Boxing: Professional Athletes Qualified at APB/WSB Qualifier

The final qualification quotas were decided at the 2016 APB/WSB Olympic Qualification Event. At this tournament boxers from AIBA Pro Boxing and World Series of Boxing are allowed to compete. In addition, with the late ruling allowing full professional boxers to compete this will be the only opportunity for them to qualify to the Olympics. In total the highest ranked boxers from the men’s heavyweight and super heavyweight qualified to the Olympics while for the other eight weight classes the top three athletes qualified to the Olympics. The APB/WSB Olympic Qualification Event was held in Vargas, Venezuela from July 3rd to July 8th 2016.

The late rule change to allow all professional boxers was met with some controversy with some nations declaring it was unfair to change the rules this late with some nations refusing to allow professionals to compete even if they had space on the team. Pro boxing organisations also threatened suspensions for athletes whom choose to compete in the Olympics. In the end only a small group of professionals actually competed. Two of the most prominent pros which qualified were Thailand’s Amnat Ruenroeng in the men’s lightweight (-60kg) and Cameroon’s Hassan N’Dam N’Jikam in the men’s light heavyweight (-81kg). Both actually lost their final match with Mexico’s Lindolfo Delgado defeating Ruenroeng and Colombia’s Juan Carlos Carrillo defeating N’Jikam. Also qualifying in those weights were Italy’s Carmine Tommasone (-60kg) and Ukraine’s Denys Soloneko (-81kg).

Mexico was the top performing nation, winning three gold medals. Along with Delgado, Joselito Velazquez defeated Ecuador’s Carlos Quipo in the men’s light flyweight (-49kg) and Juan Pablo Romero won in a walkover against Germany’s Arajik Marutjan in the men’s welterweight (-69kg). Also qualifying were Argentina’s Leandro Blanc in the light flyweight and Spain’s Youba Sissokho in the welterweight.

While Mexico won the most gold medals Venezuela qualified the most athletes, with four in total. Overall they won two events; Yoel Finol Rivas defeated Germany’s Hamza Touba in the men’s flyweight (-52kg), Colombia’s Ceiber Avila finished third and Edgar Munoz won the only available spot in the men’s super heavyweight (+91kg) with his win over Ukraine’s Rostyslav Arkhypenko. Also qualifying for Venezuela was Endry Jose Pinto whom lost to Ecuador’s Marlo Delgado in the men’s middleweight (-75kg), Turkey’s Onder Sipal won the third quota and Victor Rodriguez grabbed the third quota in the men’s bantamweight (-56kg). The winner of that event was Kenya’s Benson Gicharu whom won in a walkover against Dominican Republic’s Hector Garcia.

 

In the men’s light welterweight (-64kg) Armenia’s Hovhannes won in a technical knock-out over Qatar’s Thulasi Tharumalingam. The third quota for that event went to Ukraine’s Volodymyr Matviychuk whom won in a walk-over against Argentina’s Carlos Daniel Aquino. The lone quota in the men’s heavyweight (-91kg) went to Ecuador’s Julio Cesar Castillo whom defeated Croatia’s Marko Calic in the final.

 

This was the final opportunity for athletes to qualify in boxing. All that is remaining is for the nations to confirm the quotas and for the tripartite commission to announce the remaining tripartite quotas.

 

Quotas by Nations

• Venezuela – 4
• Ecuador – 3
• Mexico – 3
• Colombia – 2
• Germany – 2
• Ukraine – 2
• Argentina – 1
• Armenia – 1
• Cameroon – 1
• Dominican Republic – 1
• Italy – 1
• Kenya – 1
• Qatar – 1
• Spain – 1
• Thailand – 1
• Turkey – 1

 

References

• AIBA. APB/WSB Olympic Qualification Event. Access on July 8 2016.

Swimming: China Tops Marathon Swimming Olympic Qualifiers

China won gold in both events at the 2016 Marathon Swimming Olympic Qualifier. In each event the top 10 highest ranked athletes, with a maximum of one athlete per nation qualified to the Olympics. Similarly the highest ranked eligible athlete from each continent also qualified to the Olympics. The Marathon Swimming Olympic Qualifier was held in Setubal, Portugal from June 11th to June 12th 2016.

