Some big records are on the line as the 2025 World Athletics Championships become the focus for the next 9 days. Noah Lyles is going for his fourth World Championships gold in the 200m sprint. Ethiopia’s Tigist Assefa will be relishing her marathon duel with Kenya’s Peres Jepchirchir as the former aims to claim the gold she missed out on in the Paris Olympics.

It’s gearing up to be another exciting World Championships. But how have the athletes been selected for this biennial event? There are numerous systems in place to ensure its competitiveness, while showcasing the best athletes of the season. So, let’s take a look at the qualification standards that decided selection for the 2025 Tokyo World Athletics Championships.

How do athletes qualify for the World Athletics Championships 2025?

With more than 50 events that will take place in the Tokyo Championships, each of the events has the same pattern of qualification. A certain percentage (on average, roughly 50%) of the competitors are seen to qualify by clearing the event entry standards. And the rest qualify through their standings in the World Rankings, or via the Wild Card criteria, like being the current World Champion or winning the Challenger tournaments.

Mind you, the qualification windows are not the same for every event. The marathon and the 35km race walk had their consideration period from November 5, 2023, to May 4, 2025, the earliest of all the events. The 10,000m, 20km race walk, combined events, and relays had the window from February 25, 2024, to August 24, 2025. For all the remaining events, the period was August 1, 2024, to August 24, 2025.

Now, let’s take a look at the entry standards for the Tokyo Championships events.

What are the entry standards for each event at the Tokyo World Athletics 2025?

Here are the entry standards listed for each event. We start with the men’s division first.

100m – 10.00 seconds

200m – 20.16 seconds

400m – 44.85 seconds

800m – 1:44.50 minutes

1500m (Mile / Road Mile standard) – 3:33.00 minutes (3:50.00)

5000m / 5km road – 13:01.00 minutes

10,000m / 10km road – 27:00.00 minutes

Marathon – 2:06:30 hours

3000m Steeplechase – 8:15.00 minutes

110m Hurdles – 13.27 seconds

400m Hurdles – 48.50 seconds

High Jump – 2.33m

Pole Vault – 5.82m

Long Jump – 8.27m

Triple Jump – 17.22m

Shot Put – 21.50m

Discus Throw – 67.50m

Hammer Throw – 78.20m

Javelin Throw – 85.50m

Decathlon – 8550 points

20K Race Walk – 1:19:20 hours

35K Race Walk – 2:28:00 hours

Now, for the women’s events:

100m – 11.07 seconds

200m – 22.57 seconds

400m – 50.75 seconds

800m – 1:59.00 minutes

1500m (Mile) – 4:01.50 minutes (4:19.90)

5000m / 5km Road – 14:50.00 minutes

10,000m / 10km Road – 30:20.00 minutes

Marathon – 2:23:30 hours

3000m Steeplechase – 9:18.00 minutes

100m Hurdles – 12.73 seconds

400m Hurdles – 54.65 seconds

High Jump – 1.97m

Pole Vault – 4.73m

Long Jump – 6.86m

Triple Jump – 14.55m

Shot Put – 18.80m

Discus Throw – 64.50m

Hammer Throw – 74.00m

Javelin Throw – 64.00m

Heptathlon – 6500 points

20k Race Walk – 1:29:00 hours

35k Race Walk – 2:48:00 hours

See something missing? Yes, the relay events. For that, be it the men’s, women’s, or the mixed relays, the selection criteria are the same: Top 14 at the 2024 World Relays held in Nassau, Bahamas + 2 from the World List based on performance who have still not been selected.

And now comes the rule of all rules, without which everything that the athletes do, the sacrifices, the hours of hard work, becomes meaningless.

Understanding the anti-doping rules and testing procedures

The World Athletics, the organizing body of the Japan World Championships, is a signatory to the World Anti-Doping Code (“Code”). The Anti-Doping Rules (ADR) codified have been adopted by the World Athletics Council, and the regulations will be implemented as per the updated 2021 version of the Code.

These Anti-Doping Rules formulated by WADA must be interpreted as independent and not limited by the standing law or regulations of any signatory athletics federation or government. We can go on and on, as it is an intricate framework that has been prepared with the utmost detail and no room for loopholes.

The onus is on the athletes as the provisions of the Anti-Doping Rules clearly mention:

Athletes must:

(a) be knowledgeable of and comply with these Anti-Doping Rules at all times;

(b) know what constitutes an anti-doping rule violation and the substances and methods that have been included on the Prohibited List;

(c) be available for Sample collection at all times;

(d) take responsibility, in the context of anti-doping, for what they ingest and use;

(e) carry out research regarding any products or substances that they intend to use (prior to such Use) to ensure that using them will not constitute or result in an anti-doping rule violation. Such research must, at a minimum, include a reasonable internet search of:

(i) the name of the product or substance;

(ii) the ingredients/substances listed on the product or substance label;

(iii) other related information revealed through research of points (i) and (ii).

The testing procedures similarly put the onus on the athlete to be available for testing, keeping the testing authorities informed about one’s whereabouts so that the whole procedure can be completed without much difficulty for the testing team. We recommend you go through the details in order to get a comprehensive idea about the whole subject of anti-doping enforcement.

How does the world rankings system influence qualification?

The first and foremost criterion for selection is the entry standards. But the ones who do not meet the criteria still have a way to make it to the Championships, like 7 athletes from Belgium for the Japan World Athletics Championships. And they owe it to their World rankings.

Rani Rosius (100m), ​Imke Vervaet (200m), ​Ilona Masson (triple jump), ​John Heymans (5,000m), ​Elie Bacari (110m hurdles), ​Jente Hauttekeete (decathlon), and ​Thomas Carmoy (high jump) were placed among the top 36 in the world, who made it despite not clearing the entry standards.

But does that mean the new formula of the World Athletics Council discourages quality? On the contrary, the season rankings are obviously based on their past year’s performances, making it still a competitive selection and maintaining the quality of the events.

What are the key rules athletes and federations must follow?

There are many rules that still filter the selection. The most basic of them is age. Doesn’t matter how talented you are; you can only travel to Japan if you are at least 16 years old (the cut-off date being 31 Dec 2025). Not applicable for the current Worlds, but when there’s a U18 or U20 tournament, the cut-off is December 31 of the year of the tournament.

Ok, so there is also the Wild Card provision: Defending world champions (2023) and 2025 Diamond League winners earn automatic entry. The wildcard entries are generally not counted in the nation’s quota, and there’s always discretion that the Federation can resort to. But only until the fulfillment of the quota. Federations determine final athlete selection; entering athletes beyond those qualified is not permitted.