Eligibility: Must be a Registered Athlete Member of Athletics Canada and be a Canadian Citizen with current passport as at midnight 27 June 1999.


The purpose of these selection criteria is to provide a National Team competition opportunity to top Canadian athletes on Canadian soil.

I SELECTION PRINCIPLES

01 The Qualifying Period for each athlete is between 01 June 1998 and the end of his/her event at the Trials. All athletes must have achieved the Athletics Canada 1999 Pan American Games A Standard during the Qualifying Period, or the Minimum Selection Standard following 01 January 1999 and prior to the end of the Qualifying Period to be considered for selection, except under circumstances covered within Sections III and IV of these criteria. (Standards are attached.) No performances established in any event after the end of the Qualifying Period will be considered for selection to the 1999 Pan American Games Team.

02 Other than exceptions outlined in Section IV, there will be no preselection.

03 A maximum of 2 athletes per individual event will be selected.

04 All athletes selected to the 1999 Pan American Games Team must compete at the Trials and remain 100% competition ready for 1999 Pan American Games competition, except under circumstances outlined in Sections III and IV or these criteria. Injury following fulfilment of these criteria may result in deselection should it preclude 100% readiness for competition at the 1999 Pan American Games. Follow up on medical issues will involve Athletics Canada's Coordinating Physician, or designate. Final determination will be made by the National Team Selection Committee based on reasonable expectation of 100% readiness to compete at the 1999 Pan American Games.


II SELECTION ELIGIBILITY
(NB All Standards must be achieved in accordance with timelines listed in Section I 01.)

01 For individual events marked on the list of standards with an *, one athlete only may be selected who has achieved the Minimum Standard and two athletes may be selected if and only if both athletes have achieved the A Standard. For all other individual events two athletes who have achieved the Minimum Standard may be eligible for selection. Only one relay team may be selected per team event.

02 The first eligible athletes will be those who have won their event at the Trials and have achieved the A Standard.

03 The next eligible athletes will be those who have finished second to fourth in their event at the Trials and have achieved the A Standard.

04 Athletes who have achieved the Minimum Selection Standard and placed in the top 3 at the Trials will be also be eligible for selection.

05 To fill the Athletics Canada quota of 55 athletes, athletes who have achieved the Minimum Selection Standard and finish place criteria, but have not achieved the A Standard, or are not nominated for relay selection, will be ranked by comparing their best performance after 01 January 1999 to the A Standard for that event, using Mercier table points. Athletes can only be selected under this criterium if criteria for selecting athletes who have achieved the A standard has not filled the maximum of 2 entries per event. If more than 55 athletes prove eligible for selection under this criterium, first place finishers at the Trials will be ranked first, then second place finishers, then third place finishers. When a maximum of 55 athletes have been selected, including athletes considered under Sections III and IV, the list of eligible athletes will be considered completed.

06 Should athletes who are named to the Pan American Games Team decide not to accept their selection within adequate timelines for nominating replacements, the list compiled in Section II 05 will be used to rank athletes for nomination.

III APPEALS FOR SELECTION

01 Appeals for selection must be submitted in writing and received by the National Team Selection Committee no later than 30 minutes following the final event at the Trials and will be considered by this Committee.

02 Injured or ill athletes who have achieved a 1999 Pan American Games A Standard, or Minimum Selection Standard as outlined in Section I 01 and wish to be considered for selection must include in their appeal a letter from their personal physician, or if injured or ill at the Trials, documentation from the attending Athletics Canada Coordinating Physician detailing the nature of their illness or injury.

03 Athletics Canada's Coordinating Physician will determine probability of optimal readiness defined as the ability to perform at 100% effort at the 1999 Pan American Games.

04 If an athlete's successful appeal would displace another athlete for selection in any event, the athlete who is making the appeal must substantiate in writing prior to the conclusion of the Trials the grounds for appeal, including objective proof of consistently superior performance at National Championships and International Competitions during the Qualifying Period. The National Team Selection Committee must first determine that the criteria for consistently superior performance have been fulfilled, otherwise the appeal shall not be accepted.

IV EXCEPTIONS
MARATHON, 20K RACE WALK AND 50K RACE WALK
01 The Qualifying Period for the Marathon, 20KRW and 50KRW events is 01 January 1998 to 31 May 1999.

02 On 01 June 1999 the top ranked athletes in each event who have achieved the A standard will be eligible for selection.

