Suppose you are the Lead Official of a Long Jump competition in which everyone has six attempts. If at the end of that competition two or more athletes have recorded the same best distance, then their final placings will be decided by the better second-best performance (or even, third, fourth etc. if necessary).
However suppose the competition rules are that everyone gets three attempts and the top six (eight in major Championships, other numbers in some other competitions) are entitled to three further attempts. What if there is a tie for the final qualifying place? In that case, all the athletes concerned in the tie are entitled to the extra trials, so there could be seven, eight or possibly more in the so-called "final six". However at the end of the competition, any tie is decided by the second-best performances from all six trials.
At major Championships, the Qualifying Pool system is used. Athletes are allocated to two or more pools, who compete separately. A qualifying standard is set:
- If any athlete equals or exceeds the qualifying standard, they pass into the Final without taking any further trials.
- The number of finalists is topped up to 12 from the best remaining performers: in this case, the "second-best performance" rule, or the countback rules for High Jump/Pole Vault, will apply. However if a tie for the final place or places still exists, all the athletes concerned go through to the final pool.
- In the Final Pool, all athletes start with a clean slate.