For the athletics competitions at the 2012 Summer Olympics the following qualification systems were in place. The list has been updated to 30 June 2012. Qualification ended on 8 July 2012.
Qualifying standards A National Olympic Committee (NOC) may enter up to 3 qualified athletes in each individual event if all athletes meet the A standard, or 1 athlete per event if they meet the B standard. An NOC may also enter a maximum of 1 qualified relay team per event. NOCs may enter athletes regardless of time (1 athlete per sex) if they have no athletes meeting the qualifying A or B standards. This makes it possible for every nation to have a minimum of two representatives in the sport.
The qualifying time standards may be obtained in various meets during the qualifying period that have the approval of the IAAF. All approved outdoor meets and indoor meets with the exception of 100 m, 200 m and 110/100 m hurdles races are eligible. The qualifying period for the 10,000 m, marathon, walks and combined events is from 1 January 2011 to 8 July 2012; for all other individual events it is 1 May 2011 to 8 July 2012. Relay qualification is between 1 January 2011 to 2 July 2012.
In addition to the qualifying standards below, marathon runners finishing in the top 20 of the 2011 World Championships or in the top 10 of any IAAF gold series marathon within the qualification period are also treated as having earned the A standard.
The NOCs were still allowed to select participants using their own rules, on the condition all athletes have made the qualifying time. For example, the United States selected athletes based on the result of the 2012 United States Olympic Trials event. Sweden only entered athletes good enough to reach at least 8th position, based on an assessment by the Swedish NOC.
The IAAF Qualifying Standards are as follows:
Men's eventsWomen's events Event Men's A Men's B Event Women's A Women's BMen's 100 metres 10.18 10.24 Women's 100 metres 11.29 11.38Men's 200 metres 20.55 20.65 Women's 200 metres 23.10 23.30Men's 400 metres 45.30 45.90 Women's 400 metres 51.55 52.35Men's 800 metres 1:45.60 1:46.30 Women's 800 metres 1:59.90 2:01.30Men's 1500 metres 3:35.50 3:38.00 Women's 1500 metres 4:06.00 4:08.90Men's 5000 metres 13:20.00 13:27.00 Women's 5000 metres 15:20.00 15:30.00Men's 10,000 metres 27:45.00 28:05.00 Women's 10,000 metres 31:45.00 32:10.00Men's marathon 2:15:00 2:18:00 Women's marathon 2:37:00 2:43:00Men's 3000 steeplechase 8:23.10 8:32.00 Women's 3000 steeplechase 9:43.00 9:48.00Men's 110 metres hurdles 13.52 13.60 Women's 100 metres hurdles 12.96 13.15Men's 400 metres hurdles 49.50 49.80 Women's 400 metres hurdles 55.50 56.65Men's high jump 2.31 2.28 Women's high jump 1.95 1.92Men's pole vault 5.72 5.60 Women's pole vault 4.50 4.40Men's long jump 8.20 8.10 Women's long jump 6.75 6.65Men's triple jump 17.20 16.85 Women's triple jump 14.30 14.10Men's shot put 20.50 20.00 Women's shot put 18.30 17.20Men's discus throw 65.00 63.00 Women's discus throw 62.00 59.50Men's hammer throw 78.00 74.00 Women's hammer throw 71.50 69.00Men's javelin throw 82.00 79.50 Women's javelin throw 61.00 59.00Men's decathlon 8200 7950 Women's heptathlon 6150 5950Men's 20 kilometres walk 1:22:30 1:24:30 Women's 20 kilometres walk 1:33:30 1:38:00Men's 50 kilometres walk 3:59:00 4:09:00 – – –Men's 4 × 100 metres relayTop 16 teams Women's 4 × 100 metres relayTop 16 teamsMen's 4 × 400 metres relayTop 16 teams Women's 4 × 400 metres relayTop 16 teams
