Beach Volleyball: Costa Rica and Cuba Win NORCECA Continental Cup Final

Costa Rica and Cuba won gold at the NORCECA Continental Cup Final. The Continental Cup features nations with two teams each facing off against each other. Each nation designates a team 1 and a team 2. Each team faces off against the other nation’s teams once with a fifth match consisting of one set played if the series is tied. In total 12 nations faced off against each other in a single elimination tournament. The winner of the NORCECA Continental Cup qualifies to the Olympics. The final of the Beach Volleyball NORCECA Continental Cup was held in Guaymas, Mexico from June 22nd to June 26th 2016.

The first round of the men’s tournament had US Virgin Islands, Saint Lucia, Costa Rica and Trinidad and Tobago defeating El Salvador, Guatemala, Suriname and Nicaragua respectively. The four first round winners however, were no match for the top four seeds of the tournament as all four lost 3-0 to Canada, Cuba, Puerto Rico and Mexico respectively. The semi-final saw Canada and Cuba pick up 3-0 victories over Puerto Rico and Mexico respectively to book their spot to the final. Despite winning the first match Canada would go on to lose the next three giving Cuba the 3-1 victory and a spot at the Olympics. The bronze medal went to Puerto Rico after defeating Mexico 3-2.

The first round of the women’s tournament had Barbados, Jamaica, Nicaragua and the Cayman Islands defeating Trinidad and Tobago, Suriname, Saint Lucia and El Salvador respectively. The top four seeds; Mexico, Cuba, Costa Rica and Guatemala all had straight series victories over Barbados, Cayman Islands, Jamaica and Nicaragua respectively. The semi-final contained an upset as Costa Rica defeated Cuba going all the way to the fifth match golden set. Mexico also qualified to the final with 3-0 victory over Guatemala. Costa Rica would go on to win the tournament and qualify to the Olympics with a 3-1 victory over Mexico. Cuba finished with the bronze medal after defeating Guatemala 3-0.

There will be one more chance for teams to qualify to the Olympics, at the Final Olympic Continental Cup. The top two teams which failed to qualify; Canada and Puerto Rico for the men and Mexico and Cuba for the women will battle it out for the final spots.

 

Quotas by Nations

• Costa Rica – 1
• Cuba – 1

 

References

• NORCECA. NORCECA Men’s Beach Continental Cup Final. Access on June 26 2016.
• NORCECA. NORCECA Women’s Beach Continental Cup Final. Access on June 26 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.

Cycling Mountain: Cross-Country Olympic Rankings Published

The UCI Olympic Qualification Rankings have been published. The rankings consisted of the combined point total obtained by a nation’s top three athletes at select world and continental events over the past two years. For the men’s rankings nations ranked 1st-5th qualified three athletes, 6th-13th qualified two athletes and 14th-23rd qualified one athlete. For the women’s rankings nations ranked 1st-8th qualified two athletes and 9th-17th qualified one athlete. The UCI Olympic Qualification Ranking period lasted from May 25th 2014 to May 24th 2016.

The men’s rankings were topped by Switzerland whom finished with 9877 points. Also earning three athlete quotas was France, Spain, Czech Republic and Italy. The nations which earned two athlete quotas are; Germany, Netherlands, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Portugal, South Africa and Brazil. The nations which earned one athlete quota are; Austria, Slovakia, United States, Argentina, New Zealand, Denmark, Sweden, Greece, Israel and Japan.

With the release of the rankings there are also some reallocations to be done. First the host quota has been reallocated to the next highest ranked nation, Hungary. Also since Brazil, South Africa, Japan, Australia and New Zealand all qualified through the rankings their spot won at the continental qualifiers are reallocated to the next highest ranked nation at that qualifier meaning Costa Rica, Rwanda and Hong Kong are qualified. However, since no other Oceania nation competed at the continental qualifier the next level of reallocation is through the Olympic Rankings of teams from the same continent meaning Guam has qualified. Since no other Oceania nation is ranked in the Olympic Rankings the quota has been reallocated to the next highest ranked nation overall in the Olympic Rankings, specifically Russia.

The women’s ranking was also topped by Switzerland whom finished with a total of 8614 points. Also earning two athlete quotas was Germany, Canada, France, United States, Slovenia, Poland and Ukraine. The nations which earned one athlete quota are; Russia, Norway, Denmark, Belgium, Brazil, Italy, Australia, Sweden and Serbia.

Like with the men’s rankings there are a couple of reallocations. Since Brazil qualified through the rankings the host quota was reallocated to the next highest ranked nation, Czech Republic. Also since Australia qualified through the rankings their spot won at the continental qualifiers was reallocated to the next highest ranked nation from that qualifier, New Zealand.

This was the final opportunity for nations to qualify to the Olympics in mountain biking. There is still the possibility for reallocation as some nations may decline some or all of their quotas. We should know one way or another over the coming weeks.

 

Quotas by Nations

• France – 5
• Switzerland – 5
• Canada – 4
• Czech Republic – 4
• Germany – 4
• Italy – 4
• Australia – 3
• Belgium – 3
• Brazil – 3
• Spain – 3
• United States – 3
• Denmark – 2
• Netherlands – 2
• New Zealand – 2
• Poland – 2
• Portugal – 2
• Russia – 2
• Slovenia – 2
• South Africa – 2
• Sweden – 2
• Ukraine – 2
• Argentina – 1
• Austria – 1
• Costa Rica – 1
• Greece – 1
• Guam – 1
• Hong Kong – 1
• Hungary – 1
• Israel – 1
• Japan – 1
• Norway – 1
• Rwanda – 1
• Serbia – 1
• Slovakia – 1

 

References

• UCI. Mountain Biking Rankings. Access on May 25 2016.

