Russia: Sport Federations Removed Athletes From Result of McLaren Report

With the publication of the McLaren Report on the accusation of government sponsored doping from Russia the IOC has ruled that Russia will not be banned from the 2016 Olympic Games, but gave each sport federation a set of rules to follow and remove athletes should they not meet the standards. The notable rules include the removal of all athletes implicated in the report, the removal of athletes whom have doped in the past and the removal of athletes which have not satisfied testing standards after excluding the results from the Moscow lab. While most sports did not make any changes others have.

Before the report was released athletics had already banned all of Russia’s athletes, with the exception of ones which have been out of the Russian testing system long enough. Currently only Darya Klishina has satisfied IAAF’s standard, she will compete in the women’s long jump. The other 67 athletes chosen by Russia did not make the standard. Yuliya Stepanova was also eligible to compete, but due to her role in exposing the Russian doping scandal she currently has not been selected to compete.

Besides athletics the biggest loss of athlete quotas comes from rowing. Originally Russia qualified five boats with 28 athletes (including 2 coxswains). In total 20 athletes were found to not have sufficient testing, causing World Rowing to remove four boats from Russia; the men’s lightweight fours, men’s eights, women’s lightweight double sculls and women’s eights. Russia was allowed to make a team to compete in the men’s fours out of the remaining six rowers; the two coxswains were technically eligible though for obvious reasons were not going to be selected. The reallocated boats went to Australia (women’s eights), Greece (men’s lightweight fours) and Italy (men’s eights and women’s lightweight double sculls).

Overall only one sport suffered a full banned. Due to multiple athletes getting caught doping the International Weightlifting Federation has completely banned Russia. Earlier Russia lost one man and one woman quota due to excess doping violations, but now they have lost the remaining eight (5 men, 3 women) quotas. The women’s quotas have been reallocated to Albania, Georgia and Moldova while the men’s quotas have been reallocated to Belgium, Croatia, El Salvador, Mongolia and Serbia.

In aquatics only swimmers were removed. Four athletes were removed due to having prior doping violations while three more were removed due to being implicated into the report. One of these athletes was open water swimmer Anastasia Krapivina. This means her quota has been reallocated to Hungary’s Anna Olasz.

The International Canoeing Federation announced five athletes scheduled to compete at the 2016 Olympics will be removed due to their involvement in the report. This has caused Russia to lose athlete quotas in five boats; men’s K2 200m, men’s C1 200m, men’s C2 1000m, women’s K1 200m and women’s K2 500m. The quotas have been reallocated to Austria (women’s K2 500m), Germany (women’s K1 200m), Iran (men’s C1 200m) and Sweden (men’s K2 200m). The men’s C2 1000m was not reallocated. The additional boat in the women’s K1 500m which did not use an athlete quota has also been removed.

Edit: Sweden has declined the quota, it has been reallocated to Canada

In cycling six athletes were withdrawn, three due to previous doping violations and three others whom were implicated in the report. Currently the UCI has not named the athletes or any potential change in the quotas.

In modern pentathlon Maksim Kustov and alternate Ilia Frolov were connected in the report and have been excluded. The quota was reallocated to Latvia’s Ruslan Nakonechnyi.

United World Wrestling removed one wrestler due to a prior doping violation. Viktor Lebedev has been removed from his event, men’s freestyle -57kg. The quota was reallocated to Belarus.

In sailing one athlete, in the men’s 470 was connected to the report and has been removed. However, Russia has been given an opportunity to make a late replacement.

In total, including athletics the Russian team has shrank by 122 athletes. While most of them were removed due to previous doping offenses or being included in the report others have been excluded due to being teammates of someone who has doped.

 

Net Athlete Quotas by Nations

• Italy – 11
• Australia – 9
• Greece – 4
• Austria – 2
• Canada – 2
• Albania – 1
• Belarus – 1
• Belgium – 1
• Croatia – 1
• El Salvador – 1
• Georgia – 1
• Germany – 1
• Hungary – 1
• Iran – 1
• Latvia – 1
• Moldova – 1
• Mongolia – 1
• Serbia – 1
• Russia – -122

 

Note: Possible cycling reallocations have yet to be announced.

