Why am I in C final? How to qualify for WMOC finals?
08 Aug 2024 - WMOC IT
The WMOC rules for final compositions often raise questions among competitors. They are fairly complex but also contain a lot of nice “features” for competitors. For example, the chances for a top runner to win a medal in the long distance are not completely ruined, even if they make a mispunch in the qualification.
My good friend ChatGPT visualized the rules like this and claimed they are simple. We don’t agree on everything :-)
I spent my winter holiday investigating the rules and writing custom software that interprets them. Yes, some interpretation is needed. After a bug fix regarding a sidenote in the rules, we have the lists ready and I’m very confident they are right, but I still can’t say I know the rules by heart.
Here is a (ChatGPT generated) summary of the rules:
Qualification for Sprint and Middle:
- Competitors are divided into heats.
- The best competitors from each heat qualify for the A-final.
- The next best competitors qualify for the B-final, and so on.
- If there are 161 or more entrants, the number of qualifiers from each heat to the A-final must be equal and should be calculated so that the total number of qualifiers is 80, or the lowest possible number above 80. Similarly for the B-final and so on. If there are fewer than 20 competitor in the last final, it is merged into the second last.
- If there is less than 20 competitors in the age class, they all compete in A (but the ones without result in the qualification are not positioned).
- Else (20-160 competitors), heats should be made as equally sized as possible.
- Competitors who start but are not placed or do not start in the qualification race may start before the qualified runners in the lowest-ranked final of their class.
Special Rules for Long Distance Finals:
- Long distance finals are based on the same composition as the Middle distance finals.
- Promotion and relegation rules are applied based on the results of the Middle distance final. For example, by winning the C final in the Middle distance, you’ll get to compete in the A final in the Long distance.