What does repechage mean and how does it work? The Olympics 2024 athletics rule change explained

REPECHAGE rounds have been added to certain events for the Paris Olympics – giving many athletes a second chance at qualification.

Here we take a look at what these extra stages entail and which disciplines are employing the system at the games.

The repechage system has produced some farcical scenes in Paris

Jade Jones was one of Britain’s best medal hopes at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics

But her dream of an Olympic taekwondo treble was shattered when she was knocked out in the opening round by Kimia Alizadeh Zenozi

The disappointed former gold medalist would have got a shot at bronze in the repechage round if Alizadeh made the final — but she didn’t

What is a repechage round?

‘Repechage’ is a French word that translates into English as ‘fishing out’ or ‘rescuing’.

It is a practice in series competitions allowing participants who failed to meet qualifying standards by a small margin to advance to the next round.

This effectively gives participants in an event who came agonisingly close to qualification a second chance.

How does repechage work in athletics?

Up until Tokyo 2020, qualification to the semifinals in sprint and track events at Olympic Games depended solely on the times achieved during the heats.

The top three finishers in each heat went through to the next round, and the athletes with the best time among those who did not qualify completed the semifinalist lineup.

The new repechage round replaces this system, giving a second chance to participants in events where the format is used.

Every athlete who runs at Paris 2024 in the individual track events — from 200m to 1500m — will take part in at least two rounds.

Those who do not qualify for the semifinals at the first attempt in these events will have another chance in the repechage round.

Which events will have a repechage round at the Paris 2024 Olympics?

At Paris 2024 the repechage round is being introduced for all individual track events from 200m to 1500m, including hurdles.

The new format covers a total of six different distances, which will include four rounds instead of the usual three, in both men’s and women’s races.

These 12 events are men’s and women’s 200m, 400m, 800m, 1500m and 400m hurdles, as well as the men’s only 110m hurdles and women’s only 100m hurdles.

There will be no repechage round in the 100m because the event already has preliminary heats prior to the first round.

At Paris 2024 repechage will also be used in wrestling.

In wrestling the rules are rather complicated, as Olympics.com explains: “Suppose wrestler A and wrestler B makes it to the final of a particular weight class.

“En route, wrestler A defeated W in the first round, X in the second round, Y in the quarter-finals and Z in the semi-finals of his bracket.

“In such a scenario, W, X, Y and Z enter the repechage round to decide the bronze medal for that particular bracket.

“W and X will face off in the first round of repechage and the winner will go up against Y in the second round of repechage.

“Z, the loser in the semi-finals, faces the second-round repechage winner directly in the bronze medal match.

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South Africa qualified for Paris 2024 at the World Rugby Sevens Repechage on June 23, 2024 in Monaco[/caption]

“A similar scenario will also play out to decide the bronze medal winner in the bracket which saw wrestler B make the final or gold medal match.”

The idea is to make sure a good wrestler who faces one of the favourites in the earlier rounds isn’t penalised so heavily for being on the wrong end of a tough draw and at least gets another shot at a medal.

The same system has also been used in Olympic judo and taekwondo.

The rugby sevens competition also used a repechage round in qualification, with a special event held in Monaco between June 21 and 23, 2024 to complete the lineup of nations competing in Paris.

World Athletics revealed the change in format on X in July 2022: “The World Athletics Council approves an innovation to the regular competition format for @Paris2024, introducing a repechage round to all individual track events from 200m to 1500m in distance, including the hurdles events.”

However, there has been criticism of the feature so far in Paris – with athletes willingly not performing at their best as they know they have another chance to qualify.

American 110m hurdler Freddie Crittenden purposely ran at a slower pace, finishing almost five seconds behind the race winner in his heat, because he was carrying an injury.

He explained: “It was an intentional choice. Everyone gets through to the repechage… so I decided to just not make an emotional choice, make a smart choice, give my body time to recover a little bit.”

Which sports have repechage?

Repechage rounds are used in a great many sports and events around the world.

These include:

• Baseball and softball
• Beach volleyball
• Cycling
• Fencing
• Martial arts tournaments, such as karate, judo, taekwondo, and wrestling
• Rowing
• Rugby
• Sailing
• Track and field athletics

There is even a repechage round on the BBC‘s stalwart quiz University Challenge.