 

References

• The Star. IAAF turns down 67 Russian applications to compete internationally. Access on July 29 2016.
• WorldRowing. FISA Determines Six Russian Rowers meet conditions for participation in Rio 2016. Access on July 29 2016.
• IWF. IWF EB decision on Russian participation at the Rio 2016 OG. Access on July 29 2016.
• SwimSwam. Fields confirmed for Olympic Games golf com FINA Says World Champs Efimova, Morozov Pulled from Olympic Gamespetitions. Access on July 29 2016.
• UCI. UCI statement on the eligibility of Russian riders at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. Access on July 29 2016.
• ICF. Canoeing Removes Five Russian Athletes from Rio 2016 Olympic Games. Access on July 29 2016.
• CBC. Canada sending men’s kayak K2 200-metres crew to Rio. Access on July 29 2016.
• UIPM. UIPM Executive Board decides on Russia participation in Rio 2016 Olympic Games. Access on July 29 2016.
• UWW. Wrestling’s Special Commission Completes Review of Russian Wrestlers, Sends Recommendations. Access on July 29 2016.
• ISAF. World Sailing provisionally confirms the participation of six athletes for the Rio Olympic Games. Access on July 29 2016.

Cycling Mountain: UCI Announces Reallocations

The UCI has announced the reallocation of quotas in mountain biking. In the men’s cross-country Netherlands announced it will use only one quota while Sweden declined the use of its quota. For the women’s cross-country South Africa and New Zealand declined their quotas won at their respective continental qualifiers.

In cycling the first reallocation method is through the tripartite commission where nations which qualified an average of less than eight athletes over the past two Olympics can apply. Two quotas were given out through this method; Lesotho was given a quota to compete in the men’s cross-country while Timor-Leste was given a quota to compete in the women’s cross-country. Since no other tripartite nations were successful the other two quotas were reallocated to the next best ranked nation from the qualification method where the quotas was made available. This meant Great Britain qualified in the men’s Cross-country through the world rankings while Namibia qualified in the women’s Cross-country through the continental qualifier.

 

Net Quotas by Nations

• Great Britain – 1
• Lesotho – 1
• Namibia – 1
• Timor-Leste – 1
• Netherlands – -1
• New Zealand – -1
• South Africa – -1
• Sweden – -1

 

References

• UCI. Mountain Biking – Places attributed to the NOCs. Access on July 1 2016.

Cycling Road: Women’s Olympic Rankings Published

The Union Cycliste Internationale has published the Women’s Olympic Qualification Rankings which are used to allocate the majority of competitors in women’s road race and time trial. Athletes can earn points for their nation in UCI approved events. For the women’s road race initially the top 5 nations earn four athlete quotas, nations ranked 6th to 13th earn three quotas and nations ranked 14th to 22nd earn two quotas. However, if an athlete is ranked in the top 100 in the individual rankings and their nation did not qualify through the nation rankings they will earn their nation a maximum of one quota. The quota is subtracted from the lowest ranked nations (those nations can only lose a maximum of one quota). For the time trial the top 15 nations from the rankings will be allowed to send one athlete which has qualified from the road race. The Women’s Olympic Qualification Rankings are calculated from various events held from June 1st 2015 to May 31st 2016.

For the women’s road race the women’s individual rankings contained 12 nations where athletes finished in the top 100, but their nation did not finished in the top 22 in the nation rankings. They are Chinese Taipei (Huang Ting Ying), Norway (Emile Moberg), Brazil (Flavia Oliveira), Azerbaijan (Olena Pavlukhina), Thailand (Jutatip Maneephan), Austria (Martina Ritter), Slovenia (Polana Batagelj), Lithuania (Daiva Tuslaite), Cyprus (Antri Christoforou), Israel (Shani Bloch), Japan (Mayuko Hagiwara) and Chile (Paola Munoz). This has caused nations ranked from 11 to 22 to lose one quota. Netherlands, United States, Italy, Australia and Germany qualified four athlete quotas. Poland, Sweden, Great Britain, Canada and Belgium qualified three athlete quotas. France, South Africa and Luxembourg qualified two athlete quotas. Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Finland, Cuba, New Zealand, Mexico, Switzerland and Spain qualified one athlete quota. Since Cuba qualified through the nation rankings its continental qualifier quota was reallocated to the next best ranked eligible nation from the Pan American qualifier, specifically Venezuela. Also since Brazil qualified one quota through the rankings one of their host quota will be reallocated to the highest ranked nation not yet qualified, Colombia.

