Importing Data

Bring athletes, teams, events, entries, or results into a meet from a file. Open the meet’s Import page with Import… on the dashboard’s meet bar. Import… on the Athletes page, Tools → Import… on the Teams page, and Import entries… on Entries open the same page. Import isn’t in the sidebar.

Every import shows what will change before anything is saved: nothing is written until you press Import. If the meet changes while you are reviewing, the import refuses and shows the new preview. To bring data in live or again and again (RunSignUp sync, FinishLynx folder watching, chip readers), add a connection instead. See Systems and Connections.

Which import to use

The Import page groups its cards by job. Press Start on a card to begin.

The groups are Roster & entries, Events & schedule, Results & times, and Whole meet. The cards are the same for every sport.

A file you bring to Import a meet on the home screen for a meet you already have lands here too: choose Add to that meet on its first step, and the meet’s import for that file opens with the file already read, at its Review. See Starting a Meet.

Importing at the Basic level: only Spreadsheet

At the Basic experience level the Import page shows only the Spreadsheet card, with the Athletes template. The Hy-Tek, Lynx, RunSignUp, Athletic.net, RaceTab, chip, and backup imports are hidden. Inside the spreadsheet import, Basic also hides the delimiter, saved column maps, and Match athletes on. The other cards come back at Standard: Settings → Preferences. See Getting Started.

Import athletes from a spreadsheet

The Spreadsheet import (“Import a spreadsheet”) has four steps: File, Map Columns, Review, and Done.

1. File: choose the file, or press Paste rows and paste straight from your spreadsheet. Leave First row is header on if the first row holds column names. For an Excel workbook, pick the Worksheet.
2. Map Columns: each column is matched to a 2Timer field where the header is recognised. Map the rest by hand, or leave them unmapped. A registration number column maps to Registration / External ID. Birth date format is detected for you.
3. Review: tick what to bring in: Athletes, Teams, Waves (created with athletes), Create events this file needs, and Entries / results. Entries are ticked for you when the file has event columns. Answer any question Review asks (see the sections below), then press Import.
4. Done: what was created and updated, with Go to athletes or Go to entries, and Import another file.

A spreadsheet import adds new teams, but never renames a team already in the meet. Relay legs are read only in track and field meets.

Spreadsheet files: Excel, CSV, HTML tables, and pasted rows

• Excel: .xlsx only. For an older .xls file, save a new .xlsx copy or save the worksheet as CSV.
• Size: a workbook can have up to 25 MB, 100,000 rows, and 1,000,000 cells across all its worksheets. For a larger one, save only the worksheet you need as CSV.
• CSV, TSV, and text: the delimiter is detected; at Standard you can set it on the File step.
• Web pages: an .html file with a table is read like a spreadsheet.
• Pasted rows: Paste rows takes rows copied from any spreadsheet.
• A Hy-Tek file saved as .csv: if the file is really a Hy-Tek meet file, the Hy-Tek meet file import opens instead, with the file already loaded.

Bib numbers with leading zeros (0045)

Bib numbers are whole numbers in 2Timer, so a bib written 0045 imports as bib 45, from CSV, pasted rows, or Excel, however the cell is formatted. Bib 45 is then printed, shown, and matched as 45.

Registration and other ID numbers are kept as text. Excel drops their leading zeros if the column is a Number column, so format ID columns as Text in Excel before you save, or import a CSV, which keeps them as typed.

Save a column map for files you import often (Standard)

When you import the same kind of file every season, save its mapping: on Map Columns, press Save column map…. Next time, pick it from Column mapping on the File step. Up to 20 maps are kept, in this browser only. Manage saved column maps renames or removes them. Saved maps are Standard only.

Spreadsheet templates for athletes and teams

On the Spreadsheet card, Need the format? Templates: offers Athletes, and Teams at Standard. While a meet has no athletes, the dashboard’s next step also links to the athlete template.

The athlete template follows the meet:

• school meets: First Name, Last Name, Gender, Team, and Grade;
• road races: First Name, Last Name, Gender, Age, and City;
• other meets: the athlete fields the meet is set to show.

