From runnersweb.com

Athletics Canada announced today the final qualifying standards for the 2008 Olympic Games which will be held in Beijing, China. The 2008 qualifying period begins on April 1 and concludes with the Canadian Championships on July 6. The 2008 Canadian Championships will serve as the trials for the Olympic Games.

“The selection system we are publishing today is one of the essential steps we are taking towards a successful showing in Beijing,” explains Martin Goulet, Chief High Performance Officer for Athletics Canada. “These standards and the associated repeat performance schedule have been designed in order to ensure that - equally across all 47 track and field events - our athletes will really be competitive once selected for the Games. Then, with this team of selected athletes, our first priority will be to create and deliver a performance centered environment that contributes directly to achieve or surpass our set performance benchmarks which includes two Olympic Games medals.”

The A+ standards were established following an analysis of recent World Championships and Olympic Games results as well as a statistical analysis from the past five years in order to reflect what represents - performance wise - a top 12 ranked athlete in the world. The A and B standards, not including road events, are the same as the International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) A and B standards. Road events A and B standards are established homogeneously with other event standards using a combination of the World List, Scoring Tables and other equivalencies to ensure balance with the A and B track and field standards. A road event standard must only be achieved once during the two-year qualifying window.

View the Qualifying Standards and the Repeat Performance Schedule.

The final standards published today have not changed very much from the draft standards published on June 1, 2007. Some of the modifications include: Women’s throws A+ standards have been adjusted, indoor component has been added, and a rising star criteria has been included.

Please note that the full Olympic team selection document will be available in February. Details on the selection of Rising Stars from the eligible pool of athletes will be provided in this document.