In the women’s 10km race it was China’s Yan Siyu whom led the pack for the first two laps. She would go on to lose the lead with Poland’s Joanna Zachoszcz leading at the end of the third lap and her compatriot Xin Xin leading in the fourth and fifth laps, but she remained within the lead group. Going into the sixth and final lap the lead group was numbered at about 10. During the final lap three swimmers; Xin Xin, Great Britain’s Keri-Anne Payne and Ecuador’s Samantha Arevalo broke away and had a sprint swim towards the finish line where Xin finished ahead of Payne with a time of 1:55:12.1, just 0.8 seconds ahead. Arevalo won the bronze medal.

The top 10 eligible swimmers which qualified to the Olympics were;  Xin Xin (China), Keri-Anne Payne (Great Britain), Samantha Arevalo (Ecuador), Chelsea Gubecka (Australia), Yumi Kida (Japan), Michelle Weber (South Africa), Joanna Zachoszcz (Poland), Paola Perez (Venezuela), Spela Perse (Slovenia) and Jana Pechanova (Czech Republic). The five continental qualifiers were Erika Villaecija (Spain), Stephanie Horner (Canada), Heidi Gan (Malaysia), Charlotte Webby (New Zealand) and Reem Kaseem (Egypt).

The men’s 10km race saw multiple lead changes and had a lead group of about 20 athletes going into the final lap. As the final lap progressed the number of athletes in the lead group dwindled, until only China’s Zu Lijun remained as he won the race with a time of 1:52:18.2. 2.2 second later Germany’s Christian Reichert won the silver while Ecuador’s Ivan Enderica Ochoa won the bronze.

The top 10 eligible swimmers which qualified to the Olympics were; Zu Lijun (China), Christian Reichert (Germany), Ivan Enderica Ochoa (Ecuador), Evgenii Drattcev (Russia), Ous Mellouli (Tunisia), Richard Nagy (Slovakia), Jarrod Poort (Australia), Yasunari Hirai (Japan), Chad Ho (South Africa) and Ventsislav Aydarski (Bulgaria). The five continental qualifiers were Mark Papp (Hungary), Erwin Maldonado (Venezuela), Kane Radford (New Zealand), Vitaliy Khudyakov (Kazakhstan) and Marwan Elamrawy (Egypt).

This was the final opportunity to qualify in marathon swimming. Swimmers can still attempt to qualify to the pool events by reaching the qualification times.

 

Quotas by Nations

• Australia – 2
• China – 2
• Ecuador – 2
• Egypt – 2
• Japan – 2
• New Zealand – 2
• South Africa – 2
• Venezuela – 2
• Bulgaria – 1
• Canada – 1
• Czech Republic – 1
• Germany – 1
• Great Britain – 1
• Hungary – 1
• Kazakhstan – 1
• Malaysia – 1
• Poland – 1
• Russia – 1
• Slovakia – 1
• Slovenia – 1
• Spain – 1
• Tunisia – 1

 

References

• OmegaTiming. Marathon Swimming Olympic Games Qualification Tournament Results. Access on June 12 2016.

Weightlifting: Canada and Cuba Qualify in Both Genders At Pan American Championship

Canada and Cuba topped their respective team Olympic rankings at the 2016 Pan American Weightlifting Championship. The team Olympic rankings are constructed from points obtained from the top six men or top four women out of the nations which have not already qualified. The top seven men’s teams and the top four women’s teams qualify one athlete each. The Pan American Weightlifting Championship was held in Cartagena, Colombia from June 6th to June 11th 2016.

Canada was the top nation in the women’s events where they accumulated 109 points. They were followed by Puerto Rico whom finished with 103 points. Being anchored by gold medal winner Maria Valdes in the women’s -75kg Chile finished in third with 101 points while Cuba grabbed the final quota as they finished with 97 points.

One of the biggest shocks of the championship came in the men’s events where regional powerhouse Venezuela had their first three lifters fail to finish their event, leaving only five athletes left to compete. Overall Cuba topped the Olympic rankings, finishing with a total of 148 points. Ecuador finished in second with 143 points while Mexico and the United States finished equal at 141 points. Dominican Republic and Peru also qualified to the Olympics with 129 and 126 points respectively. Despite having only five remaining lifters Venezuela was still in a position to qualify going into the final event. Canada however, spoiled the unlikely achievement by doing just enough to win the final Olympic quota, finishing with a total of 118 points, just 1 point ahead of Venezuela.

