Boxing: 29 Nations Qualify After World Qualification Tournament

29 nations qualified at least one athlete after the 2016 Boxing World Olympic Qualification Tournament. One quota was available in the heavyweight and super heavyweight, two quotas were available in the men’s light flyweight and five quotas were available in the other seven events. In the events with five quotas the quarter-finalist whom lost to the eventual winner qualified as the fifth best athlete. The AIBA World Olympic Qualification Tournament was held in Baku, Azerbaijan from June 16th to June 25th 2016.

Overall nine nations won a gold medal among the ten events. The only nation which won two gold medals was Azerbaijan whom won gold in the light flyweight (-49kg) and light heavyweight (-81kg). In the light flyweight Rufat Huseynov defeated Spain’s Samuel Carmona in the final. In the light heavyweight 2012 Olympic bronze medalist Teymur Mammadov defeated Germany’s Serge Michel in the final. Also qualifying were Russia’s Petr Khamukov, Belarus’ Mikhail Dauhaliavets and Morocco’s Hassan Saada. Azerbaijan also qualified a third athlete in the middleweight (-75kg) where Kamran Shakhsuvarly lost to the eventual gold medalist Michael O’Reilly of Ireland whom defeated Turkmenistan’s Arslanbek Achilov in the final. Also qualifying in the middleweight are Iraq’s Waheed Abdul-Ridha and India’s Vikas Yadav.

The only other nation to have qualified three athletes from this event was France. Souleymane Cissokho defeated Hungary’s Imre Bacskai to win the welterweight (-69kg). Also qualifying were Belarus’ Pavel Kastramin, Great Britain’s Josh Kelly and Bulgaria’s Simeon Chamov. The other two French athletes which qualified were Elie Konki in the flyweight (-52kg) and Hassan Amzile in the light welterweight (-64kg). The flyweight was won by Bulgaria’s Daniel Asenov whom defeated United States’ Antonio Vargas. Also qualifying were Turkey’s Selcuk Eker and Mongolia’s Kharkhuugiin Enkh-Amar. The light welterweight was won by Great Britain’s Pat McCormack whom defeated Haiti’s Richardson Hitchins. Also qualifying were United States’ Gary Russell and India’s Monoj Kumar.

The bantamweight (-56kg) was won by 2013 World Championship bronze medalist Mykola Butsenko of Ukraine whom defeated Mongolia’s Erdenebatyn Tsendbaatar. Also qualifying were Cuba’s Robeisy Ramirez, Japan’s Arashi Morisaka and Algeria’s Fahem Hammachi. Netherlands’ Enrico Lacruz defeated Tajikistan’s Anvar Yunusov in the final of the lightweight (-60kg) event. Also qualifying are China’s Shan Jun, Chinese Taipei’s Lai Chun-En and Qatar’s Hakan Erseker. The lone quotas for the heavyweight (-90kg) and super heavyweight (+90kg) went to Poland’s Igor Jakubowski and Italy’s Guido Vianello respectively.

There will be one more opportunity for male boxers to qualify to the Olympics, the APB and WSB qualifier which will allow professional boxers to qualify, provided a nation has not already qualified in that event.

 

Quotas by Nations

• Azerbaijan – 3
• France – 3
• Belarus – 2
• Bulgaria – 2
• Germany – 2
• India – 2
• Mongolia – 2
• United States – 2
• Algeria – 1
• China – 1
• Chinese Taipei – 1
• Cuba – 1
• Great Britain – 1
• Haiti – 1
• Hungary – 1
• Iraq – 1
• Ireland – 1
• Italy – 1
• Japan – 1
• Morocco – 1
• Netherlands – 1
• Poland – 1
• Qatar – 1
• Russia – 1
• Spain – 1
• Tajikistan – 1
• Turkey – 1
• Turkmenistan – 1
• Ukraine – 1

 

References

• AIBA. 2016 World Olympic Qualification Event. Access on June 25 2016.

Judo: Olympic Rankings Published 113 Nations Qualify

113 nations qualified through the Judo Olympic Rankings. Athletes earned points through various world and continental events over a two year period. There were two methods of qualifying. First the top 22 men and top 14 women qualify with a maximum of one NOC per weight class. Second are the continental qualifiers. The highest ranked, not yet qualified athletes across all events can qualify. Each continent has a set amount of quotas; Africa 24 (14 men, 10 women), Europe 25 (14 men, 11 women), Asia 20 (12 men, 8 women), Oceania 10 (7 men, 3 women), and Pan America 21 (13 men, 8 women). A nation can only earn one spot across all events through this and a single continent can qualify a maximum of two athletes in a single event. The qualification period lasted from May 30th 2014 to May 29th 2016.

In total 113 nations have qualified with France and Japan joining hosts Brazil as being the only nation to have qualified a full team of men and women. Also qualifying a full men’s team are Georgia, Germany, Mongolia, Russia, South Korea and Uzbekistan. Overall 53 nations only qualified through the continental rankings while 14 nations did not receive a continental quota. Oceania did not allocate all 10 of its continental quotas thus the unused quota was reallocated to the athlete with the most points and is not yet qualified among all events, specifically Uzbekistan’s Soyib Kurbonov in the men’s -100kg.

The quotas are tied to the athletes by name with the exception of where multiple athletes from the same nation finished in the top 22 for men and top 14 for women where the nation can choose from among them. All that is left to determine in judo is the tripartite quotas.