Men's events
Men's 100 m
Qualification standard No. of athletes NOC Nominated athletes A standard – 10.183Yohan BlakeUsain BoltAsafa Powell3Kim CollinsAntoine AdamsJason Rogers3Keston BledmanRichard ThompsonRondel Sorrillo3 Dwain ChambersJames DasaoluAdam Gemili3Ogho-Oghene EgweroObinna MetuPeter Emelieze3Justin GatlinTyson GayRyan Bailey 2Derrick AtkinsWarren Fraser1*Christophe LemaitreJimmy Vicaut2Masashi EriguchiRyota Yamagata1Nilson André1Justyn Warner1Daniel Bailey1Ramon Gittens1Idrissa Adam1Kemar Hyman1Su Bingtian1Amr Ibrahim Mostafa Seoud1Ronalds Arājs1Rytis Sakalauskas 1Aziz Ouhadi1Churandy Martina 1Jaysuma Saidy Ndure1Barakat Mubarak Al-Harthi1Dariusz Kuc1Ángel David Rodríguez1Gerald Phiri0*Ngonidzashe Makusha (injured) B standard – 10.241Isidro Montoya1Ben Youssef Meité1Carlos Jorge1Marek Niit1Suwaibou Sanneh1Paul Williams1Jeremy Bascom1Jason Smyth1Reza Ghasemi1Miguel López1Alonso Edward Universality places1Elama Fa’atonu1Bruno Rojas1Patrick Tuara1John Howard1Tavevele Noa1Timi Garstang1Rachid Chouhal1Liaquat Ali1Sibusiso Matsenjwa1Massoud Azizi1Kilakone Siphonexay1Yeo Foo Ee Gary1Chris Meke Walasi1Courtney Carl Williams1Nooa Takooa1Tilak Ram Tharu1Berenger Aymard Bosse1Holder da Silva1Fabrice Coiffic1J'maal Alexander1Azneem Ahmed1Mohan Khan1Devilert Arsene Kimbembe1Gerard Kobeane1Abdouraim Haroun1Fernando Lumain1Christopher Lima da Costa1Joseph Andy Lui1Jurgen Themen1Rodman Teltull Total85
Men's 200 m
Qualification standard No. of athletes NOC Nominated athletes A standard – 20.553Bruno de BarrosAldemir GomesSandro Viana3 Jared ConnaughtonAaron BrownTremaine Harris3Yohan BlakeUsain BoltWarren Weir3Kei TakaseShota IizukaShinji Takahira3Wallace SpearmonMaurice MitchellIsiah Young2 Warren FraserMichael Mathieu2Roberto SkyersMichael Herrera2 Kim CollinsAntoine Adams2Reto SchenkelAlex Wilson2James EllingtonChristian Malcolm1 Jonathan Borlée1 Xie Zhenye1Álex Quiñónez1 Amr Ibrahim Mostafa Seoud1Marek Niit1Jonathan Åstrand1 Christophe Lemaitre1 Lykourgos-Stefanos Tsakonas1 Paul Hession0*Andrew Howe (not selected)1Aziz Ouhadi1Churandy Martina1 Jaysuma Saidy Ndure1 Alonso Edward1Anaso Jobodwana1 Rondel Sorrillo1 Serhiy Smelyk B standard – 20.651Brendan Christian1Cristián Reyes1 Ben Youssef Meité1 Pavel Maslák1Carlos Jorge1Joel Redhead1Vyacheslav Muravyev1Mosito Lehata1José Carlos Herrera1Arnaldo Abrantes Wildcard places1Jidou El Moctar1Jean-Yves Esparon1Ibrahim Turay1Sibusiso Matsenjwa Total58
Men's 400 m
Qualification standard No. of athletes NOC Nominated athletes A standard – 45.303Chris BrownRamon MillerDemetrius Pinder3Nigel LevineMartyn RooneyConrad Williams3LaShawn Merritt Tony McQuay Bryshon Nellum2Jonathan BorleeKevin Borlee2 Rondell BartholomewKirani James 3 Dane Hyatt Rusheen McDonald Jermaine Gonzales2Maksim DyldinPavel Trenikhin2Renny QuowDeon Lendore1Isaac Makwala1Nery Brenes1 Williams Collazo1 Pavel Maslák1 Luguelín Santos1 Yuzo Kanemaru1 Marcin Marciniszyn1 Oscar Pistorius1Rabah Yousif1 Tabarie Henry B standard – 45.901Steven Solomon1Mathieu Gnanligo0* Anderson Henriques1Daundre Barnaby1Diego Palomeque 1Erison Hurtault1Bereket Desta0*Thomas Schneider1Winston George1Marcell Deák Nagy1Liemarvin Bonevacia1Sajjad Hashemi1 Donald Sanford0*Marco Vistalli (not selected)1Sergey Zaikov0* 1Jānis Leitis0* Liemarvin Bonevacia0*1Ahmed Mohamed Al-Merjabi0*Femi Ogunode (banned)1Yousef Masrahi0* Johan Wissman1Vitaliy Butrym0* Universality places1Ak Hafiy Tajuddin Rositi1Kristijan Efremov1Zaw Win Thet1Bahaa Al Farra1Nelson Stone1Augusto Stanley Total52