This was the final continental qualifier in weightlifting. Unqualified nations can still qualify through the individual rankings where the cut-off will occur in the coming weeks. Also left to decide are the tripartite quotas.

 

Quotas by Nations

• Canada – 2
• Cuba – 2
• Chile – 1
• Dominican Republic – 1
• Ecuador – 1
• Mexico – 1
• Peru – 1
• Puerto Rico – 1
• United States – 1

 

References

• IWF. Pan American Weightlifting Championship Results. Access on June 11 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 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.

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.

Wrestling: 1st World Qualifier Qualifies 28 Nations

28 nations qualified at least one athlete at the 1st World Wrestling Qualification Tournament. The top three athletes from the men’s freestyle and Greco-Roman and the top two athletes from the women’s freestyle qualified their nations to the Olympics. The 1st World Wrestling Qualification Tournament was held in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia from April 22nd to April 24th 2016.

Belarus topped the Greco-Roman events by winning two gold medals. Aliaksandr Hrabovik defeated Georgia’s Revazi Nadareishvili in the -98kg while Javid Hamzatau defeated Armenia’s Maksim Manukyan in the -85kg. Armenia secured a second quota in the -75kg where Arsen Julfalakyan won the third place bout. The -75kg was won by Hungary’s Peter Bacsi in a walkover after China’s Yang Bin withdrew. China’s Meng Qiang also withdrew in the -130kg to give Iran’s Amir Ghasemi the victory. Uzbekistan’s Muminjon Abdullaev won the third place bout while his compatriot Elmurat Tasmuradov won the play-off match in the -59kg. The -59kg was won by South Korea’s Kim Seung-Kak whom defeated Norway’s Stig Andre Berge. Romania’s Ion Panait won the -66kg event over Finland’s Tero Valimaki. Lithuania’s Edgaras Venckaitis won the third place bout. Sweden also qualified two athletes in the third place bouts via Zakarias Berg in the -85kg and Fredrik Schon in the -98kg.

The United States qualified two athletes in the women freestyle events. In the -53kg Helen Maroulis defeated Greece Maria Prevolaraki while Haley Augello lost to North Korea’s Kim Hyon-Gyong in the -48kg. Hungary also qualified two athletes to the Olympics, but lost both of their final bouts. In the -63kg Marianna Sastin had to withdraw giving Turkey’s Hafize Sahin the victory while Zsanett Nemeth lost to France’s Cynthia Vescan in the final of the -75kg. The -58kg was won by Ecuador’s Lissette Antes whom defeated Germany’s Luisa Niemesch while the -69kg was won by Israel’s Ilana Kratysh whom defeated Venezuela’s Maria Acosta in the final. This will Israel’s first female wrestler to compete at the Olympics.

The final day contained results from the men’s freestyle events. In the -65kg it was Bahrain’s Adam Batirov whom defeated Georgia’s Zurabi Iakobishvili in the final. Third place bout winner Yakup Gor of Turkey also qualified to the Olympics. Turkey ended up qualifying a second quota as they won the -74kg event over Bulgaria’s Georgi Ivanov. Moldova’s Evgheni Nedealco also qualified to the Olympics by winning the third place bout. Moldova won a second third place bout through Nicolae Ceban in the -97kg event. The event was won by Armenia’s Georgy Ketoyev whom defeated Uzbekistan’s Magomed Ibragimov. The -86kg event was won by J’den Cox of the United States who defeated Venezuela’s Pedro Ceballos in the final. The third place bout was won by Poland’s Zbigniew Baranowski. Poland won a second third place bout with Robert Baran in the -125kg event. The event was won by China’s Deng Zhiwei in a walkover against Hungary’s Daniel Ligeti. The -57kg event was won by Romania’s Ivan Guidea whom defeated Azerbaijan’s Mirjalal Hasanzada in the final. The third place bout was won by Sandeep Tomar of India.

With this competition Azerbaijan and Georgia will be sending full men’s freestyle teams. Unqualified nations will get one more opportunity to qualify to the Olympics at a second world qualification tournament due to be held in May.

