How and when can a protest be made, and what does it cost in Canada?

• Time limit: a protest about the result or conduct of an event (or round) must be made within 30 minutes of the official announcement of that result. Organisers must record the time the result was announced.
• Who and how: the protest is made orally to the Referee by an athlete, someone acting for them, or an official team representative, and only by someone competing in the same round. The Referee may decide it or refer it to the Jury of Appeal, and a Referee's decision can be appealed to the Jury.
• Athlete status: a protest about an athlete's status to compete must be made before the competition to the Technical Delegate(s). If it cannot be settled, the athlete may compete "under protest".
• False start protest: after an immediate oral protest against a false start charge, the Start Referee may, if in any doubt, let the athlete compete "under protest" (a red and white diagonally halved card is shown). This is not allowed when a World Athletics certified Start Information System indicated the false start, unless the Referee decides the system information is obviously inaccurate.
• Deposit: in any Canadian competition, a protest must be accompanied by an appeal deposit of $50.00 in Canadian funds.

Sources: World Athletics Competition and Technical Rules (C1.1 and C2.1, edition last modified 1 July 2026), Rule 8 of the Technical Rules; Athletics Canada Technical Rules, December 2025.