The nations which qualified through the women’s time trial are as follows; Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, Russia, South Africa, Sweden, Ukraine and the United States. As a reminder these nations do not gain an athlete quota, they must use athletes which were qualified from the road race. Due to this rule both the Czech Republic and Russia which qualified quotas from the 2015 World Championship do not have enough athletes to fill that spot. The quotas have now been reallocated to the next highest eligible ranked nation from the event, specifically Japan and Sweden.

This was the final opportunity for nations to qualify to the Olympics in all disciplines of cycling. All that is left is for nations to confirm the quotas in which they were given.

 

Athletes by Nations

• Australia – 4
• Germany – 4
• Italy – 4
• Netherlands – 4
• United States – 4
• Belgium – 3
• Canada – 3
• Great Britain – 3
• Poland – 3
• Sweden – 3
• France – 2
• Luxembourg – 2
• South Africa – 2
• Austria – 1
• Azerbaijan – 1
• Belarus – 1
• Brazil – 1
• Chile – 1
• Chinese Taipei – 1
• Colombia – 1
• Cuba – 1
• Cyprus – 1
• Finland – 1
• Israel – 1
• Japan – 1
• Lithuania – 1
• Mexico – 1
• New Zealand – 1
• Norway – 1
• Russia – 1
• Slovenia – 1
• Spain – 1
• Switzerland – 1
• Thailand – 1
• Ukraine – 1

 

References

• UCI. Athletes quota for road cycling women’s events. Access on June 1 2016.

Cycling BMX: BMX Quotas Decided

With the update of the World Rankings the BMX quotas have been decided. There are three stages in which quotas are allocated. First is the Olympic Qualification Rankings where athletes can earn points for their nation at select events such as, the World Championship, World Cup, Continental Championship and others. For the men the top four nations qualified three athletes, nations ranked 5th to 7th qualify 2 athletes while nations ranked 8th to 13th qualify 1 athlete. For the women the top three nations qualified two athletes and nations ranked 4th to 7th qualify 1 athlete. The ranking period was from May 31st 2014 to May 30th 2016.

The second way to qualify quotas was through the UCI Individual Rankings. Athletes can earn points at select events such as, the World Championship, World Cup, Continental Championship and others. Nations which did not qualify through the Olympic Rankings are eligible. The top four individual athletes for the men and the top three individual athletes for the women qualify their nation to the Olympics. The ranking period was from May 31st 2015 to May 30th 2016.

The final way athletes can qualify was through the 2016 BMX World Championship. The top three for men and top two for women ranked athletes from nations not yet qualified qualify their nation to the Olympics. The BMX World Championship was held in Medellin, Colombia from May 25th to May 29th 2016.

The Olympic Qualification Rankings for the men’s BMX was as follows; United States, Netherlands, Australia and France all qualified three athletes, Great Britain, Latvia and Colombia qualified two athletes and Argentina, Switzerland, Canada, New Zealand, Brazil and Japan qualified one athlete.

The nations which qualified through the Individual Rankings were as follow; Alfredo Campo (Ecuador), Russia (Evgeny Komarov), Germany (Luis Brethauer) and Norway (Tore Navrestad). At the World Championship the gold medal was won by France’s Joris Daudet whom narrowly defeated Netherlands’ Niek Kimmann by 0.048 of a second. The Olympic quotas went to South Africa (Kyle Dodd), Venezuela (Jefferson Milano), and Denmark (Niklas Lausten). Since Brazil qualified through the Olympic Rankings the host quota will be reallocated to the next best nation in the Olympic Rankings not yet qualified, specifically Indonesia.

