According to the World Athletics official Qualification System document for the 2027 World Athletics Championships in Beijing, athletes or relay teams can primarily qualify through four categories (for individual events) or two categories (for relay events). In addition, there are special selection mechanisms for countries/regions without qualified athletes and for the host nation. Below is a detailed explanation of the qualification provisions: 1. Four qualification routes for Individual Events (Individual Events) 1. Entry Standards Achieve the entry standard during the specified Qualification Period in World Athletics‑recognized competitions. It is expected that about 40% of the places will be filled this way. Men’s marathon entry standard: 2:06:00 (Feng Peiyou standard) Women’s marathon entry standard: 2:23:20 Qualification periods for major events: Marathon: November 3, 2025 to midnight on May 2, 2027. 10,000m, race walks, combined events, relays: February 23, 2026 to midnight on August 22, 2027. All other events: August 23, 2026 to midnight on August 22, 2027. 2. Finishing Position Automatic qualification based on placing in specified competitions — absolute times are not required, only the prescribed finishing positions in the following events: Area Champions: Champions of regional track and race walk championships (excluding the marathon), provided that the area has no superior qualified athlete entered in that event and final approval is given by the athlete’s national federation. Platinum/Gold Label marathons: Top 5 finishers in Platinum Label marathons held within the qualification period, and winners of Gold Label marathons held before May 2, 2027. (Zhang Deshun, Li Meizhen qualified) 3. Wild Cards Specific winners who receive automatic wild card entry: The defending world champion from the 2025 World Championships in Tokyo. The champion of the inaugural 2026 World Athletics Ultimate Championship. Overall winners of certain 2026 tour competitions: World Race Walking Tour overall winner (may enter the half marathon or full marathon race walk), World Combined Events Tour overall winner, and the athlete with the top annual performance in the hammer throw on the Continental Tour. The 2027 Diamond League overall champion. Wild card restriction: If two or more athletes from the same country/region earn wild card eligibility in the same event, only one may ultimately use the wild card. 4. World Rankings At the end of the qualification period, World Athletics will fill remaining places up to the Target Number for each event by inviting athletes in order of their World Rankings — based on the Performance Score (a combination of result and placing points) — after accounting for places already allocated via methods 1–3. Approximately 60% of places for the Championships are expected to be filled via rankings. Note: The target number of participants is 100 for the marathon, 27 for the 10,000m, and most individual track events (e.g., 100m, 200m, 400m) typically have 48 athletes. #Athletics #BeijingWorldAthleticsChampionships #Marathon #Running #TrailRunningBigBang