Introduction

IAAF Fantasy Athletics – 2008 is an exciting online game covering the 2008 Golden League season as well as a number of other meetings including of course the IAAF World Athletics Final.

Each time an athlete competes and finishes in the top 8 during a final (or the top 8 overall combined times), he or she will be awarded points in the game. Your goal is to assemble a team of champion athletes which you believe will be as successful as possible during the season. After twelve separate meetings, and with a bit of luck, one player will be named champion of the 2008 IAAF Fantasy Athletics game.

The winner of the 2007 IAAF Fantasy Athletics competition attended the IAAF World Indoor Championships as a special guest of the IAAF. This year perhaps that winner will be you…

Good luck.

The Season

The following 12 events have been chosen to form part of the 2008 IAAF Fantasy Athletics season. Unfortunately the IAAF is unable to include the Beijing Olympic Games as part of this fantasy game.

My team

There are two different sections which make up your team throughout the season - your Captains, and your Individual Meeting teams. In effect their will be two competitions running throughout the season – one for the overall season, and a series of daily meetings.

1. Captains

At the start of the season (or, if you join late, before the first event in which your team participates), you will be asked to choose 4 captains. These captains will stay with your team throughout the season and can not be changed once the first event has begun. Pick your captains carefully as they will score double points any time they compete and will be crucial to your success in the overall competition.

Your captains will contribute only to the overall ranking and NOT the Individual Meeting ranking. This is done so that all participants will have an equal chance of winning each of the daily meetings, regardless of whether they have entered before the first event of the season or not until the final event.

2. Individual Meeting teams

For each of the 12 Individual Meetings you must choose a separate list of 5 athletes who will form your Individual Meeting team. You must choose a new team of 5 athletes for each subsequent meeting, and only this new team will score points at the next meeting.

For the purposes of the daily rankings – only your 5 selected athletes will score points, NOT your captains (see above for the rational)

Important notes:

• You may only choose an athlete ONCE during the entire season. Eg if you choose Asafa Powell for the first meeting of the season, you may NOT choose him again for a future meet.
• You can not make an athlete one of your captains, and also include him in an Individual Meeting team.
• You can select athletes only from the selection list officially provided by the IAAF Fantasy Game. No new athletes will be added once the season has commenced.
• Once you have selected your team you may make unlimited changes up until one hour before the start of each Individual Meeting. To help remind you of the deadlines, a clock is provided to show how long you have remaining to make selections for each event. When there is less than one hour remaining your team will be locked and no changes are possible.
• The IAAF Fantasy Athletics Game organisors will not be responsible for providing accurate start lists for each meeting. It is up to the participant to determine which athletes will be competing in each meeting. The IAAF website (www.iaaf.org) usually lists the official start lists after the technical meeting for each meeting. Often this can be as little as 12 hours before the start of the event. Therefore it is the responsibility of the participant to search for information through sources such as the IAAF website, the website of the event organisor, online newspapers, or any other sources to help them select a team.

Scoring

Finals
An athlete will receive points depending on their finishing position in the top 8 of all results in that event (see note below)

Where more than one race is run for the same event (eg an “A” and “B” race of the 100m) the scores will be determined on the final combined results. Example: If your athlete competes in the “B” race of the 100m and finishes first with a time of 10.21 however when the results of both “A” and “B” races are combined that athlete finishes 7th overall – then he will be awarded 10 points. Your captains will score double points during each of the 12 Individual Meetings (if they compete).

All scores in the final meeting (the World Athletics Final) will be worth double (x2) Example: The winner of the 100m at the World Athletics Final will be awarded 200points. If that athlete happens to be your captain they will be awarded 400 points.

Should your selected athlete compete and score points in more than one event during a meeting, only the best single result/score will count towards your team total. Example: if your athlete finished 1st in the 100m and 3rd in the 200m then you would only receive 100 points for this athlete.

Individuals will not score points for any relay teams they are part of.

In the event of a tie – both athletes will score the highest number of points Example: if two athletes tie for first place in the High Jump, then they will each score 100 points, while 3rd place will remain on 50 points

If you pick an athlete for one of your Individual Meeting teams –you will not be awarded points that athlete has already been awarded for previous meetings

Bonus for a World Record: 150 Points (300 points if that athlete is also your captain)

Buddy-League

Users can invite their friends (per tell-a-friend e-mail) and form a buddy league together. Each buddy league will have an individual ranking system so you can battle your friends and family for pride and glory. Each buddy league will also have a private forum to exchange information and news. No prizes will be awarded by the IAAF for the winners of the buddy leagues.

Rankings

There will be three kinds of rankings:

Overall ranking
This ranking will be the total of all scores from Individual Meetings PLUS any points scored by the selected captains. This is the main ranking system which comprises all correctly registered players. You will be able to review your score against other players from all over the world and compare your scores. After the final event, the leader of this ranking will be declared the overall winner and will receive the grand prize.

Individual meeting ranking
This ranking will be updated and display the players who have earned the most points during a particular meeting. This score will be calculated using only the 5 athletes selected for the Individual Meeting (Captains will not score points).

Ranking per country
Every country has its own ranking. Participants will be able to review how their score compares with other people from their own country. No prizes will be awarded for this category.

Buddy League ranking
There is a separate ranking for every buddy league. These rankings are private and only visible by the members of the buddy league. No prizes will be awarded for this category.

Prizes

The IAAF Fantasy Athletics game aims to bring fans from around the world together for friendly competition and to follow the sport by playing this free contest. The aim is to enjoy yourself and meet your fellow fans and follow the sport more closely – but that doesn’t mean we can’t offer you some great prizes at the same time!

All prizes will be shipped to the winners (including daily winners) at the conclusion of the season.

Overall competition

Winner: The one (1) participant who finishes the game with the highest combined total at the end of the 12 Individual Meetings will be declared the overall winner. The winner and their one (1) invited guest will receive a package including tickets to a World Athletics Tour event near them, as well as airfares and two (2) nights accommodation.

Runner-up Prizes: Participants finishing in positions 2-10 in the overall competition will receive an Adidas jogging outfit.

Individual Meetings

Winner: The participants who achieve the highest score during each Individual Meeting will receive a daily prize. The daily prize will consist of an Adidas jogging outfit

Runner-up Prizes: Participants finishing in positions 2-5 of the Individual Meetings will receive a t-shirt courtesy of Adidas.

Ties: In the case of a tie in either the overall contest or the Individual Meeting (where two or more participants finish equal on points), the winner will be determined by a random draw to be conducted by an independent observer and announced on the Fantasy Game webpage.

Good luck, enjoy the athletics, and have fun!!