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.

Wrestling: Quotas Lost Due to Meldonium Reinstated

After reviewing the meldonium guidelines outlined by the IOC and WADA the United World Wrestling has reinstated the disqualified quotas for nations. Specifically the quotas won by; Poland’s Magomedmurat Gadzhiev (men’s freestyle -65kg), Ukraine’s Andriy Kziatkovsky (men’s freestyle -65kg), Kyrgyzstan’s Yanarbek Kenzheev (men’s Greco-Roman -85kg), Mongolia’s Sumiya Erdenchimeg (women’s freestyle -53kg) and Ukraine’s Oksana Herhel (women’s freestyle -58kg).

Also while Ukraine’s Alen Zasieiev (men’s freestyle -125kg) was reinstated Ukraine did not gain a quota because the nation re-qualified at a later tournament. The UWW also announced that the nations which benefitted from the reallocation previously will get to keep their quotas.

 

Quotas by Nations

• Ukraine – 2
• Kyrgyzstan – 1
• Mongolia – 1
• Poland – 1

 

References

• UWW. United World Wrestling Announces Reinstatement of Olympic Qualifiers. Access on July 9 2016.

Boxing: 29 Nations Qualify After World Qualification Tournament

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

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

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

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

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

 

Quotas by Nations

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

 

References

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

Judo: Olympic Rankings Published 113 Nations Qualify

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

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

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

 

Quotas by Nations

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

 

References

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

Wrestling: Olympic Quotas Reallocated Due to Doping

Update: Egypt’s Aly Hamdy also tested positive for doping in the men’s freestyle -97kg. The quota has been transferred to Guinea-Bissau via Bedopassa Buassat.

United World Wrestling has announced some changes to the qualification list. The changes are due to athletes who qualified their nation getting caught doping. Following the qualification document the next highest ranked athlete from the event where the doping infraction occurred qualified their nation to the Olympics. This caused some confusion in two weight classes because the newly qualified nation had qualified in a subsequent event meaning that spot also had to be reallocated. In total seven athletes in five events have been caught doping.

In the men’s Greco-Roman -85kg event Kyrgyzstan’s Zhanarbek Kenzheev was caught doping in the Asian Olympic Qualifier. The Olympic quota was reallocated to India via Ravinder Khatri’s bronze medal performance.

In the women’s freestyle events there were two doping cases. In the -53kg event Mongalia’s Sumiya Erdenechimeg was caught doping in the Asian Olympic Qualifier meaning the quota has been reallocated to India via Kumari Babita. Similarly in the -58kg Ukraine’s Okasan Herhel was caught doping in the European Olympic Qualifier, moving the quota to Moldova via Mariana Cherdivara Esanu.

The men’s freestyle events are bit more complicated. In the -65kg event both Magomedmurad Gadzhiev of Poland and Andriy Kvyatkovskyy of Ukraine were caught doping during the European Olympic Qualifier. This would transfer the quotas to Georgia via Zurabi IakoBishvili and Armenia via Devid Safaryan. This caused Georgia’s spot won during the 1st World Olympic Qualifier to transfer to Bulgaria via Boris Novachkov and subsequently Bulgaria’s spot won during the 2nd World Olympic Qualifier will be transferred to the United States via Frank Molinaro.

Similarly in the men’s freestyle -125kg event both Ukraine’s Allen Zasieiev and Belarus’ Yusup Jalilau were caught doping during the European Olympic Qualifier. The quotas were now transferred to Bulgaria via Lyuben Iliev and Hungary via Daniel Ligeti. Hungary’s spot won during the 1st World Olympic Qualifier should have been transferred to Bulgaria, but Bulgaria has already qualified through the European qualifier meaning the quota has been given to Kyrgyzstan via Aiaal Lazarev.

There is the possibility that more suspensions could occur in the future, though it would likely be from athletes which only compete in one of the two World Qualification Tournaments.

 

Quotas by Nations (Net Changes)

• India – +2
• Armenia – +1
• Bulgaria – +1
• Moldova – +1
• United States – +1
• Kyrgyzstan – 0
• Belarus – -1
• Mongolia – -1
• Poland – -1
• Ukraine – -3

 

References

• UWW. Adjustments to Olympic Qualifiers Announced. Access on May 11 2016.

Wrestling: Final Spots Given At 2nd Qualification Tournament

23 nations qualified athletes at the 2016 Second World Wrestling Olympic Qualification Tournament. The top two athletes from each event qualified their nation to the Olympics. The Second World Wrestling Olympic Qualification Tournament was held in Istanbul, Turkey from May 6th to May 8th 2016.