 

Quotas by Nations

• France – 14
• Japan – 14
• Germany – 13
• Mongolia – 13
• South Korea – 12
• Netherlands – 11
• Russia – 11
• Cuba – 9
• Canada – 8
• China – 8
• Georgia – 8
• Hungary – 8
• Uzbekistan – 8
• Australia – 7
• Great Britain – 7
• Israel – 7
• Ukraine – 7
• Azerbaijan – 6
• Portugal – 6
• United States – 6
• Algeria – 5
• Austria – 5
• Belgium – 5
• Egypt – 5
• Italy – 5
• Kazakhstan – 5
• Slovenia – 5
• Spain – 5
• Poland – 4
• Romania – 4
• Sweden – 4
• Tunisia – 4
• Turkey – 4
• Czech Republic – 3
• Ecuador – 3
• Iran – 3
• Morocco – 3
• North Korea – 3
• Switzerland – 3
• United Arab Emirates – 3
• Argentina – 2
• Belarus – 2
• Bulgaria – 2
• Chinese Taipei – 2
• Colombia – 2
• Gabon – 2
• Greece – 2
• Kosovo – 2
• Kyrgyzstan – 2
• Latvia – 2
• Mexico – 2
• Puerto Rico – 2
• South Africa – 2
• Tajikistan – 2
• Turkmenistan – 2
• American Samoa – 1
• Angola – 1
• Armenia – 1
• Aruba – 1
• Benin – 1
• Bolivia – 1
• Bosnia and Herzegovina – 1
• Burkina Faso – 1
• Cameroon – 1
• Chile – 1
• Congo – 1
• Costa Rica – 1
• Côte d’Ivoire – 1
• Croatia – 1
• Dominican Republic – 1
• El Salvador – 1
• Estonia – 1
• Fiji – 1
• Finland – 1
• Gambia – 1
• Ghana – 1
• Guatemala – 1
• Guinea-Bissau – 1
• Haiti – 1
• Honduras – 1
• Iceland – 1
• India – 1
• Iraq – 1
• Jordan – 1
• Kenya – 1
• Lebanon – 1
• Libya – 1
• Lithuania – 1
• Madagascar – 1
• Mali – 1
• Mauritius – 1
• Moldova – 1
• Mozambique – 1
• Nauru – 1
• New Zealand – 1
• Niger – 1
• Pakistan – 1
• Palau – 1
• Papua New Guinea – 1
• Peru – 1
• Qatar – 1
• Samoa – 1
• Saudi Arabia – 1
• Senegal – 1
• Serbia – 1
• Seychelles – 1
• Thailand – 1
• Trinidad and Tobago – 1
• Uruguay – 1
• Vanuatu – 1
• Venezuela – 1
• Vietnam – 1
• Zambia – 1

 

References

• IJF. Judo Base Olympic Quotas by Nations. Access on June 4 2016.
• IJF. Judo Base Men’s Olympic Rankings. Access on June 4 2016.
• IJF. Judo Base Women’s Olympic Rankings. Access on June 4 2016.

Weightlifting: African Nations Qualify After Continental Championship

African nations booked their spot to the Olympics with the conclusion of the 2016 African Weightlifting Championship. The six highest ranking men and the four highest ranking women from nations not yet qualified earned points towards their nation’s ranking. The top five nations in the men and the top four nations in the women in the rankings qualified one athlete to the Olympics. The African Weightlifting Championship was held in Yaounde, Cameroon from May 7th to May 13th 2016.

In the women’s events it was Nigeria which showed its strength by winning four gold medals in the -58kg, -63kg, -75kg and +75kg events to finish with a maximum total of 112 points. Tunisia followed in second place with a gold medal in the -53kg and multiple silver medals, ending with a total of 103 points. Cameroon finished in third with 94 points while Algeria rounded out the quotas in fourth place with 93 points.

Several registered athletes and even nations failed to appear in the men’s events leading to only five nations sending at least six athletes meaning should they all finish with a lift they were all guaranteed an Olympic quota. The event was topped by Algeria and Tunisia whom both finished with 159 points as they both finished on top in the list of eligible nations in three events and runner-up in three others. A strong performance by Cameroon had the team finish with 144 points while Morocco and Ghana rounded out the top five with 133 and 122 points respectively.

Unqualified nations could still potentially qualify to the Olympics through the individual world rankings through currently no one is in the top 15 for men or 10 for women in the rankings, a prerequisite for qualifying to the Olympics. Two more continental qualifiers remain with Oceania scheduled for the end of this month.

 

Quotas by Nations

• Algeria – 2
• Cameroon – 2
• Tunisia – 2
• Ghana – 1
• Morocco – 1
• Nigeria – 1

 

References

• IWF. 2016 African Weightlifting Championship – Results. Access on May 13 2016.

Gymnastics: Test Event Decide Remaining Quotas

France and Germany qualified a full artistic team, Germany and Uzbekistan qualified both an individual and team in rhythmic gymnastics and Portugal and the United States qualified an athlete in both genders in trampoline at the 2016 Gymnastics Olympic Test Event. The Olympic test event featured all three disciplines in gymnastics. In artistic gymnastics the top four all-around teams will qualify along with eligible all-around individuals until the total quota of 97 men and 97 women have been met including continental representation. In trampoline eight quotas for each gender are available to the top eligible athletes, including continental representation. Two of these quotas are meant for the host Brazil and the tripartite though gender is not specified. In rhythmic gymnastics the top three all-around teams and the top nine all-around individuals, including continental representation will qualify. The Gymnastics Olympic Test Event was held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil from April 16th to April 22nd 2016.