Fill it in, then import it with Spreadsheet: the headers are recognised. A file with only Team Code and Team Name columns imports teams without creating athletes.

An import found conflicts: how should the conflicts be handled?

When an import’s preview finds rows that clash with the meet, Review asks How should the conflicts be handled? and says how many rows conflict. A conflict is a bib already worn by someone else, an entry that collides with one already there, or a row that can’t be matched safely. An import with no conflicts doesn’t ask.

The answer covers the whole file. Nothing is chosen for you, and Import stays off until you choose:

• Cancel this import: nothing is imported, and the meet stays as it is.
• Skip the rows that conflict (Recommended): import every row that is safe on its own and leave the conflicting rows alone. You get a list of what was skipped and why.
• Ignore all bib numbers in this file: use the file for names and details only. Nobody is given, moved, or cleared of a bib, and rows with no other way to identify the athlete are held.
• This file’s bib numbers are correct: each bib in the file wins, so bib 12 becomes whoever the file says wears 12. Rows with a registration number are held instead.

Example: the meet has Maya Lopez on bib 12, and the file gives bib 12 to Ava Chen. Skip the rows that conflict imports everyone else and leaves Maya on 12. This file’s bib numbers are correct puts Ava on 12.

The spreadsheet, RunSignUp, Hy-Tek, Lynx roster and schedule, RaceTab, Athletic.net, and 2Timer backup imports can ask this. Lynx results, chip assignments, and team-only imports don’t.

Where did this file come from? (registration numbers)

When the athletes in a file carry registration numbers and the file doesn’t say whose they are, Review asks Where did this file come from? Pick the system: AAU, Athletic.net, Athlinks, DirectAthletics, MileSplit, QuickMeet, RaceRoster, RunSignup, TFRRS, Trackie, UltraSignup, USATF, or Other. The line below it says how the numbers will be saved, and Hy-Tek exports write them back out.

The Hy-Tek meet file import asks when its athletes have registration numbers. The spreadsheet import asks when a column is mapped to Registration / External ID, unless its header already names the system, such as “TFRRS ID”.

The file names some teams differently

A teams-only import (Hy-Tek Teams only, or a Lynx .afl file) asks this when a team code in the file has a different name than in the meet:

• Keep this meet’s team names (Recommended): teams already in the meet stay as they are; only new teams are added.
• Use the file’s team names: those teams are renamed to what the file calls them. Their code, athletes, and lane assignments don’t change.

Import a Hy-Tek meet file into a meet

Use Hy-Tek meet file for a Meet Manager export of meet records (Meet Manager → File → Export). It accepts .hy3, .txt, and the recognised record .csv. It has no .zip support: export the file itself. The steps are File, Divisions, Events, Review, and Done.

• Divisions: in a track meet, match each Hy-Tek division to one of the meet’s divisions. In other sports, name the new divisions; the ones already in the meet are reused.
• Events: the file’s events are matched to yours by event code, gender, and division. Matched events are reused as they are. Name, type, and set the rounds for the new ones.
• Review: tick Athletes, Teams, Events, and Entries, and answer the source and conflict questions if asked.

Importing the same file again updates the matching records rather than adding duplicates. To create a new meet from the file instead, see Creating a Meet from a Hy-Tek Meet File.

Import only the teams from a Hy-Tek meet file

On the Hy-Tek meet file card, press Teams only (“Import Hy-Tek teams”). It reads a Meet Manager semicolon export (.hy3 or .txt) and brings in just the teams: File, Review, and Done. It asks about team names when they differ.

Import a Hy-Tek team/athlete list (.tcl)

Use Hy-Tek team/athlete list for a fixed-width roster export from Team Manager or Meet Manager (Export → Teams/Athletes, .tcl). It brings in teams and athletes only: any event or result rows in the file are ignored. The steps are File, Review, and Done.

Import RunSignUp participants

Use RunSignUp participants with the participant list from RunSignUp → Manage Participants → Export CSV. It brings in the runners and enters each one in the race their Event column names. The steps are File, Review, and Done. The File step shows how many runners and races it found, and how many runners have bib numbers.