The men’s Greco-Roman events featured four withdrawals in the finals, mostly due to the perception that there was nothing left to fight for after qualifying to the Olympics. Turkey benefitted from this as they became the winners in the -75kg where Selcuk Cebi defeated Bulgaria’s Daniel Aleksandrov and in the -98kg where Cenk Ildem defeated Italy’s Daigoro Timoncini. Similarly Germany’s Denis Kudla had a walkover against Georgia’s Robert Kobliashvili in the -85kg and Sweden’s Johan Euren had a walkover against Georgia’s Iakob Kajaia. In the events where the final was actually played Azerbaijan’s Rasul Chunayev defeated Kyrgyzstan’s Ruslan Tsarev in the -66kg. Iran completed its Greco-Roman team with Iran’s Hamid Sourian defeating United States’ Jesse Thielke in the -59kg.

In the women’s freestyle Ukraine did well by winning two events. Yuliya Khavaldzhy defeated Turkey’s Bediha Gun in the -53kg while Alina Stadnyk had a walkover against Norway’s Signe Marie Store in the -69kg. Russia also had two gold medalists with Ekaterina Bukina defeating Germany’s Maria Selmaier in the -75kg and Valeria Koblova defeating India’s Sakshi Malik in the -58kg. India won a gold medal of its own in the -48kg where Vinesh Phogat defeated Poland’s Iwona Matkowska. In the -63kg Poland won the gold where Monika Michalik defeated Sweden’s Henna Johansson.

Uzbekistan won two quotas in the men’s freestyle events. Bekzod Abdurakhmanov won the -74kg in a walkover against Spain’s Taimuraz Friev while Abbos Rakhmonov lost in the final of the -57kg to Turkey’s Suleyman Atli. In the -65kg Bulgaria’s Borislav Novachkov won in a walkover against Canada’s Haislan Garcia. China’s Bi Shengfeng defeated South Korea’s Kim Gwan-Uk in the -86kg. The -97kg saw Romania’s Albert Saritov defeating Mongolia’s Dorjkhandyn Khüderbulga. The -125kg had Ukraine’s Oleksandr Khotsianivskyi defeating Belarus’ Ibrahim Saidau.

The men’s freestyle -125kg highlights a strange scenario as both Ukraine and Belarus qualified different athletes at the European qualifiers. This is due to those athletes failing a doping test. However, those athletes have not been formally suspended so depending on the hearings there will be reallocations of quotas one way or another.

Overall this was the final opportunity for athletes to qualify to the Olympics. In total before reallocation and tripartite quotas 59 nations qualified at least one athlete. Russia will compete in the most events, qualifying in 17 out of the 18 events, missing only the women’s freestyle -53kg.

 

Quotas by Nations

• Turkey – 4
• Ukraine – 3
• Bulgaria – 2
• Georgia – 2
• Germany – 2
• India – 2
• Poland – 2
• Russia – 2
• Sweden – 2
• Uzbekistan – 2
• Azerbaijan – 1
• Belarus – 1
• Canada – 1
• China – 1
• Iran – 1
• Italy – 1
• Kyrgyzstan – 1
• Mongolia – 1
• Norway – 1
• Romania – 1
• South Korea – 1
• Spain – 1
• United States – 1

 

References

• UWW. 2nd OG World Qualifying Tournament 2016. Access on May 8 2016.

Weightlifting: Japan and Vietnam Top Olympic Rankings at Asian Championship

Japan and Vietnam led all nations in the team Olympic rankings at the 2016 Asian Weightlifting Championship. The team rankings are constructed by adding the points of the top 6 men or top 4 women of each nation which has yet to qualify to the Olympics. The top seven men’s teams and the top six women’s teams qualified 1 athlete each. The Asian Weightlifting Championship was held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan from April 22nd to April 30th 2016.

The women’s rankings was topped by Vietnam whom had four athletes finishing as the top ranked athlete from unqualified nations in their weight class thus earning the maximum of 112 points. Following Vietnam were Uzbekistan, India and Mongolia whom finished with 101, 100 and 96 points respectively. The Philippines led by Hidilyn Diaz in the -53kg event finished safely in fifth with a total of 91 points. The final spot came down to Turkmenistan and United Arab Emirates. Going into the final two events Turkmenistan’s Aysoltan Toychyyeva did enough in the -75kg to place her in the lead at 83 points. However, with two United Arab Emirates lifters in the +75kg Turkmenistan had to hope none of the expected competitors ranked above them fail to lift a weight. In the end everyone was able to lift a weight meaning United Arab Emirates narrowly missed out in finishing in the top six as they finished with 81 points.

The men’s ranking was topped by Japan whom sent a very strong team to finish with a total of 145 points. The team podium was filled with Iraq and Malaysia whom finished with a total of 142 and 137 points respectively. As each event went through it became apparent that five nations will be fighting for four spots. Disaster struck for Saudi Arabia in the -94kg event where won of their lifters failed to lift a weight. This was also their final athlete meaning at 121 points Saudi Arabia would have to sit and watch the final two events and hope a nation either underperforms or fails to lift a weight altogether. This did not happened meaning Saudi Arabia finished in eighth. The nations which did qualified were Kyrgyzstan (132 points), Syria (129 points), India (129 points) and Turkmenistan (125 points).