 

Artistic

In the men’s team all-around competition it was Germany whom led all nations with a score of 350.609. After a relatively weak floor performance the team posted top three results in all of the other apparatuses including a top performance in the parallel bars. Ukraine followed close behind with a final score of 350.160. The team had a good performance at the beginning including a very strong first place in the pommel horse, but ultimately lost pace to Germany. The other two nations which booked a team spot were the Netherlands who will compete in the men’s team event for the first time in its history and France. Inconsistencies including a horrible start on the pommel horse ultimately cost Spain a spot in the team event.

Nations which competed in the team event, but did not qualify are eligible to pick any athlete to compete at the Olympics. These nations are Romania, Spain, Belgium and Canada. Continental representation (1 for Oceania, 2 for other continents) was not met for Africa as only one athlete qualified through the test event. This meant the highest ranked African athlete from the 2015 World Championship, Algeria’s Mohamed Bourguieg qualified to the Olympics. Nations which had two athletes competing and both athletes finishing higher than the lowest ranked qualifier will have the opportunity to pick which one of the two athletes will compete. These nations are Colombia, Mexico and Hungary.

The following athletes are qualified to the Olympics based on the order from the individual all-around event; Andrey Likhovitskiy (Belarus), Alexander Shatilov (Isarael), Ferhat Arican (Turkey), Artur Davtyan (Armenia), Randy Leru (Cuba), Filip Ude (Croatia), Petro Pakhnyuk (Azerbaijan), Anton Fokin (Uzbekistan), Oskar Kirmes (Finland), Ludovico Edalli (Italy), Stian Skjerahaug (Norway), David Jessen (Czech Republic), Robert Tvorogal (Lithuania), Pham Phuoc Hung (Vietnam), Marios Georgiou (Cyprus), Kieran Behan (Ireland), Vlasios Maras (Greece), Gustavo Palma Simoes (Portugal), Mikhail Koudinoc (New Zealand), Ryan Patterson (South Africa), Tomas Gonzalez (Chile) and Lee Chih Kai (Chinese Taipei).

The women’s team all-around event was topped by Brazil whom finished with a score of 226.477. The team had a great performance, finishing first in the balance beam, floor and vault. Despite a poor performance on the uneven bars second place Germany was unable to close the gap completely, finishing with an overall score of 223.977. Also qualifying to the Olympics are Belgium and France. In one of the most shocking news in gymnastics Romania, medalists at every Olympics since 1976 will not be sending a team as a poor uneven bars contributed to their seventh place finish.

Nations which competed in the team event, but did not qualify are eligible to choose any athlete to compete at the Olympics. These nations are Australia, Switzerland, Romania and South Korea. Continental representation (1 for Oceania, 2 for the other continents) was not met for Africa as no athletes were qualified at the end of the test event. This meant the highest ranked African athletes from the 2015 World Championships, specifically; Algeria’s Farah Boufadene and South Africa’s Claudia Cummins have qualified to the Olympics. Nations which had two athletes competing and both athletes finishing higher than the lowest ranked qualifier will have the opportunity to pick which one of two athletes will compete. These nations are Greece, Hungary, Spain, Mexico and Poland.

The following athletes are qualified to the Olympics based on the order from the individual all-around event; Ana Sofia Gomez (Guatemala), Jessica Lopez Arocha (Venezuela), Angelina Kysla (Ukraine), Marcia Vidiaux (Cuba), Filipa Martins (Portugal), Lisa Ecker (Austria), Toni-Ann Williams (Jamaica), Irina Sazonova (Iceland), Phan Thu Ha Thanh (Vietnam), Dipa Karmakar (India), Barbora Mokosova (Slovakia), Courtney McGregor (New Zealand), Oksana Chusovitina (Uzbekistan), Houry Gebeshian (Armenia), Ariana Orrego (Peru), Simona Castro (Chile), Teja Belak (Slovenia), Tutya Yilmaz (Turkey), Emma Larsson (Sweden), Marisa Dick (Trinidad and Tobago), Ana Derek (Croatia), Catalina Escobar Gomez (Colombia), Kylie Dickson (Belarus), Ellis O’Reilly (Ireland) and Ailen Valente (Argentina).

 

Trampoline

The qualification round of the women’s trampoline was topped by Li Dan of China whom scored 102.480 after her two performances. In the final however, Li had a subpar performance and finished in fifth. The event was instead won by her compatriot Liu Lingling whom finished with a score of 55.485. China along with Belarus has already previously qualified to the Olympics while other nations were allowed to only qualify one athlete. The Olympic quotas went to Russia, Ukraine, Japan, Uzbekistan, Germany, Portugal and the United States. While the last spot is expected to go to a tripartite nation it will likely eventually be reallocated to the next best ranked nation, France.

Before the competition began Brazil declared that it will use its host quota on the men’s trampoline, leaving the men one fewer qualification spot. The qualification round of the men’s trampoline was topped by China’s Gao Lei whom scored 110.660 after his two performances. A mistake and a fall in the final cost Gao the event as he finished in eighth. The winner of the event was Belarus’ Uladzislau Hancharou whom finished with a score of 59.750. China along with Belarus has already previously qualified to the Olympics while other nations were allowed to only qualify one athlete. The Olympic quotas went to New Zealand, Portugal, United States, Great Britain, Australia, Canada and as mentioned before Brazil obtained a quota for being the host nation. While the last spot is currently reserved for a tripartite nation it could potentially be reallocation to the next best ranked nation, Kazakhstan.

