Para Athletics Explained
To best follow along with Sam’s journey toward Tokyo 2020, we have written up a quick explanation of the milestones needed for him to achieve this goal.
The next stop on this journey is the 2019 World Para Athletics Championships in Dubai (November 7-15). The qualifying period for 2019 World Para Athletics Championships is the 2019 calendar year up until September 23.
There is a lot that goes into the Athletics Australia selection policy and there’s a whole 21 page document that can be read if you’re curious, but I will do my best to summarize it for you.
Basic Eligibility
Eligibility includes many different aspects including basic ones like being an Australian citizen, adhering to all the rules and codes of conduct, being properly classified and having all the appropriate licenses and memberships. (More listed in the full document).
Qualifying Times
There are 3 levels of qualifying times considered.
IPC A Qualifying Standard a.k.a. “IPC minimum”
2019 AA A Qualifying Standard a.k.a. “AA A”
2019 AA B Qualifying Standard a.k.a “AA B”
The IPC A Qualifying Standard is the minimum qualifying time that the International Paralympic Committee will accept for a nomination in that event. However, Athletics Australia holds their athletes to a higher standard, the “A” and “B” Qualifying Standards. “A” times are a higher standard than the “B” times. These times vary depending on each event and classification.
Racing Selection Criteria
There are 2 types of selection for a spot at the 2019 World Para Athletics Championships: Automatic and Discretionary.
Automatic Selection
Automatic applies to those who won gold at the 2017 World Para Athletics Championships and attain at least 1 “A” qualifying time. These were selected on 8 April 2019.
Discretionary Selection
Discretionary selection requires an athlete to attain at least 2 “A” or “B” qualifying times.
Athlete selections will be prioritized as follows (highest to lowest):
Two (or more) “A” qualifying times
One “A” and one “B” qualifying time
Two (or more) “B” qualifying times
These selections will happen on 24 September 2019.
Additional Considerations
In additional to the qualifying times, the selection committee will consider other factors including history of performance at past Paralympic Games and World Para Athletics Championships, other international race performance, consistency of performance during the selection period, and recent form and fitness.
How does this apply to Sam?
Sam’s primary event is the Men’s T52 100m event. The qualifying times are as follows:
IPC Minimum: 21.00 seconds
“A”: 17.19 seconds
“B”: 17.79 seconds
Sam currently, as of this post, sits at 6th in the world for qualifying times in this event out of the 33 persons who have internationally raced in this event.