Note that these results are not final until all samples are tested for doping. Asian athletes will have only one more opportunity to qualify, through the world rankings. The three remaining continents will have their qualifiers over the next six weeks.

 

Quotas by Nations

• India – 2
• Turkmenistan – 2
• Iraq – 1
• Japan – 1
• Kyrgyzstan – 1
• Malaysia – 1
• Mongolia – 1
• Philippines – 1
• Syria – 1
• Uzbekistan – 1
• Vietnam – 1

 

References

IWF. 2016 Asian Weightlifting Championship – Results. Access on April 30 2016.

Taekwondo: 10 Nations Qualify After Asian Qualifers

Kazakhstan led all nations by qualifying three at the end of the 2016 Asian Taekwondo Olympic Qualification Tournament. The top two athletes from each event qualified their nation to the Olympics. As a reminder a nation can only attempt to qualify a maximum of two athletes per gender at this stage provided they haven’t qualified any previously. The Asian Taekwondo Olympic Qualification Tournament was held in Pasay, Philippines from April 16th to April 17th 2016.

The first day had four events. The women’s -49kg was won by Chinese Taipei’s Huang Huai-Hsuan whom defeated Kazakhstan’s Ainur Yesbergenova 3-1. In the women’s +67kg 2014 Asian Games gold medalist Sorn Seavmey of Cambodia qualified to the Olympics after defeating Tajikistan’s Mokhru Khalimoca while Philippines’ Kirstie Alora created an upset over Iran’s Akram Khodabandeh. Seavmey defeated Alora 5-0 in the finals. In the men’s -80kg it was 2015 World Championship -74kg silver medalist Nikita Rafalovich whom won the event over Chinese Taipei’s Liu Wei-Ting in a narrow 1-0 match. The men’s +80kg was won by China’s Qiao Sen whom defeated Kazakhstan’s Ruslan Zhaparov 2-0.

On the second day of events women’s -57kg 2015 World Championship bronze medalist Kimia Alizadeh of Iran booked her spot to the Olympics as she went on to win the entire event over Thailand’s Phannapa Harnsujin 3-2. In the women’s -67kg Kazakhstan’s Cansel Deniz defeated Uzbekistan’s Nigora Tursunkulova 4-1 in the final as both athletes qualified their nations. The men’s -58kg had a withdrawal in the final where Thailand’s Tawin Hanprab withdrew due to injury. He still qualifies his nation to the Olympics along with China’s Zhao Shuai. The men’s -68kg was dominated by Jordan’s Ahmad Abu-Ghaush whom won by double digits in three out of his four matches including the final where he defeated Mongolia’s Purevjavyn Temuujin 14-2.

This was the final opportunity for athletes to qualify in the sport of taekwondo. All that is remaining is for the tripartite commission to decide the final four spots. The tripartite commission invites athletes of nations which are expected to field small teams to participate in certain sports.

 

Quotas by Nations

• Kazakhstan – 3
• China – 2
• Chinese Taipei -2
• Thailand – 2
• Uzbekistan – 2
• Cambodia – 1
• Iran – 1
• Jordan – 1
• Mongolia – 1
• Philippines – 1

 

References

• WTF. Asian Qualification Tournament for Rio 2016 Olympic Games – Result. Access on April 16 2016.

Boxing: 11 Nations Qualify After Asia/Oceania Qualification Tournament

China, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan led the way at the 2016 Asia and Oceania Boxing Olympic Qualification Tournament. The top three athletes in the men’s events and the top two athletes in the women’s events qualify to the Olympics. The Asia and Oceania Boxing Olympic Qualification Tournament was held in Qian’an, China from March 25th to April 2nd 2016.

The first day of finals had six of the men’s weight classes decided. It was a big night for Uzbekistan whom won four of the events and qualified to the Olympics. They won in the light flyweight (-49kg) over the Philippines, the flyweight (-52kg) over China, the welterweight (-69kg) over Thailand and the light heavyweight (-81kg) over Kazakhstan. Kazakhstan won gold in the middleweight (-75kg) over China and came in third and qualified to the Olympics in the flyweight and bantamweight (-56kg). The bantamweight was won by Thailand whom defeated India. The remaining quota places went to Mongolia in the light flyweight and welterweight, Australia in the middleweight and Kyrgyzstan in the light heavyweight.