 

Rhythmic

The qualification round of the individual all-around was led by Belarus’ Melitina Staniouta whom finished with the top score in all four rotations for a total of 72.215 points. However, Belarus has already qualified to the Olympics. The following athletes qualified to the Olympics; Sabina Ashirbayeva (Kazakhstan), Nicol Ruprecht (Austria), Veronica Berolini (Italy), Ekaterina Volkova (Finland), Anastasiya Serdyukova (Uzbekistan), Ana Luiza Filiorianu (Romania), Shang Rong (China) and Jana Berezko-Marggrander. Also since Oceania did not qualify an athlete Australia’s Danielle Prince has been given a continental quota. An African quota will be given either through the tripartite commission or through the best ranked athlete from the 2015 World Championships (South Africa). In addition Brazil announced that it will use its host quota on Natalia Gaudio. The final was again topped by Staniouta whom finished with a score of 70.749.

A direct final for the team all-around was held. Germany won the event by being the best team in the two rotations finishing with a score of 33.183. The other two Olympic quotas went to silver medalist Uzbekistan (32.832) and bronze medalist Greece (31.982).

This was the final opportunity for nations to qualify to the Olympics in gymnastics. All that is remaining is to decide on the tripartite places. Overall China and Russia will be sending the largest teams with 20 athletes each while Japan and the United States will also compete in all of the events.

 

Athletes by Nations

• Germany – 16
• France – 10
• Uzbekistan – 9
• Greece – 7
• Ukraine – 7
• Belgium – 6
• Brazil – 5
• Netherlands – 5
• Portugal – 4
• Australia – 3
• New Zealand – 3
• Romania – 3
• Algeria – 2
• Armenia – 2
• Austria – 2
• Belarus – 2
• Canada – 2
• Chile – 2
• Colombia – 2
• Croatia – 2
• Cuba – 2
• Finland – 2
• Hungary – 2
• Ireland – 2
• Italy – 2
• Mexico – 2
• South Africa – 2
• Spain – 2
• Turkey – 2
• United States – 2
• Vietnam – 2
• Argentina – 1
• Azerbaijan – 1
• China – 1
• Chinese Taipei – 1
• Cyprus – 1
• Czech Republic – 1
• Great Britain – 1
• Guatemala – 1
• Iceland – 1
• India – 1
• Israel – 1
• Jamaica – 1
• Japan – 1
• Kazakhstan – 1
• Lithuania – 1
• Norway – 1
• Peru – 1
• Poland – 1
• Russia – 1
• Slovakia – 1
• Slovenia – 1
• South Korea – 1
• Sweden – 1
• Switzerland – 1
• Trinidad and Tobago – 1
• Venezuela – 1

 

References

• FIG. Final Gymnastics Qualifier (Test Event) – Schedule and Results. Access on April 22 2016.

Fencing: Adjusted Official Rankings and Olympic Quotas Published

33 nations have qualified at least one fencer after the publication of the 2015-16 Fencing Adjusted Official Rankings. For weapons with a team event (men’s epee, men’s foil, women’s epee and women’s sabre) the highest four ranked teams qualified three athletes along with the top ranked team from each continent provided that they are ranked from 5th to 16th in the world. Furthermore, seven athletes (2 from Europe, 2 from Asia-Oceania, 2 from Americas and 1 from Africa) from nations not qualified in the team events will be given a spot to compete with a maximum of one per nation. For the weapons without a team event (men’s sabre and women’s foil) the top 14 ranked athletes, with a maximum of two per nation qualify to the Olympics along with eight, two per continent highest ranked athletes with a maximum of one per nation. The rolling rankings included points awarded to athletes based on the various results such as World Cup, Grand Prix, World Championship and Continental Championships held between April 3rd 2015 and April 4th 2016.

France topped the men’s epee team ranking with Ukraine, Italy and Switzerland making up the top four. Russia, South Korea and Venezuela made up the continental teams. Egypt failed to finish in the top 16 thus Africa’s spot went to the next highest ranked nation, Hungary. Three athletes from the mentioned teams will compete in the individual epee along with Bas Verwijlen (Netherlands), Jiao Yunlong (China), Nikolai Novosjolv (Estonia), Alexandre Bouzaid (Senegal), Jason Pryor (United States) and Maxime Brinck-Croteau (Canada).

In the women’s epee team ranking the list was topped by Romania with China, Russia and Estonia making up the top four. South Korea, United States and Ukraine made up the continental teams. South Africa failed to finish in the top 16 thus Africa’s spot went to the next highest ranked nation, France. Three athletes from the mentioned teams will compete in the individual epee along with Rossella Fiamingo (Italy), Sarra Besbes (Tunisia), Emese Szasz (Hungary), Nathalie Moellhausen (Brazil), Nozomi Sato (Japan), Vivian Kong (Hong Kong) and Leonora MacKinnon (Canada).

The men’s foil team rankings were topped by Russia with Italy, France and the United States rounding up the top four. China, Great Britain, Egypt and Brazil made up the continental teams. Three athletes from the mention teams will compete in the individual foil along with Yuki Ota (Japan), Heo Jun (South Korea), Peter Joppich (Germany), Alexander Choupenitch (Czech Republics), Mohamed Ferjani (Tunisia), Maximilien van Haaster (Canada) and Daniel Gomez (Mexico).

The top 14 women in the individual foil with a maximum of two athletes per nation were as follows; Arianna Errigo (Italy), Inna Deriglazova (Russia), Elisa Di Francisca (Italy), Lee Kiefer (United States), Aida Shanaeva (Russia), Ysaora Thibus (France), Ines Boubakri (Tunisia), Nzingha Prescod (United States), Jeon Hee Sook (South Korea), Nam Hyunhee (South Korea), Astrid Guyart (France), Aida Mohamed (Hungary), Le Huilin (China) and Carolin Golubytskyi (Germany). The athletes which qualified as the two best from their continents were as follows; Edina Knapek (Hungary), Eleanor Harvey (Canada), Saskia van Erven Garcia (Colombia), Noura Mohamed (Egypt), Anissa Khelfaoui (Algeria) and Mona Shaito (Lebanon).

