By Mike Rowbottom

martyn rooney_07-12-11December 8 - A group of 28 international athletes, including Britain's 400 metres runner Martyn Rooney (pictured) and Portugal's European cross country champion Jessica Augusto, received an early Christmas present today as a downward revision of selected qualification standards for London 2012 left them with unexpected A standard marks for the forthcoming Games.


In order to ensure the correct number of athletes will be entered in each event for next year's Olympics, technical delegates for the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) eased the requirements in six events on the basis of results at this year's World Championships in Daegu and the overall world lists.

Only one alteration has been made to the men's qualification standards, where the lowering of the mark for the A standard in the 400m, from 45.25sec to 45.30, has added seven athletes to the list, including Rooney, who ran 45.30 in the heats at Daegu, and Jamaica's Riker Hylton.

Meanwhile, the women have benefited from adjustments in five of their disciplines – the 400m, 5000m, 400m hurdles, shot and javelin.

Three have benefited from the reduction of the standard in the 400m from 51.50sec to 51.55 – Pınar Saka of Turkey, Jennifer Padilla of Colombia and Diamond Dixon of the United States.

The 400m hurdles shift, from 55.40sec to 55.50, has so far benefitted just one athlete – Irina Davydova of Russia, but the shift in the 5000m from 15.15sec to 15.20 has given 11 athletes the A standard, including Augusto, who has a 2011 best of 15:19.60.

Changes to the standard in two women's field events – the shot and the javelin – have benefited another six prospective Olympians.

In the shot, the required distance has dropped from 18.35m to 18.30, while in the javelin the drop has been from 61.50m to 61.00.

There have been equivalent downward shifts in these events too in the B standard qualifications – which allow countries without any competitor reaching an A standard to select one athlete with a lower level of achievement.

In the men's 400m, the B standard has dropped from 45.70sec to 45.90.

The equivalent drop for women is from 52.30 to 52.35.

In the women's 5000m, the B standard has dropped from 15.25 to 15.30, while the drop in the 400m hurdles is from 56.55 to 56.65.

The B standard in the shot put, previously 17.30, is now 17.20, although the B standard for the javelin remains unchanged at 59.00m.

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