Archery: Final Olympic Qualifiers Adds 6 Teams and 11 Individuals

The final Olympic quotas were decided at the 2016 Archery World Cup – Stage 3. A special Final Olympic Qualification Tournament was held during the World Cup event. The top three nations from the team event of the Olympic qualification tournament qualified to the Olympics. In the individual event, initially three spots were available to the highest ranked athletes with a maximum of one quota per nation per gender, but should a nation whom qualified in the team event, previously qualified an individual quota that quota will be reallocated to the next highest ranked eligible athlete at this individual event. The Archery World Cup – Stage 3 was held in Antalya, Turkey from June 12th to June 19th 2016.

In the women’s team recurve Germany was the top nation in the ranking round, finishing with a score of 1991. However, they suffered an early upset to Estonia in the first round where Estonia won in an upset. Estonia would continue its unlikely run by defeating Great Britain 6-0 in the quarter-final. In the semi-final they were stopped by fifth seed Ukraine whom won the match 5-3. The other half of the bracket was relatively tame as both the second and third seed Italy and Chinese Taipei respectively faced off in the semi-final. The match went to a tie-breaker where Italy advanced to the final. Ukraine would go on to win the event with a 5-1 win over Italy. For third place and the final Olympic quota Chinese Taipei easily dispatched Estonia to win the match 6-0. Since Chinese Taipei, Italy and the Ukraine all qualified athletes previously the total amount of quotas for the women’s individual qualifiers will be six.

The men’s team recurve saw many upsets. After winning the top seed in the ranking round with a score of 2008 India quickly felt the pressure as the required a tie-breaker to defeat Turkey and then were eliminated in the quarter-final after losing a tie-breaker to Malaysia. Second seed Mexico lost 6-0 in the first round to Canada while fourth seed Russia lost to 12th seed Indonesia 5-3 in the quarter-final. In total the semi-finals consisted of 8th seed Malaysia, 12th seed Indonesia, 3rd seed Germany and 10th seed France. Indonesia booked their spot to the Olympics with a 6-0 victory over Malaysia while France qualified by defeating Germany 5-1. Indonesia would go on to win the event 6-0. The final Olympic quota was decided in the third place match where Malaysia defeated Germany 6-2. Since Indonesia and Malaysia qualified athletes previously the total amount of quotas for the men’s individual qualifiers will be five.

While there were relatively few upsets in the women’s individual recurve none of the top four seeds reached the semi-final though three of them reached the quarter-final. The first semi-final was between Moldova’s Alexandra Mirca and Great Britain’s Naomi Folkard. Folkard won the match 7-3. The other semi-final match was between Estonia’s Laura Nurmsalu and Sweden’s Christine Bjerendal. Nurmsalu won the match 6-4. All four nations qualified a quota to the Olympics. The event was won by Nurmsalu whom defeated Folkard 6-0. The other two Olympic quotas went to Finland (Taru Kuoppa) and Spain (Adriana Martin).

One of the largest upsets in the entire qualifier came in the men’s individual recurve in the round of 32 where 80th seed Boris Balaz of Slovakia defeated top seed Bair Tsybekdorzhiev of Russia in a 6-4 match. Balaz was unable to reach the semi-final as he lost to Thailand’s Witthaya Thamwong 6-2 in the quarter-finals, however, it would be enough to grab one of the Olympics quotas. The final was between two Belarussians where Anton Prilepov and Pavel Dalidovich faced off against each other. Prilepov won the match 6-0. Since a nation can only qualify one athlete quota the five quotas went to Belarus (Anton Prilepov), Thailand (Witthaya Thamwong), Belgium (Robin Ramaekers), Norway (Baard Nesteng) and Slovakia (Boris Balaz).

This was the final opportunity for nations to qualify to the Olympics. All that is left is for the tripartite quotas to be announced and for nations to officially confirm their quotas.

 

Athletes by Nations

• Chinese Taipei – 3
• France – 3
• Indonesia – 3
• Italy – 3
• Malaysia – 3
• Ukraine – 3
• Belarus – 1
• Belgium – 1
• Estonia – 1
• Finland – 1
• Great Britain – 1
• Moldova – 1
• Norway – 1
• Slovakia – 1
• Spain – 1
• Sweden – 1
• Thailand – 1

 

References

• IANSEO. Archery World Cup 2016 – Stage 3 + Final Olympic Qualifier Results. Access on June 17 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.

Shooting: Tripartite, Trading and Reallocations Announced

The International Sport Shooting Federation has updated its tripartite, traded quotas and the reallocation of some quotas. Originally 24 quotas were reserved for nations which have qualified less than an average of eight athletes to individual events over the past two Olympics. The quotas can be spread out over any of the 15 Olympic events.

