Faster. Higher. Further. Athletics is a simple sport… or at least it is once you know the terminology. Here we break down some of the terms and abbreviations used on TrackAthletics. Where possible we use the same terminology and abbreviations used in the wider world of track and field athletics.
Since the runup to the 2016 Olympics in Rio (Road to Rio), World Athletics have published ‘Road to…’ lists of qualified athletes for the upcoming major championship. Athletes who have wild cards and automatic standards are listed along with those who are next best ranked by ‘Road to…’ rankings (for most championships) or toplist (e.g. for 2025 World Indoor Championships). The tracker takes into consideration the maximum number of participants per nation, but does not adjust for athletes who have not been selected by their national federation, who don’t meet additional selection criteria set by their national federation (e.g. B standards; competing at trials), or who are not available for selection (e.g. due to injury or maternity leave, who have qualified in another event).
Athletes who have achieved automatic standards (or Auto Qs) are added to the list as soon as the performance has been entered into the World Athletics results database (almost immediately for major championships and Diamond League events, within a day for other major tour events). However, world rankings are updated once per week (usually on Wednesday afternoons; with performances up to midnight on Tuesday included), so an athlete who achieves a performance that improves their ‘Road to…’ score will not see any improvement in their ranking until the following Wednesday.
World Athletics and European Athletics have set targets for the number of participants they would like to compete in each event at a major championship. This is dictated by the desired number of heats or qualification pools (and rounds) and the maximum number of participants that can compete in each heat or qualification pool.
For example, the maximum number of participants (quota) for the 10,000m at the World Championships in Tokyo 2025 (straight final) is 27. World Athletics set an entry standard (or Auto Q) that they estimate approximately 13 eligible athletes will achieve (they aim to fill half the field on entry standard). These athletes will be joined by any additional qualifiers, which for 10,000m will include the defending world 10,000m champion (wild card), area champions and the top three eligible athletes on the world cross country rankings. All other quota spots will be filled based on Road to Tokyo rankings.
Prior to the Tokyo Olympics, World Athletics introduced World Rankings. Athletes receive performance points for how fast they’ve run, how far they’ve thrown, or how high or long they’ve jumped. They then receive additional points for the level of competition and where they’ve finished in the competition (placing points).
For example, Rhasidat Adeleke finished 4th in the Olympic Games 400m final in a time of 49.28 seconds. According to the World Athletics performance tables, 49.28 seconds in the 400m is worth 1235 points. Fourth place at the Olympics (OW) is worth 270 placing points, so Rhasidat’s total score for that performance is 1505 points.
An athlete’s World Ranking score is calculated by averaging their best five (for field events and track events up to and including 1500m) ranking scores from the previous 12 months. Three scores are averaged for 3000m steeplechase, 5000m, and 20km race walk, while two performances are needed for 10,000m, marathon and 35km walk rankings.
These use a similar process to the World Rankings, but run for a different time period. While the World Rankings run on a rolling 12 months, the ‘Road to…’ rankings are calculated from the beginning of the qualification window for that championship.
Athletes will not appear on the ranking list until they’ve collected enough competition results in that event within the qualification window.
These are lists of all the best performances in a particular year (or season) for a particular event, listed with the best performance at the top. World Athletics toplists can be filtered to include just the top performance by each athlete (or team in the case of relays), or to include all performances by all athletes (or teams). The athlete at the top of the list at any given point in the season holds the World Lead (WL).
When an athlete has bettered the qualification standard for a championships within the qualification window they are said to have achieved the Auto Q. Athletes can usually also qualify by ranking or top list.
The dates between which performances must be achieved to qualify for a championship.
Some national federations (including Athletics Ireland) set performance standards that athletes must achieve to be considered for selection for a championship. These B standards are easier to achieve than the Auto Qs, but athletes must also hit the relevant ranking to be eligible for a quota spot.
A few years ago World Athletics started using short track to refer to all athletes that takes place on a 200m track, irrespective of whether it is indoor or outdoors. This complicates the reporting of records, results and rankings, but allows countries who have no reason to have an indoor track (e.g. Australia) to stage short track championships, and qualify athletes for World Indoor Championships without having to leave the country.
This is the top list of performances by athletes from a particular country or region in a particular discipline since records began. For example, if someone achieved a performance that moved them to fourth on the Irish AT list, then only three Irish athletes have ever achieved a better performance in that discipline.
This is a TrackAthletes term. When you log into our site you can add any athletes, meetings and championships you would like to follow to your Watchlist. These athletes (along with upcoming meetings they’re competing in), meetings and championships will then appear on the Watchlist page of the site. You can also choose to receive email notifications when athletes on your Watchlist are due to compete.
This, the premier tour event for athletes, is made up of 15 invitational meets across the world, including a final where the top athletes in each discipline compete for a larger pot of prizemoney. Most athletes receive appearance fees as well as prizemoney for Diamond League events, though emerging talent are often happy with a lane, the chance to record a good performance, and the higher placing scores for world ranking purposes. Diamond Disciplines at regular Diamond League meetings are scored at category GW, the same as World Indoor Championships, and higher than area senior outdoor championships. An athlete who finishes in 8th place in a Diamond League 100m race, for example, earns 100 placing points, the same as they’d get for winning a national championship or World Continental Tour silver meeting. The Diamond League final scores even higher. Competing in a Diamond League event could make the difference between qualifying for a major championship and watching it from home.
The Hammer Throw is not included in the Diamond League, so the Hammer events at World Continental Tour Gold meetings are scored the same as Diamond League disciplines.
The next level of invitational meetings after the Diamond League are graded as Gold, Silver, Bronze and Challenger meetings, depending on the standard of the meet and the amount of prize money on offer. World Ranking Points also vary. Winners of Continental Tour Gold meetings, scored at category A, earn 140 placing points, down to 60 for 8th place (for events that average best 5 results for a ranking).
There is also a World Race Walking Tour, World Combined Event Tour, World Cross Country Tour, World Indoor Tour and Label Road Races, including the World Marathon Majors.
PB (Personal Best): the best performance an athlete has ever achieved for that event.
SB (Season’s Best): the best performance an athlete has achieved for that event in the current season.
NR (National Record): the best performance by any athlete declared for that country in that event.
CBP (Championship Best Performance): the best performance ever achieved in a specific discipline (e.g. men’s 100m) at a particular championship (e.g. National Senior Championships, World Championships), irrespective of the venue.
MR (Meeting Record): the best performance ever achieved in in a specific discipline (e.g. men’s 100m) at a particular non-championship event (e.g. Morton Games, Perth Track Classic).
TR (Track Record): the best performance ever achieved in a specific discipline (e.g. men’s 100m) on a specific track.
o: Performance achieved outdoors.
i: Performance achieved indoors.
r: Performance achieved on the road (for a track event).
w: Wind-assisted performance (following wind was more than the permitted +2m/s allowed for records and qualification purposes).
A: Performance achieved at altitude (more than 1000m above sea level). While the lower air resistance at altitude offers advantages for short sprints and jump events, performances achieved at altitude can still count for record purposes.
+: A time set on the way to a longer distance. For example, 3.29.81+ might be an athlete's time through the first 1500m of a mile race. Official timing equipment should be set up at the relevant mark for such times to count for record or qualification purposes.
U23 (Under 23): An athlete who does not reach their 23rd birthday on or before 31 December in the current year.
U20 (Under 20): Previously referred to as junior, this is an athlete who does not reach their 20th birthday on or before 31 December in the current year.
Please let us know if there are any other terms or abbreviations you’d like us to explain.