World Athletics announces the qualification system for the 2028 Olympic Games: Tephibiu on target, Kirin must speed up.
World Athletics revealed the time standards for athlete qualification to the Olympic Games, highlighting two key events for Thai athletes: the men's 100 meters and the men's marathon, both offering chances to secure Olympic quotas.
Starting with the men's 100 meters, the qualifying period is set from 19 June 2027 to 18 June 2028, with World Athletics establishing a standard time of 9.93 seconds.
Phuriphon Boonsoan, known as “Tephibiu,” holds the Thai record of 9.90 seconds set at the 2026 Asian Games, surpassing the qualifying standard. If he maintains this level during the qualification period, he stands a strong chance to meet the Olympic qualifying criteria.
For the men's marathon, the qualifying window runs from 1 November 2027 to 30 April 2028, with the standard set at 2 hours 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, Kirin Tantivet, a Thai-American runner, must improve his time after recording 2 hours 8 minutes 1 second at the 2026 Chicago Marathon, which does not meet the standard. However, he still has a chance to qualify through a top-five finish in any of the eight platinum-level events.
Additionally, Kirin may qualify via the quota allocation system managed by each country's National Olympic Committee (NOC), which can select athletes not meeting the standard but with marathon times under 2 hours 11 minutes. Performances are then compared across countries to allocate available quota spots.
The LA28 athletics program will contest 48 gold medals: 23 men's events, 23 women's events, and 2 mixed events. Notably, the mixed 4x100 meter relay will debut alongside the mixed 4x400 meter relay. The "Road to LA" qualification tracking system will launch on the World Athletics website in late 2027 for fans and athletes to monitor progress.
In setting these minimum standards, the federation analyzed historical results from the 2022, 2023, and 2025 World Championships and the 2024 Olympics, considering athlete development trends. This led to higher standards in several events, such as marathon times improving by 30 to 60 seconds during the Olympic cycle.
Summary of 2028 Olympic qualification standards:
Event Men's Standard Women's Standard
100 meters 9.93 seconds 10.96 seconds
200 meters 19.95 seconds 22.25 seconds
400 meters 44.40 seconds 49.90 seconds
800 meters 1:43.00 minutes 1:57.00 minutes
1,500 meters 3:30.00 minutes 3:57.50 minutes
5,000 meters 12:50.00 minutes 14:34.00 minutes
10,000 meters 26:48.00 minutes 30:30.00 minutes
Hurdles (110m men / 100m women) 13.18 seconds 12.58 seconds
400m hurdles 48.00 seconds 54.00 seconds
3,000m steeplechase 8:07.50 minutes 9:06.00 minutes
High jump 2.32 meters 1.97 meters
Pole vault 5.90 meters 4.80 meters
Long jump 8.30 meters 6.90 meters
Triple jump 17.35 meters 14.50 meters
Shot put 21.50 meters 19.30 meters
Javelin throw 67.20 meters 65.00 meters
Hammer throw 78.50 meters 74.00 meters
Discus throw 85.50 meters 63.80 meters
Decathlon / Heptathlon 8,650 points 6,550 points
Marathon 2:05:00 hours 2:22:20 hours