How to qualify in Para athletics
How para athletes qualify for the Los Angeles 2028 Paralympics
Para athletics is the biggest sport at the Paralympics: 164 medal events and 1,079 places (570 men, 509 women).
An athlete needs two things.
1. To be eligible: a World Para Athletics licence for 2028; an international classification; at least two recognised competitions between 1 October 2026 and 18 June 2028; and a minimum entry standard (MES) in each event they want to enter, set in the same window. For example, the men's javelin F64 standard is 44.00 m and the men's high jump T63 standard is 1.55 m.
2. To win a place. In order:
- World Championships gold (Tashkent, June 2027): each individual champion wins a place.
- World Para Athletics Marathon Championships 2027: the top six in each marathon.
- Rankings: the top five in each event on the LA28 qualification rankings at 18 June 2028.
- Result margin: the best of the rest, measured against the best mark in the world.
- Invitations: universality and Bipartite places.
A country can win at most 40 places for men and 40 for women, and can enter up to three athletes in each event (six in a marathon).
Places by route
| Route | Men | Women |
|---|---|---|
| 2027 Marathon World Championships: top six in each marathon | 12 | 12 |
| 2027 World Championships: gold in each individual event (not the marathons) | 82 | 77 |
| Rankings: top five in each individual event (not the marathons) | 410 | 385 |
| Result margin | 35 | 15 |
| Universality invitations (NPCs with no one qualified in any sport) | 16 | 10 |
| Bipartite Commission Invitations | 15 | 10 |
| Total | 570 | 509 |
The men's 82 and women's 77 are the individual events other than the two marathons (T12 and T54) in each.
One place per athlete
An athlete can hold only one place, whatever the route. Places normally belong to the athlete; but places won through the rankings and the result margin can belong to the NPC (see below). World Para Athletics (WPA) can reserve places for particular sport classes to make sure every event can be held.
Marathons
The top six in each marathon at the 2027 Marathon World Championships win a place, at most two per country in each event. If one of the six has already qualified, or their country already has two, the place goes down the list. If the championships are not held, or places are left, they go to the best-ranked marathon athletes from 1 October 2026 to 18 June 2028. Athletes who enter only a marathon do not need the two-competition rule.
World Championships
The 2027 World Para Athletics Championships are in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, 19 to 27 June 2027. Each gold medallist in an individual event wins a place. An athlete who wins two golds still wins one place, in the event where their result margin (below) is highest. Places not given this way go to the result-margin route.
Rankings
The LA28 Qualification Rankings use each athlete's best result from 1 October 2026 to 18 June 2028, at World Championships, regional championships and sanctioned competitions. The top five in each event win a place, at most two per country:
- if a country has two in the top five, the higher-ranked athlete wins a place for themselves and the second wins a place for the NPC;
- an athlete in the top five of several events gets one place, in the event with the highest result margin;
- places freed by these rules pass down the list until five are given.
Result margin
Athletes still without a place are compared by how close their best result is to the best mark in that event set between 9 September 2024 and 1 September 2027:
result margin = athlete's best result ÷ best mark × 100
The document's own example: women's shot put F12, 14.95 m ÷ 15.05 m × 100 = 99.34%. Track and field events are ranked separately; the highest margins win places for their NPC until the 35 men's and 15 women's places are used, with at most two places for each gender in any event. WPA publishes the best marks on 1 September 2027.
The Universal Relay
The one mixed event is the 4 × 100 m Universal Relay. Up to 16 countries take part: the top six at the 2027 World Championships, and the ten best-ranked others on a relay ranking from 1 October 2026 to 18 June 2028. No extra places are given: relay runners must already be entered in an individual event.
Minimum entry standards (examples)
| Event | Classes that can enter | MES |
|---|---|---|
| Men's 100 m T64 | T62, T64 | 11.80 s |
| Men's marathon T54 | T52, T53, T54 | 1:34:00 |
| Men's high jump T63 | T42, T63 | 1.55 m |
| Men's high jump T47 | T45, T46, T47 | 1.60 m |
| Men's javelin F64 | F42, F43, F44, F61, F62, F63, F64 | 44.00 m |
| Men's javelin F46 | F45, F46 | 43.00 m |
| Men's club throw F51 | F51 | 24.50 m |
| Men's shot put F37 | F37 | 11.20 m |
Many events are open to several classes: an F42 thrower, for instance, competes in the F64 javelin.
Dates
| Date | What happens |
|---|---|
| 28 September 2026 | WPA publishes the MES |
| 1 October 2026 | Window opens for MES, rankings and relay results |
| 2027 (date to be set) | Marathon World Championships |
| 19 to 27 June 2027 | World Championships, Tashkent |
| 1 September 2027 | WPA publishes the best marks for the result margin |
| 3 April 2028 | Invitation applications open |
| 5 May 2028 | Accreditation Long List due |
| 25 May 2028 | Invitation applications close |
| 18 June 2028 | Window closes for MES, rankings, result margin and relay |
| 26 June 2028 | WPA confirms rankings and result-margin places |
| 30 June 2028 | NPCs confirm places; WPA confirms invitation places |
| 5 July 2028 | NPCs accept invitation places |
| 17 July 2028 | WPA confirms reallocation |
| 19 July 2028 | NPCs declare their use of places |
| 24 July 2028 | Sport entries close |
Places not confirmed in time are lost and can be passed on through invitations. An NPC that declares a place and then does not use it can be sanctioned. Unused places after 19 July 2028 go back to the IPC.
Where the document is unclear
- The Universality Invitation here (WPA's own, inside the quota) is different from the IPC's Universality Wild Card (outside the quota), which para athletics also offers. The two names are easy to confuse.
- The timeline gives "TBD" for the Marathon World Championships and for the confirmation of World Championships places.