In total 18 nations were granted tripartite quotas. Four nations were actually given two quotas; Bolivia (men’s 50m pistol and women’s 10m air rifle), Malta (men’s double trap and women’s 10m air pistol), Oman (men’s 50m rifle 3 positions, women’s 10m air pistol) and Pakistan (men’s 25m rapid fire pistol and women’s 10m air rifle). The 14 nations which received a single tripartite quota were; Andorra (women’s 10m air rifle), Angola (men’s trap), Bangladesh (men’s 10m air rifle), Barbados (men’s skeet), Bhutan (women’s 10m air rifle), Bosnia and Herzegovina (women’s 10m air rifle), Iraq (women’s 10m air rifle), Kosovo (women’s 10m air rifle), Lebanon (women’s trap), Macedonia (women’s 10m air rifle), Nicaragua (men’s 10m air pistol), Panama (men’s 10m air pistol), Paraguay (men’s double trap) and Sri Lanka (men’s 50m rifle prone).

In shooting nations are allowed to trade one of their athlete quotas to another. A nation can only do this once. In total 12 nations have traded quotas; Egypt (women’s 50m rifle 3 positions to men’s trap), India (men’s 50m rifle 3 positions to men’s trap), Italy (men’s 50m pistol to men’s 25m rapid fire pistol), Kazakhstan (men’s trap to women’s trap), South Korea (men’s 10m air pistol to women’s 10m air rifle), Qatar (men’s 50m rifle 3 positions to men’s skeet), Russia (women’s 10m air pistol to women’s skeet), Slovenia (women’s 10m air pistol to women’s 10m air rifle), Sweden (women’s 10m air rifle to men’s double trap) and Switzerland (women’s 10m air rifle to men’s 50m rifle 3 positions). China and Germany also traded quotas, but they also declined a quota due to a single athlete qualifying in two events despite the nation owning two athlete quotas thus we don’t know the trade. Regardless China has lost an athlete quota in men’s 50m pistol and women’s 50m rifle 3 positions and gained an athlete quota in men’s 50m rifle prone. Similarly Germany lost quotas in men’s 50m rifle 3 positions and women’s 10m air rifle and gained an athlete quota in women’s 25m pistol.

The ISSF also announced some reallocations of quotas. Reallocated quotas go to the nation with the most athletes which have attained the MQS, but did not qualify any athlete quotas during the qualification process. In total there were seven reallocated quotas, two from unused tripartite quotas, three through unqualified quotas from the continental qualifiers and two from nations which have declined athlete quotas, specifically China and Germany. The reallocated quotas went to; Azerbaijan (men’s 25m rapid fire pistol), Bahrain (men’s 50m rifle prone), Colombia (men’s trap), Estonia (men’s 25m rapid fire pistol), Lithuania (men’s skeet), Romania (men’s 10m air rifle) and Uzbekistan (men’s 10m air rifle). Technically the Netherlands was initially given a spot, but it was declined.

It is expected that a few more reallocation quotas will be given out as nations begin to finalize their teams. Similarly we can also expect more traded athlete quotas.

 

Quotas by Nations

• Bolivia – 2
• Malta – 2
• Oman – 2
• Pakistan – 2
• Andorra – 1
• Angola – 1
• Azerbaijan – 1
• Bahrain – 1
• Bangladesh – 1
• Barbados – 1
• Bhutan – 1
• Bosnia and Herzegovina – 1
• Colombia – 1
• Estonia – 1
• Iraq – 1
• Kosovo – 1
• Lebanon – 1
• Lithuania – 1
• Macedonia – 1
• Nicaragua – 1
• Panama – 1
• Paraguay – 1
• Romania – 1
• Sri Lanka – 1
• Uzbekistan – 1

 

References

• ISSF. 2016 Olympics Quota Places by Nation and Number. Access on May 29 2016.

Badminton: Tripartite Quotas Announced

Badminton World Federation has announced the tripartite quotas for badminton. Tripartite quotas are given to nations which have qualified less than an average of eight athletes in individual events over the past two Olympics. Originally three men’s singles and three women’s singles spots were available, however, only the men’s quotas were given out. Sri Lanka’s Niluka Karunaratne, Suriname’s Soren Opti and Brunei’s Jaspar Yu were the athletes selected to compete in the men’s singles.

The tripartite quotas for the women’s singles have since been reallocated to the next highest ranked athletes in the Olympic Rankings. Specifically the following athletes qualified to the Olympics; Estonia’s Kati Tolmoff, Hungary’s Laura Sarosi and Lithuania’s Akvile Stapusaityte.