For the women’s BMX the following nations qualified through the Olympic Qualification Rankings; Australia, United States and Netherlands qualified two athletes and Colombia, France, Venezuela and Russia qualified one athlete. The nations which qualified through the Individual Rankings were as follows; Belgium (Elke Vanhoof), Denmark (Simone Christensen) and Argentina (Maria Gabriela Diaz).

At the World Championship the women’s BMX was won by 2012 Olympic gold medalist Mariana Pajon of Colombia whom finished with a time of 41.385, well ahead of second place Caroline Buchanan of Australia whom finished with a time of 42.312. The Olympic quotas went to Germany (Nadja Pries) and Brazil (Priscilla Stevaux Carnaval). Since Brazil qualified normally its host quota has been reallocated to the next best nation in the Olympic Rankings not yet qualified, specifically Thailand.

This concludes the qualification for the BMX events. All that is remaining is for nations to confirm their qualification quotas.

 

Quotas by Nations

• Australia – 5
• Netherlands – 5
• United States – 5
• France – 4
• Colombia – 3
• Argentina – 2
• Brazil – 2
• Denmark – 2
• Germany – 2
• Great Britain – 2
• Latvia – 2
• Russia – 2
• Venezuela – 2
• Belgium – 1
• Canada – 1
• Ecuador – 1
• Indonesia – 1
• Japan – 1
• Norway – 1
• New Zealand – 1
• South Africa – 1
• Switzerland – 1
• Thailand – 1

 

References

• UCI. 2016 BMX Cycling Rankings. Access on May 31 2016.
• UCI. 2016 BMX World Championship Men’s Results. Access on May 31 2016.
• UCI. 2016 BMX World Championship Women’s Results. Access on May 31 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.

Cycling Track: Olympic Track Rankings Published

With the final update of the Olympic Track World Rankings the quotas for track cycling has been decided. The top 9 nations in team sprint, the top 9 individuals not qualified in the team sprint in the individual sprint and keirin with a maximum of two per nation, the top 9 nations in the team pursuit and the top 18 nations in the omnium will qualify to the Olympics. The Olympic Track World Rankings were constructed based on various eligible events ranging from July 15th 2014 to March 6th 2016.

Each continent also has a maximum quota limit for each event. Should the limit be reached the next highest ranked nation from a different continent will qualify. The maximum limit quotas for each event are as follows.

Russia topped the rankings for the women’s team sprint. They will be joined by Australia, China, Germany, Netherlands, Spain, France, New Zealand and Canada. Great Britain finished within the top nine, but did not qualify due to Europe already reaching its maximum quota of five.

The rankings for the men’s team sprint were topped by Germany. They will be joined by the Netherlands, France, New Zealand, Australia, Great Britain, Poland, Venezuela and South Korea at the Olympics. While Russia finished in the top nine Europe had already exceeded its maximum quota of five.

The women’s individual sprint Olympic rankings were topped by Hong Kong’s Lee Wai Sze. Hong Kong will be joined by the following nations, Lithuania, Cuba, Great Britain (2), Azerbaijan, Malaysia, Colombia and Egypt. Many athletes from America and Asia finished ahead of the final athlete from Egypt, but those continents reached the maximum quota. Also all nations which qualified in the team sprint can send a maximum of two athletes to this event.

The men’s individual sprint Olympic rankings were topped by Australia’s Matthew Glaetzer. However since Australia already qualified to the Olympics the nine individual spots went to Russia (2), Colombia, China, Czech Republic (2), Trinidad and Tobago, Japan and Spain. Many athletes from America and Asia finished ahead of the final athlete from the Czech Republic, but those continents reached the maximum quota. Also all nations which qualified in the team sprint can send a maximum of two athletes to this event.

The rankings for the women’s kerin were topped by Guo Shuang of China. China is already qualified through the team sprint so the nine spots went to Hong Kong, South Korea, Lithuania, Cuba, Ukraine, Colombia, Ireland, Great Britain and Azerbaijan. Many athletes from America and Asia finished ahead of the final athlete from Azerbaijan, but those continents reached the maximum quota. Also all nations which qualified in the team sprint can send a maximum of two athletes to this event.