The top 14 men in the individual sabre with a maximum of two athletes per nation were as follows; Alexey Yakimenko (Russia), Gu Bongil (South Korea), Aron Szilagyi (Hungary), Tiberiu Dolniceanu (Romania), Kim Junghwan (South Korea), Max Hartung (Germany), Aldo Montano (Italy), Eli Dershwitz (United States), Nikolay Kovalev (Russia), Daryl Homer (United States), Mojtaba Abedini (Iran), Diego Occhiuzzi (Italy), Matyas Szabo (Germany) and Aliaksandr Buikevich (Belarus). The athletes which qualified as the two best from their continents were as follows; Vincent Anstett (France), Renzo Agresta (Brazil), Joseph Polossifakis (Canada), Tamas Decsi (Hungary), Ali Pakdaman (Iran), Mohamed Amer (Egypt), Yemi Apithy (Benin) and Sun Wei (China).

The women’s sabre team rankings were topped by Russia with Ukraine, France and the United States making up the top four. South Korea, Italy and Mexico made up the continental teams. Tunisia failed to finish in the top 16 thus Africa’s spot went to the next highest ranked nation, Poland. Three athletes from the mention teams will compete in the individual sabre along with Shen Chen (China), Anna Marton (Hungary), Vassiliki Vougiouka (Greece), Azza Besbes (Tunisia), Chika Aoki (Japan), Alejandra Benitez Romero (Venezuela) and Maria Perez Maurice (Argentina).

Overall Russia will be sending a full team while France will be competing in all of the events. China, Italy, South Korea and the United States will be competing in at least all of the individual events. The zonal tournaments which will be held in the coming weeks will decide the final athletes to compete in fencing at the Olympics.

 

Quotas by Nations

• Russia – 16
• France – 15
• Italy – 14
• South Korea – 14
• United States – 14
• China – 11
• Hungary – 9
• Ukraine – 9
• Brazil – 5
• Canada – 5
• Egypt – 5
• Estonia – 4
• Germany – 4
• Japan – 4
• Mexico – 4
• Poland – 4
• Romania – 4
• Tunisia – 4
• Venezuela – 4
• Great Britain – 3
• Switzerland – 3
• Iran – 2
• Algeria – 1
• Argentina – 1
• Belarus – 1
• Benin – 1
• Colombia – 1
• Czech Republic – 1
• Greece – 1
• Hong Kong – 1
• Lebanon – 1
• Netherlands – 1
• Senegal – 1

 

References

• FIE. Fencing Olympic Qualification Overview. Access on April 4 2016.

Wrestling: African/Oceania Tournament Concludes With 9 Qualified Nations

Nine nations qualified to the Olympics after the 2016 African and Oceania Wrestling Olympic Qualification Tournament. The top two nations from each event were given a spot to compete at the Olympics. The African and Oceania Wrestling Olympic Qualification Tournament was held in Algiers, Algeria from April 1st to April 3rd 2016.

Egypt was the top nation in the Greco-Roman events as they qualified in all six events, winning in five. The only blemish from their record was Morocco’s Zied Ait Ouagram’s victory over Egypt’s Mahmoud Sebie. Morocco also qualified a second athlete in the -59kg via El Mahadi Messaoudi. Second place finishes in the -85kg and -98kg events will assure Algeria two quotas while second place finishes in the -66kg and -130kg from Australia will ensure Oceania will have some representation in wrestling.

In the women’s freestyle events it was Nigeria which came away with the most quotas, winning four. The team will be made up of 2014 Commonwealth Games gold medalist Aminat Adeniyi in the -58kg, 2015 All-African Games gold medalists Mercy Genesis in the -48kg and Blessing Oborududu in the -63kg and 2015 All-African Games silver medalist Hannah Rueben in the -69kg. Cameroon qualified three athletes, headlined by 2014 Commonwealth Games silver medalist Annabelle Ali who will compete in her third Olympics. She will be joined by 2014 Commonwealth Games bronze medalist Rebecca Muambo in the -48kg and Joseph Essombe in the -53kg. Tunisia qualified two athletes in the -58kg and -63kg while Egypt qualified two athletes in the -69kg and -75kg. Senegal’s Isabelle Sambou rounds out the field by qualifying in the -53kg.

In the men’s freestyle events Egypt and Nigeria won two gold medals each. Egypt’s Mohamed Zaghloul defeated Tunisia’s Mohamed Saadaoui in the -86kg and his compatriot, Diaaeldin Kamal defeated Tunisia’s SlimTrabelsi in the -125kg. Nigeria’s Amas Daniel defeated Australia’s Sahit Prizreni in the -65kg and his compatriot, Soso Tamarau defeated Egypt’s Aly Hamdy Amin in the -97kg. In the other events Senegal’s Adama Diatta defeated Morocco’s Chakir Ansari in the -57kg and Guinea-Bissau’s Augusto Midina defeated Australia’s Talgat Ilyasov in the -74kg.

Athletes from Africa and Oceania not yet qualified will have two more opportunities to qualify to the Olympics at the final Olympic qualification tournaments.

