“All Other Individual Track & Field Events - May 1, 2011 - July 1, 2012 or the end of the athlete’s individual event at the 2012 Olympic Team Trials - Track & Field, whichever comes first”
Looking at the above information, does this mean that to be invited to the US Olympic trials you need to qualify for your event at a official meet between May 1, 2011 - July 1, 2012?
Also, how does the “A” and “B” standard work? What’s that all about?
If an athlete meets the “A” standard, they are automatically entered into the meet. If an athlete meets the “B” standard, they are provisionally entered into the meet which means if not enough athletes attain the automatic qualifier, a certain amount of provisionally qualified athletes will be allowed in to fill out the field. The meet organizers determine what that time is. I had an athlete run 20.55 one year which entered him provisionally. I can’t remember what the automatic qualifier was for those Olympics but the cutoff ended up being 20.54 so he didn’t go to the Trials.
I always look at this list and laugh at some of the numbers. The standards look reasonable for the sprints, but are just way out of whack for some of the field events. (at least by american standards) The “A” standard for the discus is 65m. If the trials were this year and the qualifying period was May 1, 2010 - July 1, 2011, then exactly two americans would have thrown the “A”’ qualifying distance during the qualifying period. The numbers are similarly bleak in the hammer (1 athlete) and even worse for the the javelin (no athletes). Even if you look at the “B” standard, you only have like 4-6 qualifying athletes in those events.
I may be wrong, but I believe these are the standards for the Olympics themselves, not the U.S. Olympic Trials. I assume that USOC and USATF can set whatever entry standards they wish for their Trials.