Men's 800 m
Qualification standard No. of athletes NOC Nominated athletes A standard – 1:45.603Kléberson DavideFabiano Peçanha 3Andrew OsagieMichael RimmerGareth Warburton3 David Rudisha Timothy Kitum Anthony Chemut2*Adam Kszczot Marcin Lewandowski 3 Kevin LópezLuis Alberto MarcoAntonio Manuel Reina3Khadevis RobinsonDuane SolomonNicholas Symmonds2 Maury CastilloAndy González2Pierre-Ambroise BosseJeff Lastennet2Amine LaâlouAmine El Manaoui2 Yuriy BorzakovskiyIvan Tukhtachev2 Mbulaeni MulaudziAndré Olivier2Abubaker KakiIsmail Ahmed Ismail1Jeffrey Riseley1Anis Ananenka1 Nijel Amos1Geoffrey Harris1 Rafith Rodriguez1 Jakub Holuša1 Andreas Bube1Mohammed Hamad1 Mohammed Aman1Sören Ludolph1Abdulaziz Mohammed1 Mohammad Al-Azemi1 Robert Lathouwers1 Musaab Balah0* Ilham Tanui Özbilen B standard – 1:46.301Taoufik Makhloufi1Tamás Kazi1Sajjad Moradi0*1Masato Yokota1Wesley Vázquez0*1Julius Mutekanga1Prince Mumba Universality1Manuel Antonio1Benjamín Enzema1Derek Mandell1Erzhan Askarov1Moussa Camarao1Brice Etes1Edgar Cortez1Arnold Sorina Total57
Men's 1500 m
Qualification standard No. of athletes NOC Nominated athletes A standard – 3:35.503Mekonnen GebremedhinDawit WoldeTeshome Dirirsa3Jamale AarrassFlorian CarvalhoYoann Kowal3 Silas Kiplagat Nixon Chepseba Asbel Kiprop3Abdalaati IguiderAmine LaâlouMohamed Moustaoui3David Bustos Álvaro Rodríguez Diego Ruiz3Leonel ManzanoMatthew Centrowitz Jr.Andrew Wheating2 Ryan GregsonJeff Riseley2Ross MurrayAndrew Baddeley2 Mohammed Al-QarniHamza Driouch2Emad NoorMohammed Shaween1*Taoufik Makhloufi 1Belal Mansoor Ali1 Nathan Brannen0*Maury S. Castillo1 Ayanleh Souleiman1Carsten Schlangen1Ciarán O'Lionaird1 Nicholas Willis0* 0* Johan Cronje1Abubaker Kaki1İlham Tanui Özbilen B standard – 3:38.001Andreas Vojta1Teklit Teweldebrhan1Merihun Crespi (not selected)1Dmitrijs Jurkevics 1Henrik Ingebrigtsen1Yegor Nikolayev1Jacob Araptany1Edward Villanueva1Mohamed Hassan Mohamed Total47
Men's 5000 m
Qualification standard No. of athletes NOC Nominated athletes A standard – 13:20.003 Collis BirminghamCraig MottramDavid McNeill3Abrar Osman AdemTeklemariam MedhinAmanuel Mesel3Dejen GebremeskelHagos GebrhiwetYenew Alamirew3Mo FarahNick McCormick3 Isiah Koech Edwin Soi Thomas Longosiwa3Moukheld Al-OutaibiAbdullah Abdulaziz AljoudHussain Jamaan Alhamdah3Soufiyan BouqantarAbdalaati IguiderAziz Lahbabi3Abraham KiplimoMoses Ndiema KipsiroGeoffrey Kusuro3Bernard LagatLopez LomongGalen Rupp2Rabah AboudMounir Miout2 Jesús EspañaFrancisco Javier Alves1 Bilisuma Shugi1Daniele Meucci1 Cameron Levins 1 Mumin Gala1Yohan Durand1Arne Gabius1 Alistair Ian Cragg1 Juan Luis Barrios0* Adrian Blincoe (injured)01 Polat Kemboi Arıkan B standard – 13:27.001Javier Carriqueo1Hayle Ibrahimov1Hitomi Niiya1Rui Silva1Serhiy Lebid1Tonny Wamulwa Universality1Olivier Iradukunda1Ruben Sanca Total48
Men's 10,000 m
Qualification standard No. of athletes NOC Nominated athletes A standard – 27:45.003Teklemariam MedhinZersenay TadeseNguse Tesfaldet3Kenenisa BekeleTariku BekeleGebregziabher Gebremariam3 Bitan Karoki Wilson Kiprop Moses Masai3Dathan RitzenheinGalen RuppMatt Tegenkamp2 Mohammed AhmedCameron Levins2 Mo FarahChristopher Thompson2Juan Luis BarriosDiego Estrada2Thomas AyekoMoses Ndiema Kipsiro1Ben St. Lawrence1Ali Hasan Mahboob1Byron Piedra0* Bouabdellah Tahri1 Daniele Meucci1Yuki Sato0* Stephen Mokoka B standard – 28:05.000*1Rui Silva1Robert Kajuga1Ayad Lamdassem1Polat Kemboi Arıkan1Mykola Labovskyy Total31
Men's marathon