03 At the selection meeting following the 1999 National Senior Outdoor Championships, the National Team Selection Committee will consider, in descending order on the Athletics Canada marathon ranking, athletes who have achieved the A standard during the Qualifying Period as eligible for selection, up to a maximum of 2 per event.

04 For any remaining spots, athletes who have achieved the Minimum Selection Standard during the Qualifying Period will be ranked for selection eligibility based on their place in the Athletics Canada official ranking. Athletes will be added to the list of eligible athletes as outlined in Section II 04 and 05, except that the full Marathon and 50K Race Walk Qualifying Period will apply.

RELAY

05 Up to 6 athletes who have achieved one or more of the Relay Minimum Selection Standards may be considered eligible for selection. In the expert opinion of the National Programs Director for Speed/Power events athletes will be nominated for selection based on 1999 Pan American Games relay team requirments (not fulfilled from individual event athletes), relay athlete performance during the Qualifying Period, current performance level at the time of selection and his expert opinion as to which athlete(s) will lend the greatest support to the Relay Teams of Athletics Canada. Final relay team entries and running order will be decided upon at the Games themselves, with the expert guidance of the National Programs Director, Speed/Power. Relay Team dynamics may be considered and 1999 Pan American Games Team Coaching Staff may be consulted.

V SELECTION PROCESS

01 The National Team Selection Committee will be responsible for using all foregoing criteria and will prepare a list of nominated athletes from the Selection Pool who have achieved the criteria outlined in Sections II, III and VI.

02 From the list of nominated athletes a Team list will be created and once approved by the Canadian Olympic Association, these athletes will be considered selected. No selection is final until it is approved by the National Team Selection Committee and the Canadian Olympic Association.

03 Once selected to the 1999 Pan American Games Team and respecting the two athlete maximum per event policy, an athlete who has achieved Pan American Games Minimum Standards (not attached) may be entered in a second or third event despite not having fulfilled the Athletics Canada selection criteria, with the approval of the relevant National Programs Director or designate.

VI COMPETITION REGULATIONS

01 The Trials will be conducted in accordance with IAAF/Athletics Canada rules.

02 Events in any competition are only considered completed when all protests, filed with the Jury of Appeal in accordance with IAAF Rule 147, have been heard and the Jury decision carried out.

03 The achievement of all performances must be substantiated with official documentation from competitions on the Athletics Canada or IAAF Member Federation fixtures list. All results must be achieved in conformity with IAAF/Athletics Canada rules for records. Wind reading and weight certification must always be recorded on results (where applicable). It is the responsibility of the athlete to submit these results to Athletics Canada prior to the selection deadline. Indoor performances will be accepted.

VII FUNDING

01 There will be no self-funding of athletes on this Team.

02 The National Team Fee of $250.00 will be payable immediately upon selection and will apply to all athletes who have not already paid this fee in the fiscal year '99/'00 (April -March).

IX FINAL SELECTION DATE
Immediately following 27 June 1999.

X ENTRY AT THE 1999 Pan American Games

On-site in Winnipeg, final declaration of all athletes named to the Team, including composition of relay teams in qualifying rounds and finals will be determined by the National Program Directors or designate, if on-site, the event coaches and 1999 Pan American Games Team Head Coach.

XI APPEALS OF THE SELECTION PROCEDURE

Appeals of the selection procedure may be filed as per the Athletics Canada appeals procedure, outlined in the Red Book.

XII AMENDMENTS

Since all necessary financial information is not available at the release time of this selection criteria, Athletics Canada reserves the right to amend this document and advise its membership through established communication channels.

XIII TRAVEL INFORMATION

TRAVEL WILL BE ARRANGED BY ATHLETICS CANADA BY/FOR ITS TWO EVENT GROUPS (SPEED/POWER AND ENDURANCE). ATHLETES WHO WISH TO PARTICIPATE IN THE 1999 PAN AMERICAN GAMES MUST COMPLY WITH ATHLETICS CANADA TRAVEL PLANS, INCLUDING PRE-COMPETITION TRAINING CAMPS AND COMPETITIONS, UNLESS SPECIFIC PERMISSION HAS BEEN GRANTED IN WRITING BY THE RELEVANT NATIONAL PROGRAM DIRECTOR, OR DESIGNATE, FOR AN INDIVIDUALIZED TRAVEL/PREPARATION PLAN.

Pan American Games Team Members who are also members of the World Championships Team are expected to leave the Games on the day following the completion of their event(s) to complete their preparation for the World Championships, except under written approval from their National Program Director.