Section 6: Scoring
6.1 Timing and Results — Track Events (Technical Rule 19)
At all World Athletics Series events, times must be recorded by Fully Automatic Timing (FAT) measured to 1/1000th of a second and displayed to 1/100th of a second. Where a photofinish system is used, a photograph showing the order of arrival must be used to determine results. All performances are ranked by time; in the event of identical times to 1/100th of a second, the photo finish image is used to determine the order (Technical Rule 19).
For record purposes, times are taken to 1/100th of a second unless the FAT system records to 1/1000th of a second (in which case that reading is used). Times manually held to 1/10th of a second are rounded up to the next 1/5th of a second for records and rankings (Technical Rule 19).
6.2 Measurement of Field Events (Technical Rule 25)
All measurements in field events are made with a calibrated steel measuring tape or an approved Electronic Measurement Device (e.g., total station or laser distance meter). Each measurement must be made immediately after each valid attempt. The result is recorded to the nearest centimetre below the distance measured (i.e., truncated, not rounded). The best valid attempt of each athlete is used for final classification (Technical Rule 25).
6.3 Horizontal Jumps and Throws — Attempts Allocation
- In competitions with more than eight athletes: All athletes take three attempts; the top eight after three rounds take three more attempts (six total). The best mark from all six attempts determines the final ranking (Technical Rule 25).
- In competitions with eight or fewer athletes: All athletes take six attempts from the start (Technical Rule 25).
- If a tie for eighth place occurs after three rounds, all tied athletes advance to the final three rounds (Technical Rule 25).
6.4 High Jump and Pole Vault — Progression and Ties (Technical Rule 26)
Athletes attempt heights in order. The winner is the athlete who clears the greatest height. Ties are broken as follows:
- The athlete with the fewest failures at the height at which the tie occurs is ranked higher (Technical Rule 26).
- If still tied, the athlete with the fewest total failures throughout the competition up to and including the height last attempted is ranked higher (Technical Rule 26).
- If still tied in a final, athletes who are tied have one more attempt at the lowest height at which they failed; if they all clear or all fail, the bar is raised or lowered alternately by the minimum increments until the tie is broken (Technical Rule 26).
- For non-first-place ties in qualifying rounds, no jump-off is held (Technical Rule 26).
6.5 Combined Events Scoring (Technical Rule 39)
The Decathlon (men, 10 events over two days) and Heptathlon (women, 7 events over two days) are scored using the IAAF Scoring Tables for Combined Events (2022 edition, effective from 1 January 2023). Each performance is converted to points using the event-specific formula; the athlete with the greatest total of points wins. Day order for Decathlon: Day 1 — 100m, Long Jump, Shot Put, High Jump, 400m; Day 2 — 110m Hurdles, Discus, Pole Vault, Javelin, 1500m. Day order for Heptathlon: Day 1 — 100m Hurdles, High Jump, Shot Put, 200m; Day 2 — Long Jump, Javelin, 800m.
6.6 Qualifying Rounds and Automatic Qualifying Marks
In multi-round competitions (qualifying round → final), athletes may advance either by achieving an Automatic Qualifying Standard (Q) or as one of the next-best performers (q). The specific standards and numbers advancing are set for each World Athletics competition. Where fewer than the specified number of athletes achieve the Q standard, places are filled by next-best performances. If fewer than three athletes achieve the automatic standard in a field event, at least three athletes shall advance to the final (Technical Rule 25).