THE International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), the global governing body for track and field, has altered the qualifying system for the World Championships that will be held in Beijing, China, next year.

According to a release issued Wednesday, the “key elements of the new system is that the IAAF shall establish the ideal number of athletes (and relay teams) to start in each event of the championships and shall ensure that such ideal numbers are met through a qualification system which, essentially, combines entry standards (only one standard) and invitations based on rankings”.

The release further said the “entry and participation principles have been thoroughly reviewed by the IAAF and a new qualification system has been introduced”.

However, they said “as in the past, there are still some special qualification opportunities and it will still be possible for member federations without any qualified athletes to be represented with one unqualified athlete (subject to certain conditions)”.

There are four ways an athlete can qualify for the World Championships. They are:

* achieving the entry standard within the qualifying period of January 1, 2014 to August 10, 2015 for 10,000m, marathon, race walks, relays and combined events and October 1, 2014 to August 10, 2015 for all other events;

*Automatically by achieving the entry standard within the qualification period, in accordance with criteria decided by IAAF, finishing positions at designated competitions such as the area champions in all the individual events (except for the marathons);

* Defending champions or Diamond Race or Hammer Throw Challenge winner;

* Being the best ranked athletes at the end of the qualification period to fill the remaining quota places by event. This does not apply to the 5,000m, 10,000m, marathons and race walks where entries will continue to be administered by entry standards only, the release stated.

Junior and youth athletes will be allowed to take part with restrictions. The new rules allow juniors aged 18 or 19, on December 31, 2015, to compete in any event except the marathon and 50K race walk, while youth athletes aged 16 or 17 as of the end of the 2015 calendar year may compete in any event “except the throwing events, the combined events, 10,000m, marathon and the race walks”.

No one under the age of 16 will be allowed to compete.

Member federations will still be able to enter a maximum of three athletes in each individual event, as long as they have attained the qualifying standard, while a fourth athlete, the defending champion or the Diamond Race winner could also be added.

The restriction that if a country has both the defending champion and Diamond Race winner, only one would be able to accept the invitation, still applies.

Each federation will also be allowed to enter one reserve for each event, on condition the athlete has attained the qualifying standard.

For relay events, “a maximum of six athletes may be entered for each relay team. All athletes already entered in the corresponding individual events (100m or 400m) including the eventual reserve shall automatically count towards the six entries of the team. Any four athletes among those entered for the competition, whether for the relay or for any other event, may then be used in the composition of the team for the first round”.