009, when Jamaica’s Usain Bolt set the world record of 9.58 seconds, it was 10.21 for the “A” standard and 10.28 for the “B” standard, according to a previous system. In the women’s 100, where Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce won her first of five world titles, it was 11.30 (A) and 11.40 (B).

For the 200, the marks are 20.16 and 22.60 compared to 20.24 and 22.80. In the 400, women must go from 51.35 to 51,00, while the reduction in the men’s standard is only 45.00 to 44.90.

In the men’s long jump, the standard is 8.25m, an increase of 3 cm. In the World Championships final, only two athletes surpassed 8.25, while the bronze medalist went 8.16.

In the women’s triple jump, the standard increased from 14.32 to 14.52, a distance only five athletes met in the final.

The men’s 10,000 meters is 27:10, chopping 18 seconds off last year’s time, while the women’s event is considerably more difficult, going from 31:25 to 30:40.

If enough athletes do not meet the fields, which vary from 27 for the 10,000 to 56 for the 800 and 1500 (and 100 for the marathon), entrants will be selected by world rankings. While wind-aided marks are not eligible to meet entry standards, they are valid for world rankings with appropriate adjustments. Hand-timed marks are not accepted at distances from 100 meters to 800 meters.

Member federations which have no athletes who have achieved the entry standard or qualify via world rankings may enter one male athlete or one female athlete in certain individual events.

There are benefits to being the host country. If Hungary does not have an athlete who has achieved the entry standard in an event or a qualified relay team, it may enter one athlete or relay team in that event, with the exception of the combined events and field events where other criteria apply.

Athletes who who win area championships, such as the NACAC Open Championships this weekend in the Bahamas, will see the victory considered equal to reaching the standard. There is a caveat, however, that there must be no better entry (by world ranking) of another athlete from the same area in the same event.

On the bright side, entries for field events will be increased from 32 athletes to 36. Runners competing in road races at 5K and 10K can qualify for their respective races on the track, while a road race mile run will count toward qualification for the 1500s.

Marathoners and race walkers will qualify through selected races while there is also a separate relay qualification criteria.

The qualification period varies according to event. For the marathon and 35Km race walk, it is Dec. 1, 2021 to midnight May 30, 2023 (regardless of time zone). For the 10,000, 20km race walk and combined events, it is Jan. 31, 2022, to midnight July 30, 2023. For all over events, it is July 31, 2022 to midnight July 30, 2023.

There are also restrictions of athletes according to age. No athlete who is not 16-years-old by Dec. 31, 2023, may be entered. Athletes who are 16 or 17 on Dec. 31, 2023 may compete in any event except the throwing events, the combined events, 10,000, marathon and race walks. Athletes aged 18 or 19 on Dec. 31 may compete in any event except the marathon and 35km race walk.

World Athletics will keep a regularly updated running list of the qualification situation for each event on its website and will also publish a list of competitions eligible for entry standards and world rankings.

There is also a “competition manipulation watchlist” for certain member federations, which was established last month by the World Athletics Council. Results will only be recognized in specific events hosted by these nations.