Startlists

Startlists are official documents used in competitive sports to indicate the planned order of competition and the participants assigned to specific heats, lanes, or starting positions in an event. They typically list entrants, their national affiliations, bib numbers, and sometimes seed times or qualifying marks.

The primary purposes of startlists are logistical planning and transparency. They help athletes and officials prepare for the session, assign lanes and heat order, and inform spectators and broadcasters about who is competing in each segment. They also provide a reference for verification and substitutions if withdrawals occur.

What startlists contain can vary by sport but commonly include: event name, date and session, heat or wave number, lane assignments (where applicable), start times, athlete names, nationalities, bib numbers, and seed times or qualifying marks. Some sports also note scratches, substitutions, or updated information. In swimming, for example, seeding and lane assignments may use circle seeding, placing faster swimmers in later heats and central lanes.

Publication and updates: startlists are usually released before the competition and may be provisional. They are updated as withdrawals or substitutions occur, with final versions issued closer to the session start. In multi-discipline events, startlists help synchronize schedules across venues and broadcast windows.

Relation to seeding: startlists often reflect seed times or rankings to distribute the strongest competitors across heats or lanes to promote fairness and competitive balance. They are distinct from results, which record performance after the event.