In women’s boxing China was the top nation winning all three of the weight classes. 2012 Olympic silver medalist Ren Cancan defeated Uzbekistan’s Yodgoroy Mirzaeva in the flyweight (-51kg), Yin Junhua defeated 2014 Commonwealth Games gold medalist Shelley Watts of Australia in the lightweight (-60kg) and Li Qian defeated Kazakhstan’s Dariga Shakimova in the middleweight (-75kg).

In the second day of finals for the men it was Kazakhstan which took home the most gold medals. 2012 Olympic bronze medalist Ivan Dychko defeated Uzbekistan’s Bakhodir in the final of the super heavyweight (+91kg). Kazakhstan’s second medal was in the light welterweight (-64kg) where Ablaikhan Zhussupov defeated Mongolia’s Baatarsükhiin Chinzorig. Mongolia won a gold medal in the lightweight (-60kg) where Dorjnyambuugiin Otgondalai defeated Charly Suarez of the Philippines. The final gold medal went to Uzbekistan whom capped off a great tournament in the heavyweight (-91kg) as Rustam Tulagonov defeated China’s Yu Fengkai. China also qualified a quota in the light welterweight after winning a box-off. The remaining quota places went to Japan in the lightweight, Australia in the heavyweight and Jordan in the super heavyweight.

Including other events both Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan will now be able to send a full men’s team to the Olympics. Non-qualified athletes will still have a couple of more chances to qualify to the Olympics with two more Olympic qualification tournaments for men and the World Championship for the women remaining.

 

Quotas by Nations

• China – 7
• Kazakhstan – 7
• Uzbekistan – 7
• Mongolia – 4
• Australia – 3
• Philippines – 2
• Thailand – 2
• India – 1
• Japan – 1
• Jordan – 1
• Kyrgyzstan – 1

 

References

• AIBA. Asia/Oceania Olympic Qualification Tournament Results. Access on April 2 2016.

Wrestling: Kazakhstan Leads Nations at Asian Qualifier

Kazakhstan led all nations with nine qualified athletes at the 2016 Asian Wrestling Olympic Qualification Tournament. The top two athletes from each weight class qualified their nation to the Olympics. The Asian Wrestling Olympic Qualification Tournament was held in Astana, Kazakhstan from March 18th to March 20th 2016.

Kazakhstan led all nations in the men’s freestyle, winning the -74kg event and qualifying in the -86kg, -97kg, and -125kg. Japan was the only nation to qualify in multiple events in this discipline as they won in the men’s -57kg by defeating South Korea’s Yun Jun-Sik and qualified in the -74kg. 2012 Olympic bronze medalist Yogeshwar Dutt won the -65kg event by walkover against China’s Yeerlanbieke Katai. 2014 Asian silver medalist Magomed Musaev of Kyrgyzstan won the -97kg while Iran’s 2012 Olympic bronze medalist Komeil Ghasemi won the -125kg. Iran has formally qualified a full men’s freestyle team. The other gold medal went to Orgodolyn Uitumen of Mongolia in the -86kg.

Kazakhstan again led all nations in the women’s freestyle events by winning the -48kg over Vietnam’s Vu Thi Hang and winning the -69kg over Chinese Taipei’s Chen Wen-Ling. They also qualified in the -63kg and -75kg. Mongolia’s Erdenechimegiin Sumiyaa won the -53kg over Vietnam’s Nguyen Thi Lua while her compatriot Purevdorjiin Orkhon lost in the final of the -58kg event against Kyrgyzstan’s Aisuluu Tynybekova. Japan completed its women’s team by winning the -75kg while China’s Wang Xiaoqian won the -63kg.

China had a great tournament in the men’s Greco-Roman as they won three gold medals with Wang Lumin defeating Japan’s Shinobu Ota in the -59kg, Peng Fei defeating Kyrgyzstan’s Janarbek Kenjeev in the -85kg and Xiao Di winning by walkover against India’s Hardeep Singh in the -98kg. 2012 Olympic champion Kim Hyeon-Woo of South Korea defeated Uzbekistan’s Dilshod Turdiev while 2012 Olympic champion Omid Norouzi lost to Japan’s Tomohiro Inoue, but has still qualified his nation to the Olympics. 2014 Asian Games champion Nurmakhan Tinaliyev of Kazkahstan won the -130kg by defeating Kyrgyzstan’s Murat Ramonov.

Adding the quotas qualified at the World Championships Kazakhstan, Iran and Japan lead the continent for most qualified athletes in this sport. Non-qualified nations will still have two more opportunities to qualify at one of the two final qualification tournaments.

 

Quotas by Nations

• Kazakhstan – 9
• China – 5
• Japan – 5
• Kyrgyzstan – 4
• Mongolia – 3
• India – 2
• Iran – 2
• South Korea – 2
• Vietnam – 2
• Chinese Taipei – 1
• Uzbekistan – 1

 

References

• UWW. 2016 Asian Olympic Qualification Tournament Results. Access on March 20 2016.