Mac Fleet

Track and Field with @citiusmag | @thelapcount

[Mac Fleet @macfleet]

@iRunfastXC I know I’m yelling at clouds here but I fundamentally do not understand why wind-aided marks are not allowed for sprints and throws (Ramona), but distance runners have both rabbits (to block the wind) and lights?

We get rid of the tee in baseball at 6 years old. I hate it.

[Mac Fleet @macfleet]

Every race going forward

[CITIUS MAG @CitiusMag]

QUALIFYING STANDARDS FOR BEIJING 2027 ARE OUT! 🇨🇳

World Athletics has published the qualification framework for the 2027 World Championships in Beijing, continuing the hybrid model that combines entry standards with world rankings. Rankings now carry more weight than ever before.

The system is designed so roughly 40% of athletes qualify via entry standards and now 60% via world rankings, which is a deliberate shift toward rewarding consistent performance across a full season rather than a single peak result.

Four ways to qualify:
– Achieve the entry standard during the qualification window
– Finish in a designated position at select competitions
– Receive a wild card
– Qualify via world rankings position at the end of the ranking period

Qualification windows:
– Marathon: November 3, 2025 – May 2, 2027
– 10,000m, race walks, combined events, relays: February 23, 2026 – August 22, 2027
– All other disciplines: August 23, 2026 – August 22, 2027

Wild cards go to:
– Defending 2025 world champions
– Winners at the 2026 World Athletics Ultimate Championship
– Winners of the 2026 World Race Walking Tour and World Combined Events Tour
– Leading hammer performers on the 2026 Continental Tour
– Winners of the 2027 Wanda Diamond League

Marathon pathway: The top five finishers at Platinum Label marathons during the qualification window automatically qualify, as do winners of Gold Label marathons held in 2027 up to May 2.

The world rankings formula now places more weight on results scores and less on placing scores, which is seen as a deliberate move to level the playing field for athletes with limited access to high-ranking competitions.

[Mac Fleet @macfleet]

@iRunfastXC My greater point is literally everything outside of champs racing is rabbited racing. The rankings system is largely based off of who is the best at tackling rabbited races, not pure racing.

[Mac Fleet @macfleet]

@iRunfastXC @Predamame People don’t seem to understand tweets being facetious.

[Mac Fleet @macfleet]

@iRunfastXC I’d be cool with the standards if the most prestigious league we had was pure racing. But that’s not the case.

Or get rid of the standards AND pace making completely and go purely off rankings.

[Mac Fleet @macfleet]

@iRunfastXC The DL is a series of time trials for the 800 and up. That’s the joke. You either trial at a B/C meet or trial at a DL for more points.

That’s where athletes are at.

None of this is reflective of what competition at WC is like. And I’d argue it’s not even real racing.

[Mac Fleet @macfleet]

@iRunfastXC Ah yes, the notoriously non-rabbited non-time trialing DL

[Mac Fleet @macfleet]

What about a new navicular and two calves?

[nxthompson @nxthompson]

Wild. A California startup has been pitching the idea of "brainless clones" that serve as our backup bodies. It's like: "a baby version of yourself with only enough of a brain structure to be alive in case you ever need a new kidney or liver." https://t.co/3d6Ag1BjoT

[Mac Fleet @macfleet]

Glad it survived after getting toppled during the regime change

[Joe Hale @kuperhale]

They named the street after my favorite 2x NCAA 1500m champ,,: the sport is growing

[CITIUS MAG @CitiusMag]

The vibes are high in Boston! Such a great turnout this morning!

Thanks to everyone who came out to the @CitiusMag and @brooksrunning shakeout run this morning at the Hyperion House at 400 Newbury Street! 💙

[Mac Fleet @macfleet]

Clearly not entertainment.

[Mike Menssen @mikemenssen]

@_Kingben_ @letsrundotcom Rojo seemed to miss the difference between Olympics and World Championships. Rethinking world championships selection isn’t the same as changing the Olympic Trials. As one example, the Darts World Championships is very popular, and it doesn’t have a national qualifying element.

[Mac Fleet @macfleet]

I’d like to chat with the room that approved “diamond+”

[CITIUS MAG @CitiusMag]

💰 The Diamond League is putting more money in more athletes' pockets in 2026 by expanding its premium prize structure while maintaining its record-high total prize pool. 💎

🥇The top individual prize at series meetings has increased to $20,000 — up from $10,000 at the standard level.

🏆 Top individual prize at the Diamond League Final rises to $60,000

🟰 Total prize pool stays at $9.24 million, which was set in 2025

The number of Diamond+ disciplines (the select events with elevated prize money at certain meets) doubles from four to eight at every meet. As part of that, each meet has to select two sprint/hurdles events, two distance events and two field events (all gender-equal) plus two additional events of the host's choosing for the Diamond+ disciplines.

📊 Here is the updated prize money structure...

Diamond Disciplines
Series Meeting
1st — $10,000
2nd — $6,000
3rd — $4,000
4th — $3,000
5th — $2,500
6th — $2,000
7th — $1,500
8th — $1,000
9th+ — $500

Final
1st — $30,000
2nd — $12,000
3rd — $7,000
4th — $4,000
5th — $2,500
6th — $2,000
7th — $1,500
8th — $1,000
9th+ — $500

Diamond+ Disciplines
Series Meeting
1st — $20,000
2nd — $6,000
3rd — $4,000
4th — $3,000
5th — $2,500
6th — $2,000
7th — $1,500
8th — $1,000
9th+ — $500

Final
1st — $60,000
2nd — $20,000
3rd — $9,000
4th — $4,000
5th — $2,500
6th — $2,000
7th — $1,500
8th — $1,000
9th+ — $500

[Mac Fleet @macfleet]

Look away, Cole Hocker

[Australian Athletics @AustralianAths]

Australian champion 🏆

Claudia Hollingsworth has been reinstated as the winner of the 1500m at the Australian Athletics Championships after an appeals process by Australian Athletics.

The panel found after viewing all the available footage and interviewing concerned parties Hollingsworth’s appeal was upheld.

A request for a rerun of the 1500m is not feasible at these championships, but the Australian Athletics High Performance Department and Selection Committee will review its status as a selection race.

#AthleticsNation

[Mac Fleet @macfleet]

That race rocked. What a grind by Yared down the homestretch!

[Daniel Moore, CEO of FLUiD Athletics @fluidathletics]

99 mile down week

[Jonathan Gault @jgault13]

Never seen this before.

At the Arkansas Qualifier, an Oregon athlete loses his balance while cheering on teammate, enters the track & bumps Oregon anchor leg (and forces UW anchor wide).

Washington wins in 9:17.03. Oregon runs 9:18.55 but DQ'd.

Discuss: https://t.co/N6BZXS1JkZ

[Mac Fleet @macfleet]

1970’s Hocker is just trying to break 4 minutes

[CITIUS MAG @CitiusMag]

🗣️ “Obviously not a direct correlation but he ran that 3:51 on a chewed up cinder track with 1960s spikes and of course no bicarb. 4% difference on the shoes and bicarb and factor in Mondo providing just under a second of time per lap and I begin to realize even more what a freak athlete my dad was back in the day.”

Jim Ryun’s son estimates what his father’s 3:51.1 from 1967 is worth given 2026’s trackflation. 🧮

59 years later, the performance puts Ryun at No. 27 on the U.S. all-time outdoor mile list.

[Mac Fleet @macfleet]

Cole Hocker. Good at running.