The men’s keirin was topped by Colombia’s Fabian Puerta Zapata. He will be joined by Malaysia, Russia, Japan, United States, Canada, Greece, Czech Republic and Italy. South Korea and China finished ahead of the final athlete, but did not qualify as Asia had already reached its maximum quota. Also all nations which qualified in the team sprint can send a maximum of two athletes to this event.

The women’s team pursuit was topped by Great Britain. They will be joined by Canada, Australia, China, United States, New Zealand, Italy, Germany and Poland whose result at the 2016 Track World Championship was enough to finish ahead of Russia.

The men’s team pursuit was topped by Australia. They will be joined by Great Britain, New Zealand, Germany, Denmark, Russia, Switzerland, Netherlands and China.

The women’s nation omnium rankings were topped by Great Britain. They will be joined by the Netherlands, United States, Belgium, Australia, France, Cuba, Belarus, Denmark, Poland, Germany, Canada, New Zealand, China, Russia, Hong Kong, Chinese Taipei, Venezuela and Japan. Several European nations had a good enough ranking, but did not qualify due to the maximum quota of eight European nations being met.

The men’s nation omnium rankings were topped by Australia. They will be joined by Colombia, Germany, Italy, Denmark, Great Britain, France, New Zealand, Belgium, Netherlands, Switzerland, United States, Japan, Hong Kong, Brazil, Kazakhstan, Mexico and South Korea. Russia and Netherlands finished within the top 18, but did not qualify as Europe had already reached its maximum quota of eight.

This was the only opportunity for nations to qualify in track cycling. Overall 36 nations will send at least one athlete in the sport. Also while Great Britain technically qualified 16 athletes the maximum quota in track cycling is 15.

 

Athletes by Nations

• Australia – 15
• Germany – 15
• Great Britain – 15
• New Zealand – 15
• China – 12
• Netherlands – 11
• Russia – 9
• Canada – 8
• Poland – 8
• France – 7
• United States – 7
• Denmark – 6
• Italy – 6
• Colombia – 5
• South Korea – 5
• Switzerland – 5
• Hong Kong – 4
• Japan – 4
• Venezuela – 4
• Cuba – 3
• Czech Republic – 3
• Spain – 3
• Azerbaijan – 2
• Belgium – 2
• Lithuania – 2
• Malaysia – 2
• Belarus – 1
• Brazil – 1
• Egypt – 1
• Greece – 1
• Ireland – 1
• Kazakhstan – 1
• Mexico – 1
• Chinese Taipei – 1
• Trinidad and Tobago – 1
• Ukraine – 1

 

References

• UCI. UCI Olympic Track Rankings – Men’s Team Sprint. Access on March 7 2016.
• UCI. UCI Olympic Track Rankings – Men’s Individual Sprint. Access on March 7 2016.
• UCI. UCI Olympic Track Rankings – Men’s Keirin. Access on March 7 2016.
• UCI. UCI Olympic Track Rankings – Men’s Team Pursuit. Access on March 7 2016.
• UCI. UCI Olympic Track Rankings – Men’s Omnium. Access on March 7 2016.
• UCI. UCI Olympic Track Rankings – Women’s Team Sprint. Access on March 7 2016.
• UCI. UCI Olympic Track Rankings – Women’s Individual Sprint. Access on March 7 2016.
• UCI. UCI Olympic Track Rankings – Women’s Keirin. Access on March 7 2016.
• UCI. UCI Olympic Track Rankings – Women’s Team Pursuit. Access on March 7 2016.
• UCI. UCI Olympic Track Rankings – Women’s Omnium. Access on March 7 2016.

Cycling Road: Namibia On Top In Women’s Road Race

Namibia was able to win its first gold medal in the women’s road race at the 2016 African Road Cycling Continental Championship. The highest ranked eligible nation was given a spot to compete in the women’s road race event at the Olympics. The African Road Cycling Continental Championship was held in multiple cities across Morocco from February 23rd to February 26th 2016.