Triathlon: Qualified Nations List Released

The International Triathlon Union has published its Olympic Qualification List filling out the qualified nations through the Olympic Rankings, Olympic Points List and tripartite nations. The Olympic Rankings and Olympic Points List consisted of approved events including World Championship, Continental Championship and other world events. The top eight nations were allowed to qualify three athletes per gender through the Olympic rankings including the quotas obtained through the continental qualifiers and world qualification event. All other nations were allowed to qualify a maximum of two. Originally the top 39 eligible athletes from the Olympic Rankings qualified their nation to the Olympics, however, reallocations has increased that number. The Olympic Points List gave one quota to each of the five continents to athletes whose nations have yet to qualify in triathlon, provided that they met the minimum ranking of 140. For the tripartite commission, two men’s and two women’s quotas were available to athletes from nations whom have qualified an average of 8 or less athletes from individual events over the past two Olympics. They too had to meet the minimum ranking requirements. The Olympic Rankings and Olympic Points List were created using results from various events from May 15th 2014 to May 15th 2016.

In the men’s race a total of 23 nations qualified through the Olympic Rankings. They include Argentina (2), Australia (2), Azerbaijan, Belgium (2), Brazil, Canada (2), Costa Rica, Denmark, France (2), Germany (2), Great Britain (2), Hungary, Ireland, Italy (2), Mexico, Norway, New Zealand (2), Portugal (2), Russia (3), Slovakia, Spain (2), Switzerland and the United States (3). Since Brazil was among the qualified nations its host quota has been reallocated to Israel. Only one tripartite quota was awarded to Jordan which meant the other quota place was reallocated to Mexico. The Olympic Points List gave quotas to Austria, Barbados and China. Since there were no eligible nations in Africa and Oceania the quotas were reallocated to Hungary and Portugal.

In the women’s race a total of 25 nations qualified through the Olympic Rankings. They include Australia (2), Austria (2), Belgium, Bermuda, Brazil, Canada (2), Czech Republic, France, Germany (3), Great Britain, Hungary (2), Ireland, Italy (2), Japan (2), Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand (3), Poland, Russia (2), Slovenia, South Africa, Spain (3), Switzerland, Ukraine and the United States (2). Since Brazil was among the qualified nations its host quota has been reallocated to the Netherlands. No tripartite quota was awarded in the women’s race meaning the quotas have been reallocated to Belgium and Sweden. The Olympic Points List gave quotas to China, Ecuador, Estonia and Mauritius. Since there were no eligible nations in Oceania the quota was reallocated to Canada.

Overall the eight nations which will send three athletes in the men’s race are Australia, France, Great Britain, Mexico, Portugal, Russia, Spain and the United States. For the women the nations are Australia, Canada, Germany, Great Britain, Japan, New Zealand, Spain and the United States. As a reminder this is a provisional list and is subjected to the approval of nations so there is the potential for reallocation.

 

Quotas by Nations

• Canada – 5
• Germany – 5
• New Zealand – 5
• Russia – 5
• Spain – 5
• United States – 5
• Australia – 4
• Belgium – 4
• Hungary – 4
• Italy – 4
• Austria – 3
• France – 3
• Great Britain – 3
• Mexico – 3
• Portugal – 3
• Switzerland – 3
• Argentina – 2
• Brazil – 2
• China – 2
• Ireland – 2
• Japan – 2
• Netherlands – 2
• Azerbaijan – 1
• Barbados – 1
• Bermuda – 1
• Costa Rica – 1
• Czech Republic – 1
• Denmark – 1
• Ecuador – 1
• Estonia – 1
• Israel – 1
• Jordan – 1
• Mauritius – 1
• Norway – 1
• Poland – 1
• Slovakia – 1
• Slovenia – 1
• South Africa – 1
• Sweden – 1
• Ukraine – 1

 

References

• ITU. Rio 2016 Olympic Male Qualification. Access on May 18 2016.
• ITU. Rio 2016 Olympic Female Qualification. Access on May 18 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.

Cycling Road: Ecuador Wins Men’s Road Race at Pan Am Championships

Ecuador was able to pull off a close win in the men’s road race at the 2015 Pan American Championships held in Leon, Mexico from May 5th to May 10th 2015. Only the men’s race provided quotas where the top 2 nations qualified to the Olympics, the women’s qualification race is expected to happen in 2016.

The men’s race was initially a close race where a small group of cyclists led by Ecuador’s Bayron Guama de la Cruz broke away from the peloton. Slowly riders began to drop off from the lead pack until only Guama remained and won the race with a time of 4:12:46. Seven seconds later Josue Gonzalez of Costa Rica finished in second and grabbed the second Olympic quota. Third place went to Mexico’s Juan Pablo Magallanes Aranda.

Like in all cycling events the Olympic quotas are not set in stone because Olympic qualification has the world and continental rankings with a higher priority over the continental championships. Therefore, if any nation qualifies through the rankings the next highest ranked nation at the continental championship will take the continental spot. Looking at the 2014 and current rankings both Ecuador and Costa Rica could qualify so we could possibly see a reallocation of quotas. For reallocation purposes the next best ranked nations are Mexico, Brazil, Canada, Guatemala, Chile and Dominican Republic.

Quotas by Nation

• Costa Rica – 1
• Ecuador – 1

References

UCI. 2015 Pan American Championships Men’s Road Race Results. Access on May 11 2015.