Overview
We call on World Athletics to reconsider the recent decision to replace 10 deserving athletes, who qualified through the world rankings, with universality athletes for the upcoming Paris Olympics marathon. The universality places should have been granted in ADDITION to the athletes who qualified through the standard route.

This move, made at the 11th hour, has not only undermined the efforts and aspirations of these athletes but also compromised the principles of fairness and transparency in the athletics community.

The Issue
World Athletics allocated "universality" places—intended for nations without any qualified athletes—to 11 competitors. This allocation has unexpectedly displaced 10 athletes who had secured their spots through the world rankings, believing they had successfully qualified for the Paris Olympics. Those affected include:

• Hugo CATRILEO [Chile]
• Elroy GELANT [South Africa]
• Leonard KORIR [USA]
• Liam ADAMS [Australia]
• Samuel Tsegay TESFAMARIAM [Sweden]
• Abdi Ali GELELCHU [Bahrain]
• Tachlowini GABRIYESOS [Athlete Refugee team]
• Il Ilham Tanui ÖZBILEN [Turkey]
• Ser-Od BAT-OCHIR (this would have been his 6th Olympic marathon) [Mongolia]

The Women's Athletics field contains 97 athletes including nine universality places, so there is certainly room to expand the men's field to 91 and allow those 10 displaced athletes to compete.

Impact
The affected athletes have dedicated years of training and significant financial resources toward qualifying for the Olympics. They achieved their positions on the basis of World Athletics' own ranking system only to have their Olympic dreams dashed days after the qualification period ended.

Requests

• Reinstatement: We urge World Athletics to reinstate the original 10 athletes who were displaced by the addition of universality places, and keep the universality athletes as additional entrants.
• Transparency: Implement clearer communication and transparent decision-making processes to prevent future discrepancies and ensure athletes can trust the qualification system.