 

Quotas by Nations

• Hungary – 4
• Armenia – 3
• China – 3
• Turkey – 3
• United States – 3
• Uzbekistan – 3
• Belarus – 2
• Georgia – 2
• Moldova – 2
• Poland – 2
• Romania – 2
• Sweden – 2
• Venezuela – 2
• Azerbaijan – 1
• Bahrain – 1
• Bulgaria – 1
• Ecuador – 1
• Finland – 1
• France – 1
• Germany – 1
• Greece – 1
• India – 1
• Iran – 1
• Israel – 1
• Lithuania – 1
• Norway – 1
• North Korea – 1
• South Korea – 1

 

References

• UWW. 1st Olympic Games World Qualifying Tournament – Schedule and Results. Access on April 24 2016.

Rowing: Update on Latin America Regatta Qualifiers

FISA has given us an update about the qualified boats from the Latin America Regatta. Since a nation can only qualify one boat per gender some nations had to choose which event they will compete in meaning the other boat was reallocated to the next highest ranked nation. Also there was a slight change to the qualification format where the host quota reallocation now goes to the next highest ranked nation from the Latin America Regatta. Since Brazil has already qualified there will be seven quotas available in the single sculls for both genders. Here’s a list of qualified boats.

 

Men’s Single Sculls

1. Mexico
2. Argentina
3. Peru
4. Uruguay
5. Venezuela
6. Ecuador
7. Paraguay

 

Men’s Lightweight Double Sculls

1. Brazil
2. Cuba
3. Chile

 

Women’s Single Sculls

1. Bermuda
2. Mexico
3. Trinidad and Tobago
4. Argentina
5. Paraguay
6. Peru
7. Bahamas

 

Women’s Lightweight Double Sculls

1. Brazil
2. Cuba
3. Chile

 

References

• FISA. 2016 Rowing Olympic and Paralympic Qualification By Event. Access on April 20 2016.

Boxing: 13 American Nations Qualify After Continental Qualifier

13 nations qualified athletes at the 2016 American Boxing Olympic Qualification Tournament. In the men’s events the top two in the light flyweight, flyweight, bantamweight, light welterweight and light heavyweight and the top three in the lightweight, welterweight, middleweight, heavyweight and super heavyweight qualified to the Olympics. For the women’s events the top lightweight and top two flyweight and middleweight qualified to the Olympics. The differences in quotas are due to the subtraction caused by Brazil using a host quota. The American Boxing Olympic Qualification Tournament was held in Buenos Aires, Argentina from March 11th to March 19th 2016.

Overall 33 nations compete in 10 men’s and 3 women’s weight classes. The first day of finals saw the results of six men’s events. 2015 world silver medalist Erislandy Savon of Cuba won the men’s heavyweight (-91kg) over Argentina’s Yamil Peralta. Brazil won the third quota by winning a box-off. Argentina also qualified by winning the men’s flyweight (-52kg) over Dominican Republic’s Leonel De Los Santos. Both Colombia and the United States qualified in the men’s light flyweight and (-49kg) and middleweight (-75kg) as the two nations split the events respectively. Mexico also qualified in the middleweight class. Canada’s 2015 Pan American gold medalist Arthur Biyarslanov won in the men’s light welterweight as he defeated Venezuela’s Luis Arcon. Venezuela also qualified in a second event by finishing runner-up to Ecuador’s Carlos Mina in the men’s light heavyweight (-81kg).

In the women’s events 2015 Pan American gold medalist Mandy Bujold defeated Colombia’s Ingrit Valencia in the women’s flyweight (-51kg) as both qualified to the Olympics. United States’ Mikaela Myers grabbed the only quota in the women’s lightweight (-60kg) as she defeated Mexico’s Victoria Torres in the final. 2012 Olympic gold medalist Claressa Shields will get to defend her crown as she won the middleweight (-75kg) by defeating Canada’s Ariane Fortin, whom also qualified to the Olympics.

The second day of finals saw Cuba becoming the first nation to qualify in all ten of the men’s events as they won gold in the welterweight (-69kg) and in the super heavyweight (+91kg). Venezuela won the lightweight (-60kg) event by defeating Honduras in the final and also qualified in the welterweight. The other event, the bantamweight (-56kg) was won by the United States’ Shakur Stevenson whom defeated Argentina’s Alberto Melian. Argentina also did well on this day as they also qualified in the lightweight and welterweight. The other qualified nations were Trinidad and Tobago and US Virgin Islands, both qualified in the super heavyweight.