 

Quotas by Nations

• Egypt – 11
• Nigeria – 6
• Australia – 4
• Tunisia – 4
• Cameroon – 3
• Morocco – 3
• Algeria – 2
• Senegal – 2
• Guinea-Bissau – 1

 

References

• UWW. 2016 Africa/Oceania OG Qualifying Tournament Results. Access on April 3 2016.

Boxing: 13 Nations Qualify After African Championship

13 nations qualified at least one athlete at the 2016 African Boxing Olympic Qualification Tournament. The three highest ranked male boxers along with the highest ranked female boxer qualified to the Olympics. The African Boxing Olympic Qualification Tournament was held in Yaounde, Cameroon from March 11th to March 19th 2016.

Overall 181 athletes from 30 nations competed in 10 men’s and 3 women’s weight classes. The first day of finals saw the result of six men’s events. Cameroon and Morocco led the day by qualifying in three events each. Cameroon won the gold medal in the men’s light flyweight (-49kg) and middleweight (-75kg) also 2008 Olympian Mahaman Smaila will return to the Olympics in the men’s light welterweight (-64kg). Despite not winning events on the first day of finals Morocco qualified in the men’s bantamweight (-56kg), light welterweight and middleweight. Tunisia won the men’s bantamweight and qualified in the men’s heavyweight (-91kg), Namibia won the men’s lightwelterweight and qualified in the light flyweight, Algeria won the men’s light heavyweight (-81kg) and qualified in the heavyweight and Mauritius won the men’s heavyweight and qualified in the middleweight. Other qualifiers included Egypt in the light heavyweight, Lesotho in the bantamweight, South Africa in the light flyweight and Uganda in the light heavyweight.

Morocco swept the women’s events by winning gold in all three events and claiming the three quotas. In the women’s flyweight (-51kg) Zohra Ez-Zahraoui defeated Nigeria’s Caroline Linus, in the lightweight (-60kg) Hasnaa Lachgar defeated Tunisia’s Hlimi Khouloud and in the middleweight (-75kg) Khadija El Mardi defeated Cameroon’s Azangue Yannicke.

On the second day of finals for men Algeria was the big winner for Olympic quotas despite not winning an event. Algeria qualified in the men’s flyweight (-52kg) with 2015 World Championship bronze medalist Mohamed Flissi, the lightweight (-60kg) and the welterweight (-69kg). Egypt won gold in the lightweight and also qualified in the welterweight. The other gold medalists were Kenya in the welterweight, Nigeria in the super heavyweight (+91kg) and South Africa in the flyweight. Other nations which qualified to the Olympics included Morocco in the super heavyweight, Seychelles in the lightweight, Tunisia in the super heavyweight and Uganda in the flyweight.

As a reminder South Africa has a policy of not accepting quotas won at the continental level, therefore should they decline the quotas they would be reallocated to Kenya in the light flyweight and Lesotho in the flyweight. There are still a few more opportunities for African nations to qualify their athletes to the Olympics.

 

Quotas by Nations

• Morocco – 7
• Algeria – 5
• Cameroon – 3
• Egypt – 3
• Tunisia – 3
• Mauritius – 2
• Namibia – 2
• South Africa – 2
• Uganda – 2
• Kenya – 1
• Lesotho – 1
• Nigeria – 1
• Seychelles – 1

 

References

• AIBA. 2016 African Olympic Qualification Tournament Results. Access on March 20 2016.

Cycling Road: Men’s World and Continental Tour Spots Decided

The quotas have been allocated in the men’s road race and time trial with the conclusion of the world and continental tours. In total, 54 nations have received at least one quota from the various tours. Quotas were given out based on the team rankings. Other factors which determine a change of the number of quotas are nations cannot gain more quotas than they had riders in the tour and nations cannot earn continental quotas if they have already reached the maximum quotas from their world tour rankings. The 2015 Nations Tour Rankings were calculated by adding up the points collected by their athletes over various races held between January 1st and December 31st 2015.

In the World Tour the top 5 nations were given 5 quotas to compete in the road race while nations ranked 6th to 15th were given four. In addition all 15 nations were given a spot to compete in the time trial by one of their road race qualified athlete. Nations which have not qualified in the world or continental team rankings were given a single quota to compete in the road race.

Spain, led by individual leader Alejandro Valverde Belmonte was the highest ranked nation, finishing over 800 points above Italy whom narrowly finished ahead of Colombia and Great Britain. Belgium rounded out the top five nations earning 5 quotas. Nations ranked 6th to 15th were France, Netherlands, Australia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Czech Republic, Slovenia and Switzerland. However, Norway, Poland, Czech Republic and Slovenia had fewer than four athletes competing in the tour meaning Poland, Czech Republic and Slovenia received three quotas while Norway only received one. The unallocated quotas were first reallocated to individual nations which competed in the World Tour, but did not qualify in any team rankings, specifically Slovakia and Luxembourg while the other four will be reallocated at a later date to nations not yet qualified.

The African Tour gave the top nation 3 quotas and nations ranked 2nd to 4th 2 quotas to the road race. In addition any athlete in the top 10 not from an already qualified nation was given a spot with the bottom ranked nations losing a quota. Also the top two nations were given a spot to compete in the time trial by one of their road race qualified athlete.

Morocco, led by individual leader Salaheddine Mraouni was the highest ranked nation and was given three quotas. Algeria, South Africa and Eritrea rounded out the top four. Individual fourth place Rafaa Chtioui of Tunisia and ninth place Janvier Hadi of Rwanda qualified a single quota for their respective nations. Due to this South Africa and Eritrea only qualified a single quota.

