If you’ve been following the 2024 Olympics in Paris, the word repechage will have been popping up all over the place.
A repechage round has been newly introduced for the Games this summer for all the individual track events, except the 100m sprint.
From the 110m hurdles and 200m dash, right through to longer distance 800m and 1500m events, you’ll see repechage races.
Organisers said it is an ‘innovation’ that’s making its debut in the modern day Olympics.
World Athletics president Sebastian Coe said in 2022 when the new rounds were announced: ‘The repechage rounds will give more exposure to our sport during the peak Olympic period and will be carefully scheduled to ensure that every event on our Olympic programme retains its share of the spotlight.’
What does repechage mean?
Loosely translated from French, repechage means ‘second chance’.
It’s a system used in a whole host of other events, including track cycling, rowing, wrestling and speed skating, but is new to track and field for Paris 2024.
In a nutshell, it basically gives athletes who have been knocked out in heats and preliminary rounds a second chance at qualifying for semi-finals and finals.
How does a repechage work?
Previously, the top three finishers in heats would progress automatically, with the rest of the spots being filled by fourth-placed or lower runners who recorded the best times.
But now the remaining spots in finals are decided by another race between the ‘best losers’, called the repechage.
Each race will have a certain number of pre-determined automatic qualifying positions, whether it’s the top two or top three.
The next best finishers then go into the repechage race. For those athletes, they will run one extra race. Ultimately, there are now four rounds in total which work as follows:
First round: All athletes compete, automatic qualifiers go straight through to semi-final, fastest losers enter repechage round, athletes missing out are eliminated
Repechage round: Fastest losers compete for place in the semi-final, athletes missing out are eliminated
Semi-final: Automatic qualifiers go through to the final, everyone else is eliminated
Final: Gold, silver and bronze medal event
Why is there no repechage in the 100m or long distance events?
World Athletics said when introducing the new system in 2022: ‘As the 100m already has preliminary heats, before round one, the repechage will not be introduced in this event.
‘In addition, the repechage will not be introduced in distance events as the need for proper recovery between rounds makes the format impractical.’