As a reminder the women’s world championship will have higher priority so if one of the above athletes qualified through that then the next highest ranked nation here would qualify. For the men, unqualified nations will still have a chance to qualify in two more events.

 

Quotas by Nations

• Argentina – 5
• United States – 5
• Venezuela – 4
• Cuba – 3
• Canada – 3
• Colombia – 3
• Brazil – 1
• Dominican Republic – 1
• Ecuador – 1
• Honduras – 1
• Mexico – 1
• Trinidad and Tobago – 1
• US Virgin Islands – 1

 

References

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

Equestrian: Olympic Rankings Published But Dispute Remains

24 nations qualified at least one athlete from the Equestrian Olympic Rankings; however one ranking dispute still remains. Individuals not yet qualified to the Olympics were eligible to qualify their nation based on the rankings, provided that the nation has not reached its maximum quota. For the three disciplines there were three types of ranking lists, one for each of the seven groups; Group A (North, Western Europe), Group B (South, Western Europe), Group C (Central & Eastern Europe, Central Asia), Group D (North America, English Caribbean), Group E (Central & South America), Group F (Africa & Middle East) and Group G (South, East Asia, Oceania), another list combined some groups; Group A/B/C, Group D/E and Group F/G and a final overall list. The Equestrian Olympic Rankings contained various eligible events held from March 9th 2015 to March 6th 2016 for dressage and eventing and January 1st 2015 to March 6th 2016 for jumping.

In dressage the top two from Groups A, B and C, the highest ranked nation from Groups D, E, F and G and the top six from the overall list, with a maximum of four from the same nation qualified to the Olympics.

With the updated rankings the following nations won a spot from the group rankings, Denmark (2), Austria, Belgium, Russia (2), Canada, Dominican Republic, Palestine and New Zealand. These nations qualified from the overall ranking; Denmark (2), Ireland, Italy and Switzerland. Since Denmark qualified four riders they will be eligible to enter the team competition as a composite team. One more individual spot is open, but there is a dispute between Poland and Ukraine about the results of a certain event which would have qualification implications.

For eventing the highest ranked nation from each individual group, the top two from Groups A/B/C, D/E and F/G and the top eight from the overall list, with a maximum of four from the same nation qualified to the Olympics.

With the updated rankings the following nations won a spot from the group rankings, Finland, Italy, Russia, Chile, Zimbabwe and Japan. Since Group D did not have any eligible nations they quota has been reallocated to the overall ranking list. The following nations qualified from the combined group list, Belarus, Switzerland, Puerto Rico, Ecuador, China and Japan. The following nations qualified from the overall rankings, Belgium (2), Italy (2), Russia (2), Spain and Switzerland (2). Since Italy, Russia and Switzerland qualified three riders each they will be eligible to enter the team competition as composite teams.

The Olympic quotas for jumping went to the highest ranked nation from Groups A, B, C and F and the top four from the overall list, with a maximum of two from the same nation.

From the four groups the following nations qualified; Ireland, Portugal, Turkey and Morocco while from the overall rankings it was Belgium (2), Egypt and Italy whom qualified spots for their nations.

The ranking dispute between Poland and Ukraine in dressage will hopefully be settled soon. This was the final opportunity to qualify in equestrian. Overall several nations such as the Dominican Republic, Palestine and Zimbabwe will be making their Olympic debut in this sport.

 

Quotas by Nations

• Belgium – 5
• Italy – 5
• Russia – 5
• Denmark – 4
• Switzerland – 4
• Ireland – 2
• Japan – 2
• Austria – 1
• Belarus – 1
• Canada – 1
• Chile – 1
• China – 1
• Dominican Republic – 1
• Ecuador – 1
• Egypt – 1
• Finland – 1
• Morocco – 1
• New Zealand – 1
• Palestine – 1
• Portugal – 1
• Puerto Rico – 1
• Spain – 1
• Turkey – 1
• Zimbabwe – 1

 

References

• FEI. List of qualified nations. Access on March 10 2016.