The America Tour gave the top three nations 3 quotas and nations ranked 4th to 5th 2 quotas to the road race. In addition any athlete in the top 20 not from an already qualified nation was given a spot with the bottom ranked nations losing a quota. Also the top four nations were given a spot to compete in the time trial by one of their road race qualified athlete.

The America Tour was won by Colombia, however, they had already qualified the maximum athletes from the World Tour meaning second place Canada, Argentina, Venezuela, United States and Brazil were the top five eligible nations. In the top 20 there were athletes from Ecuador, Guatemala and Chile meaning they were given a spot to compete causing a reduction of one quota for Brazil, the United States and Venezuela. Also because Brazil qualified one athlete one of its host quotas has been allocated to the next best team meaning Costa Rica also qualified one athlete.

The Asian Tour gave the top nation 3 quotas and nations ranked 2nd to 4th 2 quotas to the road race. In addition any athlete in the top 10 not from an already qualified nation was given a spot with the bottom ranked nations losing a quota. Also the top two nations were given a spot to compete in the time trial by one of their road race qualified athlete.

Iran was by far the strongest nation in the Asian Tour as they finished over 1000 points ahead of its next competitors. The rest of the Olympic qualified nations were Kazakhstan, Japan and South Korea. There were no athletes in the top 10 that were eligible to take an individual quota meaning there was no reduction to the other nations.

The Oceania Tour gave the top nation 2 quotas. In addition any athlete in the top 3 not from an already qualified nation was given a spot with the top nation only receiving one quota. Also the top nation was given a spot to compete in the time trial by one of their road race qualified athlete.

With Australia already qualified New Zealand was the only nation eligible to qualify. They would however go and earn their spot as three of their athletes occupied the top 3 individuals causing New Zealand to easily outranked Australia in the nation rankings.

The European Tour gave the top six nations 3 quotas and nations ranked 7th to 16th 2 quotas to the road race. In addition any athlete in the top 200 not from an already qualified nation was given a spot with the bottom ranked nations losing a quota. Also the top six nations were given a spot to compete in the time trial by one of their road race qualified athlete.

In a tight battle it was Italy whom topped the rankings by barely finishing ahead of Belgium. However, both nations were already qualified from the World Tour. The top six eligible nations were Ukraine, Slovenia, Russia, Denmark, Norway and Poland. While Slovenia, Norway and Poland already qualified athletes from the World Tour they were unable to fill the maximum quota due to having fewer riders than the maximum quota, meaning they are able to win quotas in this tour. This means Slovenia and Poland only qualified one quota each, but Norway was still able to qualify the three spots. Also since Slovenia, Norway and Poland already qualified a time trial spot from the World Tour the time trial spots for the European Tour went to the next ranked nations, specifically Austria, Belarus and Turkey.

The nations ranked 7th to 16th were Austria, Belarus, Turkey, Czech Republic, Lithuania, Estonia, Ireland, Latvia, Croatia and Sweden. As with Slovenia, Norway and Poland the Czech Republic was able to use the European Tour to fill out its maximum quota from the World Tour meaning they only earned one quota here. The five extra quotas were reallocated to the individuals of not yet qualified nations ranked in the top 200. The nations earning a single quota were Azerbaijan, Serbia, Greece, Bulgaria and Romania.

The publications of the rankings have caused reallocations in other qualifying events. Firstly the United States has lost its time trial quota earned in the World Championship because they have only qualified one athlete and the nation already has a time trial spot. The spot has been reallocated to the next eligible nation, Portugal. The African, Asian and Pan American Championships have also had reallocations due to nations qualifying through the tours. The African Championship spots now go to Ethiopia and Namibia, the Asian Championship spots now go to United Arab Emirates and Hong Kong and the Pan American Championship spots now go to Dominican Republic and Mexico.

Outside of reallocation spots the quotas for the men’s road race and time trial have been determined. The women’s spots will be allocated at the end of their World Tour to be finished at the end of May.

 

Quotas by Nations

• Belgium – 5
• Colombia – 5
• Great Britain – 5
• Italy – 5
• Spain – 5
• Australia – 4
• France – 4
• Germany – 4
• Netherlands – 4
• Norway – 4
• Poland – 4
• Portugal – 4
• Slovenia – 4
• Switzerland – 4
• Argentina – 3
• Canada – 3
• Czech Republic – 3
• Denmark – 3
• Iran – 3
• Morocco – 3
• Russia – 3
• Ukraine – 3
• Algeria – 2
• Austria – 2
• Belarus – 2
• Croatia – 2
• Estonia – 2
• Ireland – 2
• Japan – 2
• Kazakhstan – 2
• Latvia – 2
• Lithuania – 2
• New Zealand – 2
• South Korea – 2
• Sweden – 2
• Turkey – 2
• Venezuela – 2
• Azerbaijan – 1
• Brazil – 1
• Bulgaria – 1
• Chile – 1
• Costa Rica – 1
• Ecuador – 1
• Eritrea – 1
• Greece – 1
• Guatemala – 1
• Luxembourg – 1
• Romania – 1
• Rwanda – 1
• Serbia – 1
• Slovakia – 1
• South Africa – 1
• Tunisia – 1
• United States – 1

 

References

• UCI. 2015 Nation World Tour Ranking. Access on January 2 2016.
• UCI. 2015 Nation Africa Tour Ranking. Access on January 2 2016.
• UCI. 2015 Nation America Tour Ranking. Access on January 2 2016.
• UCI. 2015 Nation Asia Tour Ranking. Access on January 2 2016.
• UCI. 2015 Nation Europe Tour Ranking. Access on January 2 2016.
• UCI. 2015 Nation Oceania Tour Ranking. Access on January 2 2016.