 

Quotas by Nations

• Brunei – 1
• Estonia – 1
• Hungary – 1
• Lithuania – 1
• Sri Lanka – 1
• Suriname – 1

 

References

• BWF. Trio Get Rio 2016 Tripartite Places. 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.

Badminton: Olympic Qualification Rankings Released

With the final update of the Olympic Badminton Rankings the initial lists of qualified athletes have been announced. The Olympic Badminton Rankings included tournaments such as the World Championships, Continental Championships, Grand Prixes and others. The ranking period for the Olympic Badminton Rankings were from May 5th 2015 to May 1st 2016.

The top 34 athletes in the single rankings qualified to the Olympics. However, there is a maximum of two athletes per nation if both athletes are in the top 16 in the overall rankings. If not the maximum quota for each nation is one. Also all five continents must be represented with the highest ranking athlete from the continent automatically qualifying. The tripartite quotas also count towards the continental representation.

For the doubles rankings the top 16 teams qualified to the Olympics. Similarly, there is a maximum of two teams per nation if both teams are in the top 8 in the overall rankings. If not the maximum quota for each nation is one team. Also all continents that have at least one team in the top 50 will be granted a spot to the Olympics.

Overall China qualified the most quotas, winning the maximum of two entrants in all five events. In addition Denmark, Germany, Great Britain, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, South Korea and the United States have at least one qualified entrant in all five events. In total, 41 nations have qualified at least one athlete.

There have been some reallocations due to the same athlete competing in two events. For the men China’s Zhang Nan, Germany’s Michael Fuchs and United States’ Phillip Chew have qualified in both the men’s doubles and mixed doubles. Brazil also qualified through the men’s singles releasing its host quota. These quotas will be reallocated to the men’s singles benefitting Portugal’s Pedro Martins, Austria’s David Obernorsterer, Canada’s Martin Giuffre and Czech Republic’s Petr Koukal.

Similarly China’s Zhao Yunlei, Denmark’s Christinna Pedersen and Netherlands’ Selena Piek qualified both in the women’s doubles and mixed doubles. These extra quotas will be reallocated to the women’s singles benefitting Switzerland’s Sabrina Jaquet, Ireland’s Chloe Magee and Portugal’s Telma Santos.

Also Australia will have to give up two of its continental quotas due to the rule allowing a nation to only benefit from a maximum of two continental quotas. The quotas will be reallocated to the next best eligible nation from Oceania first. If there are no eligible nations it will be reallocated to the next best ranked eligible nation regardless of continent.

Confirmation of quotas and tripartite invitations still remain so there will be a few changes between now and at the beginning of the Olympics, but for the most part the majority of athletes here will compete at the Olympics.

 

Quotas by Nations

• China – 10
• South Korea – 9
• Denmark – 6
• Indonesia – 6
• Japan – 6
• Germany – 5
• Great Britain – 5
• Hong Kong – 5
• India – 5
• Malaysia – 5
• Thailand – 5
• United States – 5
• Australia – 4
• Poland – 3
• Russia – 3
• Chinese Taipei – 3
• Austria – 2
• Belgium – 2
• Bulgaria – 2
• Canada – 2
• Czech Republic – 2
• France – 2
• Ireland – 2
• Netherlands – 2
• Portugal – 2
• Singapore – 2
• Spain – 2
• Ukraine – 2
• Vietnam – 2
• Cuba – 1
• Estonia – 1
• Finland – 1
• Guatemala – 1
• Israel – 1
• Italy – 1
• Mauritius – 1
• South Africa – 1
• Sweden – 1
• Switzerland – 1
• Turkey – 1

 

References

• BWF. Race to Rio – BWF Olympic Qualification. Access on May 7 2016.

Wrestling: Eastern European Nations Top European Qualifiers

Bulgaria, Poland and Ukraine led all nations in qualifying at the 2016 European Wresting Olympic Qualification Tournament. The top two athletes from each weight class qualified their nation to the Olympics. The European Wrestling Qualification Tournament was held in Zrenjanin, Serbia from April 15th to April 17th 2016.

