ADVANCING A qualified athlete from a lower-ranked stage is advancing to a higher-ranked stage (e.g., the winner of a 100m heat is advancing to the final). See also Promotion.
AGE GROUP Athletes grouped together based on similar age, or a specified age range.
AR Area Record (typically used to denote a record for a continent, e.g., a European record, African record, etc.).
ATHLETE An individual participating in a meet.
ATHLETICS When used outside of the US, this term refers to the sport of Athletics. In the US, it is called "track & field" (note that in the US, the term "athletics" refers to physical sports of any kind).
ATHLETICS MEET OR MEETING See "MEET OR MEETING" below.
BIB NUMBER The number on a bib that is used to identify an entrant in an event.
CLUB An organization/organisation which is a member of a federation under the World Athletics.
COMBINED EVENTS Any competition which consists of more than one event for the same athlete. The competition can occur on one day or over multiple days.
COURSE A route with a designated distance (typically outside of a stadium) over which the competition is conducted.
CR Championship Record.
DNF Did Not Finish.
DNS Did Not Start.
DQ Disqualified.
DQ RULE Specific rule used to disqualify an athlete.
DRAW Random selection by chance.
DUAL COMPETITION A competition between two teams.
EVENT Any athletics event or series of athletic events (e.g., 100m, long jump, decathlon, etc.). Note that one event is inclusive of the preliminary heat(s), together with the final(s), for such an event, or an event can consist of one timed final.
FEED A tab in the mobile app that provides users with frequently updated information about the meeting.
FIELD EVENT A jumping or throwing event.
FINAL The final heat after all preliminary heats have been completed, or the only heat of athletes competing in an event.
FINAL A The fastest heat of runners competing in the final(s).
FINAL B The second fastest heat of runners competing in the final(s).
FINAL C The third fastest heat of runners competing in the final(s).
GROUP This describes the designation within a Stage (e.g., Heat 1 or Heat 2; Final A or Final B, etc.).
HEATS When an event has too many athletes to compete all at once, the athletes are divided into smaller groups to compete (See "Preliminary Heats" and "Timed Final Heats").
IMPERIAL UNITS Field events measured in feet/inches for length.
IMPLEMENT Equipment used in a given event, e.g., a javelin or a hurdle.
INITIAL MR The meeting record at the beginning of the meet.
INITIAL PB An athlete's Personal Best at the beginning of a meet.
INITIAL SB An athlete's Season Best at the beginning of a meet.
INITIAL WR The World Record at the beginning of a meet.
INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION Any athletics competition between (i) athlete(s) or member organization(s)/organisation(s) of the World Athletics, either individually or as part of a team, and (ii) any athlete(s) or member organization(s)/organisation(s) representing a foreign country.
LANE LINE A continuous line along the course for the purpose of separating each lane.
MASTER class for older athletes - bracketed into five-year age groups beginning at 35.
MEET OR MEETING An organized/organised and sanctioned single or multi-day athletics competition (e.g., Olympic Games, World Athletics Championships, Diamond League, EAA Premium Meeting, National Championship, High School meeting, etc.).
MEETING LEVEL The level of the meeting ranging from school to international level.
METRIC UNITS Field events measured in meter/centimeter for length.
MIXED CLASSIFICATION A meeting in which events for age group, junior, senior, or any other classification are offered.
MR Meeting Record.
MULTIPLE Events which include multiple age groups.
NH No Height
NM No Mark.
NR National Record.
o A valid attempt in the high jump or pole vault.
OPEN COMPETITION A competition in which any qualified club, organization/organisation or individual may participate.
PB Personal Best.
PERMISSIONS Authorization to access the admin management of a meeting.
PRACTICE The instruction of athletics techniques, skills, knowledge, conditioning, aptitude and motivation.
PRE-SEED The seeding of all entrants prior to the day of the meeting.
PRELIMINARY HEATS OR PRELIMINARIES A meeting in which a number of preliminary heats are run to qualify the fastest runners for the next round of heats.
PROGRAM The order of events, including starting times and intermissions in a meeting or portion thereof, sequentially listed by class of competition, sex, age group, distance, and event.
PROMOTION A qualified athlete from a lower-ranked stage is promoted to a higher-ranked stage (e.g., the winner of a 100m heat is promoted to the final). See also Advancing.
Q (Uppercase "Q") Q stands for automatic qualification. For jumps and throws, it is achieved by an athlete exceeding a minimum distance. For races, it's achieved by placing as a top finisher in a qualifier heat.
q (Lowercase "q") q stands for qualifications based on "the best of the rest" filling out the last spots of the final field after the automatic qualifiers are determined.
qD Qualification for the next round by Draw.
qJ Qualification for the next round by Jury of Appeal.
qR Qualification for the next round by Referee.
QUALIFICATION (GROUP) A session of a meeting in which the qualification group of athletes in a field event competes in order to reach the final.
QUALIFICATION STANDARD The result an athlete is required to have previously achieved in an event in order to be eligible to compete in that event at a designated meeting.
r An athlete that has retired from an event (this term only applies to a Field Event or Combined Events).
REACTION TIME The time it takes for a runner to respond to the start signal and begin to leave the starting block. World Athletics policies consider it a false start if an athlete leaves the blocks sooner than 0.1 seconds after the start signal.
RELAY A race in which each team member runs a specified portion of the total race distance.
RELAY LEG The portion of a relay event that is run by a single team member.
ROSTER BUDGET The specified budget from which each player in a Roster fantasy game can select athletes for his/her team.
ROSTER CAPTAIN The athlete that is selected by a player in the Roster fantasy game to be the "Captain" of his/her team will cost double the athlete's listed value but will return double the points if the athlete wins his/her event.
SB Season Best.
SCHOOL An institution for educating children or young adults.
SCRATCH (SCR) The withdrawal of an entry from an event or a meeting.
SEASON The portion of one year in which meetings are held as determined by the type of venue (e.g., outdoor, indoor).
SESSION Any portion of a meeting that is distinctly separate from other portions of the meeting by time or type of competition (e.g., preliminaries and finals; morning and evening; etc.).
SPORTS ORGANIZATION/ORGANISATION A corporation, club, federation, union, association, or other groups that sponsor or conducts any athletic competition.
STAGE A heat, semifinal, quarterfinal, qualification, final, etc.
TEAM A group of competing athletes scoring points in a point competition against another group or groups of competing athletes.
TILASTOPAJA An athlete database with current and historical results.
TIME TRIAL An event conducted within or independently of a meeting whereby the runner races against the clock to establish an official time.
TIMED FINAL HEATS OR TIMED FINALS A meeting in which only heats are run and final results are determined based on the times achieved in the heats.
TITLE A descriptive name next to the event, e.g., "100m - Invitational"
TRACK & FIELD The US name for the sport of Athletics.
TRACK EVENT Any running race.
UNATTACHED Denotes the status of a member who does not represent a club or World Athletics member federation at a meeting.
VENUE The facility or location where the meeting is conducted.
WB World Best.
WIND If a tailwind exceeds 2.0 metres per second the result cannot be registered as a record on any level. The only exception is in the Combined Events where the legally permissible wind speed is up to 4.0 metres per second.
WL World Lead.
WR World Record.
x Failed attempt in a field event.
- A passed attempt in a field event.