Football: Nigeria Wins Men’s U23 Africa Cup of Nations

Nigeria went undefeated in the Men’s Football U23 Africa Cup of Nations. Eight teams were split into two groups of four nations with the top two nations advancing to the semifinals. The three medalists were given teams to compete in the men’s tournament at the Olympics. The U23 Africa Cup of Nations was held in Dakar and M’Bour, Senegal from November 28th to December 12th 2015.

In Group A Senegal topped the group by winning all three matches by a combined score of 6-1. The fight for the final spot to the semifinals was between South Africa and Tunisia in the final match of the group. The match was looking to finish in a nil-nil draw when South Africa’s Menzi Masuku scored in the 85th minute to give his nation the victory.

Group B was a lot less straight forward. In their first two matches Egypt drew Algeria and Nigeria 1-1 and 2-2 respectively. In its final match Egypt required a 2-0 victory over Mali or for Algeria and Nigeria to have a winner. The Algeria/Nigeria match was a defensive affair as the two nations played to a 0-0 draw. Egypt was unable to get its two goals and instead conceded a goal as Mali’s Souleymane Coulibaly scored the only goal in the 18th minute.

Nigeria was the first team to book its spot to the Olympics as a penalty kick from Etebo Oghenekaro gave them a 1-0 win over Senegal. Algeria joined Nigeria to the Olympics by scoring relatively early goals at the beginning of each half to win 2-0 over South Africa.

The third place play-off and the final Olympic spot had to go to penalty kicks as both Senegal and South Africa played to a 0-0 draw. With multiple misses on both sides it was South Africa that won the game and Olympic spot on their fifth attempt as they won the penalty kicks by 3-1. In the final match top scorer Etebo Oghenekaro scored two goals to win the title 2-1 over Algeria.

This will be Nigeria’s seventh Olympic appearance in men’s football where they will be looking to repeat their gold medal performance from 1996. Algeria and South Africa will return for their second tournament. South Africa’s spot is not completely confirmed as their nation has set strict qualification standards. In football they had to win the tournament in order for the South African Olympic Committee to agree to their participation. Should South Africa withdraw then Senegal will be given the spot as they were the next highest ranked team.

 

Tournament Rankings

1. Nigeria
2. Algeria
3. South Africa
4. Senegal
5. Mali
6. Tunisia
7. Egypt
8. Zambia

 

References

• CAF. U-23 Africa Cup of Nations Results. Access on December 15 2015.

Sailing: Four Nations Qualify After African Championship

Four nations were able to qualify boats based on their performance at the 2015 African Sailing Championships. The championship contained four Olympic events where the top two highest ranked eligible boats in the men’s laser, women’s laser radial and men’s RS:X along with the highest ranked boat in the women’s RS:X were given spots to compete. The African Sailing Championship was held in Algiers, Algeria from December 4th to December 11th 2015.

In the men’s RS:X a total of 13 boats from 5 nations competed. After a relatively poor first race Algeria’s Hamza Bouras was able to win six out of the twelve races on route to gold and a quota for his nation. Second place was decided in the final race where Algeria’s Zakaria Belaidouni finished ahead of Seychelles’ Jean-Marc Gardette. However, a nation can only have one boat per event so the Olympic quota went to the Seychelles.

Katia Belabbas was in a league of her own in the women’s RS:X as she won all twelve races to win the gold medal and Olympic quota. Algeria completed the sweep in the two nation, four boat regatta as compatriots Faiza Matallah and Sara Hammaoui won the silver and bronze medal respectively.

The women’s laser radial had a total of 8 boats from 5 nations. The regatta was constantly a fight between Algeria’s Imene Sahraoui, Egypt’s Khlouloud Mansi and Tunisia’s Ines Gmati. For almost all of the ten races the three sailors occupied the top three positions. By the time the final race occurred only two points separated the three sailors. Ines Gmati was able to win the final race followed by Mansi and Sahraoui. This led to a three way tie at 18 points. Using the tie-breaker Gmati and Sahraoui won the gold and silver medals and Olympic spots respectively.

The men’s laser race had a total of 10 boats from 6 nations. The gold medal went to Tunisia’s Youssef Akrout whom won nine out of the ten races. However, he did not win an Olympic place since he already won one for his nation back at the 2014 World Championship. Seychelles was already guaranteed a quota spot before the final race as only Rodney Govinden could catch his compatriot Allan Julie. The race for the final spot was between Algeria’s Idris Bouhadda, Angola’s Manuel Lelo and Egypt’s Ahmed Ragab. Bouhadda was penalized for starting over the start line, effectively ending his chances. Lelo needed to finish two spots ahead of Ragab to win the quota and did well by finishing in second, but a third place finish by Ragab was enough to give him the second quota. Julie ended up with the bronze medal due to capsizing in the final race meaning his compatriot Govinden finished ahead of him after placing fourth in the final race.

This was the final opportunity for African nations to qualify in these four sailing events. The next African championship will be the men’s 470 to be held in 2016. The other five events will be held in during the Princess Sofia Trophy Regatta.

 

Quotas by Nations

• Algeria – 3
• Seychelles – 2
• Egypt – 1
• Tunisia – 1

 

References

• WorldSailing. Olympic places settled at African Laser and Laser Radial Championships. Access on December 12 2015.
• RS:X. 2015 African Championship – Men’s RS:X Results. Access on December 12 2015.
• RS:X. 2015 African Championship – Women’s RS:X Results. Access on December 12 2015.