On Review:

• Races: each race with how many runners it gains.
• Races to match: a race in the file whose name matches none of the meet’s races, shown as “RunSignUp says 10K”. Choose one of the meet’s races for it, or Create a race named “10K”. Nothing is imported until every race in the file has one.
• Runners who stay where they are: a runner you already moved to another race stays there, for example “RunSignUp says 5K; entered in 1 Mile, kept”. A change made in 2Timer is newer than the registration.
• Not entered: registrations RunSignUp shows as cancelled, refunded, or transferred.
• Entered, with a status 2Timer doesn’t know: check these runners, and take out anyone who isn’t racing.

An import adds and updates; it never removes anyone. A runner who is in the meet but not in the file keeps their entry. Bringing in a fresh file the night before adds the late sign-ups.

The file is read once, when you import it. For a roster that keeps up with new sign-ups on its own, add RunSignUp under Registration on Connections. A RunSignUp file can also start a new meet from the home screen (see Starting a Meet).

Import an Athletic.net entry export

Use Athletic.net entry export with the entries CSV from Athletic.net (your meet → Entries → Export). It shows the teams, athletes, events, divisions, and entries it found, matches athletes by their Athletic.net ID first and then by name and team, creates any divisions and events the entries need, and imports it all as one change.

Import a Lynx roster (.ppl or .afl)

Use Lynx roster with FinishLynx people files from the event directory. A .ppl file brings athletes and their teams. An .afl file brings teams only, and asks about team names when they differ.

Import a Lynx schedule (.evt)

Use Lynx schedule with lynx.evt from the FinishLynx event directory. It brings events, heats, lane assignments, and the athletes entered in them. On the Events step, match each event in the file to one of yours, or create a new one. Then check the whole change on Review.

Import FinishLynx or FieldLynx results by hand (.lif and .lff)

Use Lynx results: Track (.lif) for FinishLynx race results, or Field (.lff) for FieldLynx field results. The file’s event number must match an event in the meet, and a .lff must be for a field event.

Review shows which results will be added, updated, left unchanged, or removed, and which are held. Results from an earlier import of the same race that aren’t in this file are removed. Results that can’t be matched safely are held: Review now on the Done step opens them on Reads. A .lif can also carry the heat’s wind.

A FinishLynx connection does this automatically by watching the shared folder. See FinishLynx for Track and Field.

Import a RaceTab meet (.rtql)

Use RaceTab meet with a saved or exported .rtql file. On Review, tick what to bring in: Meet settings, Events, Divisions, Teams, Athletes, and Entries. Leave Meet settings off unless you want the file’s settings to replace the meet’s. The card mentions results, but this import doesn’t bring results.

Import chip assignments

Use Chip assignments with the bib-to-chip file from your chip vendor or reader software. It is checked against the chips already in the meet before anything is saved. See Chips for the whole chip workflow.

Restore or add from a 2Timer backup inside a meet

The 2Timer backup card opens Restore a 2Timer backup: File, Options, Review, and Done. Under What should this backup do? choose:

• Restore by clearing and replacing categories: the categories you pick are cleared and replaced from the backup. This can’t be undone, so export a backup of the meet first.
• Import athletes, teams, and entries without clearing: the backup’s roster goes through the same matching and conflict question as any other roster import, and nothing is cleared.

See Importing a 2Timer Backup.

Can I undo an import?

No. No import can be undone. What protects you:

• nothing is saved until you press Import, so check Review first;
• Cancel this import when Review shows conflicts you don’t expect;
• a .2t backup made just before (Export → Backup (.2t) on the dashboard), to go back to.

To clean up after a bad import, see Purging Results and Resetting State.

A good order for importing

1. Meet structure first: events and divisions, or a Hy-Tek meet file or RaceTab meet that brings them.
2. Teams, if your team file is the source of truth for codes and names.
3. Athletes.
4. Entries.
5. Results last, once the events are settled.

Import problems

Related Pages

• Getting Started
• Importing a 2Timer Backup
• Systems and Connections
• Athletes and Entries
• Teams and Leagues
• FinishLynx for Track and Field
• Repair and Recovery
• Purging Results and Resetting State

Metadata

• Last Updated: 2026-10-24
• Document Version: 1.2
• Status: Active