The women’s road race had a leading group of 20 cyclists for most of the race. South Africa’s An-Li Kachelhoffer and Mauritius’ Kimberley Le Court attempted to break away from the pack, but were soon brought back into the pack. As the race entered its final stage a small group of cyclists finally broke away from the pack leaving four cyclists with a sprint finish to the line. It was Namibia’s Vera Adrian which won the gold and a spot for her nation at the Olympics with a final time of 3:39:48. Kachelhoffer and Le Court settled for silver and bronze respectively while Ethiopia’s Tsege Beyene was left in fourth position.

While the continental championships happen earlier the World Rankings have a higher priority when it comes to qualification. It is unlikely that Namibia would qualify through the rankings, but in the event that they do the spot will be reallocated to the next best nation at this event, namely South Africa, Mauritius or Ethiopia in this order.

 

Quotas by Nations

• Namibia – 1

 

References

• UCI. 2016 African Continental Championship – Women’s Road Race Results. Access on February 26 2016.

Cycling Road: South Korea Wins Women’s Road Race in Sprint at Asian Champs

South Korea won in a sprint finish in the women’s road race event at the 2016 Asian Cycling Championship. The highest ranked eligible nation qualifies to the Olympics. The Asian Cycling Championship was held in Oshima, Japan from January 20th to January 24th 2016.

The race began with 40 riders on the start line. As the race progressed only four people remained in the lead group; Pu Yixian of China, Japan’s Mayuko Hagiwara and Eri Yonamine and South Korea’s Na Ah Reum. The race would come down to a sprint finish as Na crossed the finish line to win gold and the Olympic berth. Pu finished in second while Hagiwara won the bronze.

As a reminder the world rankings which will be published at the end of May will have priority so should South Korea qualify through that then the next highest ranked nation will qualify. Looking at the current rankings it is doubtful that South Korea will gain enough points, but if they do the spot will then be reallocated to China.

 

Quotas by Nations

• South Korea – 1

 

References

• UCI. 2016 Asian Cycling Championships – Women Road Race Results. Access on January 23 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: Belarus and New Zealand Win Time Trial at Road World Championships

Belarus and New Zealand were the winners in the time trial events at the 2015 Road Cycling World Championships. The 10 highest ranked nations from each gender will be given quotas to compete in the Olympics. The Road Cycling World Championships were held in Richmond, United States from September 19th to September 27th 2015.

The women’s time trial had a 30km distance. The first competitor was 2014 world champion Lisa Brennauer who placed an impressive time of 40:35.13; however she was quickly passed by Netherlands’ Anna van der Breggen whom finished 2.72 seconds faster. She was able to hold onto the lead until the ninth rider as New Zealand’s Linda Villumsen finished with a time of 40:29.87. Villumsen would go to hold onto the lead and win the gold medal. van der Breggen and Brennauer also went on to win silver and bronze respectively.

The top 10 nations that were given an Olympic quota were New Zealand, Netherlands, Germany, Australia, United States, Belarus, Belgium, Russia, Czech Republic and Canada.

The men’s time trial had a 53.5km distance. Being the third one out Belarus’ Vasil Kiryienka set a fast time of 1:02:29.45 which ended up being good enough to win gold. In fact his performance was so good that only silver medalist Adriano Malori of Italy finished within 10 seconds of his time. Jerome Coppel of France won the bronze medal as he finished 26.62 seconds off Kiryienka’s time.

The top 10 nations that were given an Olympic quota were Belarus, Italy, France, Spain, Netherlands, Australia, Germany, Poland, Czech Republic and United States.

Despite being given quotas to compete in the time trial the nations technically have not qualified any athletes. That is because the time trial is made up of athletes whom qualified in the road race. Should one of these nations fail to qualify in the road race and do not receive a reallocation spot then the quota for the time trial will be given to the next eligible nation whom has qualified athletes to the road race.

Quotas by Nation

• Australia – 2
• Belarus – 2
• Czech Republic – 2
• Germany – 2
• Netherlands – 2
• United States – 2
• Belgium – 1
• Canada – 1
• France – 1
• Italy – 1
• New Zealand – 1
• Poland – 1
• Russia – 1
• Spain – 1

References

• UCI. UCI Road World Championships Men’s Time Trial Results. Access on September 25 2015.
• UCI. UCI Road World Championships Women’s Time Trial Results. Access on September 25 2015.