Each day had two men’s freestyle, two women’s freestyle and two Greco-Roman events. The first day was led by Bulgaria and Poland whom qualified two athletes each. 2015 World Championship bronze medalist Vladimir Dubov of Bulgaria won the men’s freestyle -57kg over Armenia’s Garnik Mnatsakanyan 10-0. Dubov’s compatriot Elitsa Yankova also won her event, the women’s freestyle -48kg over Romania’s Alina Vuc in a 3-2 match. Poland’s Katarzyna Krawczyk defeated Germany’s Nina Hemmer in the women’s freestyle -53kg 10-0. Krawczyk’s compatriot Magomedmurad Gadzhiev gave Poland its second gold medal after he defeated Ukraine’s Andriy Kvyatkovskyi 4-0 in the men’s freestyle -65kg. 2012 Olympic silver medalist Tamas Lorincz of Hungary won his event by defeating Georgia’s Shmagi Bolkvadze 4-1 in the men’s Greco-Roman -66kg. The final event was won by Russia’s Sanal Semenov over Serbia’s Kristijan Fris in the men’s Greco-Roman -59kg via a score of 8-0.

On the second day Russia completed its Greco-Roman team with Aleksey Mishin winning the -85kg over Bulgaria’s Nikolay Bayryakov 3-1. Russia also qualified a second quota of the day in the women’s freestyle -63kg. However, Anastasia Bratchikova lost to Belarus’ Maryia Mamashuk 4-2. In the women’s freestyle -58kg Bulgaria’s Mimi Hristova defeated 2015 World -60kg gold medalist Oksana Herhel of Ukraine 5-2. After ensuring there spot to the Olympics two final matches ended in walkovers. The men’s Greco-Roman -75kg where Serbia’s Viktor Nemes won over Zurab Datunashvili of Georgia and the men’s freestyle -86kg where Hungary’s Istvan Vereb won over Amarhajy Mahamedau of Belarus. The final event was won by Azerbaijan’s Jabrayil Hasanov over Georgia’s Jakob Makarashvili 11-0.

On the final day Estonia won two gold medals in the Greco-Roman events. Ardo Arusaar defeated Hungary’s Adam Varga 3-1 in the Greco-Roman 98kg while 2012 Olympic silver medalist Heiki Navi defeated Germany’s Eduard Popp 3-0 in the Greco-Roman -130kg. Poland defeated Turkey in two finals; Radoslaw Baran defeated Ibrahim Bolukbasi 3-1 in the men’s freestyle -97kg while Agnieszka Wieszczek defeated Buse Tosun 9-5 in the women’s freestyle -69kg. Turkey did still win a gold medal in the women’s freestyle -75kg where Yasemin Adar won over Ukraine’s Alla Cherkasova in a walkover. The final event was won by Ukraine’s Alen Zasyeyev who won in a walkover against Belarus’ Yusup Jalilau.

Unqualified athletes will still have two more chances at qualifying at one of the two final qualification tournaments. The first one is scheduled for next week while the other will occur during the beginning of May.

 

Quotas by Nations

• Bulgaria – 4
• Poland – 4
• Ukraine – 4
• Belarus – 3
• Georgia – 3
• Hungary – 3
• Russia – 3
• Turkey – 3
• Estonia – 2
• Germany – 2
• Serbia – 2
• Armenia – 1
• Azerbaijan – 1
• Romania – 1

 

References

• UWW. European Olympic Games Qualifying Tournament – Result. Access on April 17 2016.

Fencing: Adjusted Official Rankings and Olympic Quotas Published

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

Quotas by Nations

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

 

References

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

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.

Sailing: Great Britain Retains Finn World Title

Reigning world champion Giles Scott of Great Britain was able to retain his crown at the 2015 Finn Gold Cup. In addition the top four ranked nations not yet qualified were given spots to compete at the Olympics. The Finn Gold Cup was held in Takapuna, New Zealand from November 24th to November 29th.

In total ten full races and a medal race were held over the competition. New Zealand’s Andrew Murdoch took an early lead on the first day, but a couple of poor performances quickly pushed him out of contention as Giles Scott of Great Britain took over and extended his lead. By the mid-way point he held an 18 point lead over Estonia’s Deniss Karpak and Finland’s Tapio Nirkko. Scott continued to extend his lead over the rest of the competition and was guaranteed a gold medal, even before the medal race begun as he held a 53 point lead over France’s Jonathan Lobert. Lobert would retain his second place finish while Slovenia’s Vasilij Zbogar finished with the bronze medal. The Olympic quotas went to 6th place Netherlands, 9th place Greece, Estonia and Uruguay.

This was the final opportunity for Asia to qualify as they already had their continental qualifier. As for the other continents they will have their qualifiers between now and just before the Olympics with just five more quotas remaining overall.

 

Quotas by Nation

• Estonia – 1
• Greece – 1
• Netherlands – 1
• Uruguay – 1

 

References

• Takapuna Boating. 2015 Finn Gold Cup Results. Access on November 29 2015.