Tennis: ITF Updates Qualified List Again

With several late withdrawals in tennis the list of qualified athletes has changed again. In total 56 nations will send at least one athlete. As a reminder mixed doubles will be made up of athletes which have qualified in other events.

 

Athletes by Nations

• United States – 11
• France – 9
• Spain – 9
• Germany – 8
• Russia – 8
• Australia – 7
• Brazil – 7
• Czech Republic – 7
• Great Britain – 7
• Italy – 7
• Poland – 7
• Ukraine – 7
• Argentina – 6
• Japan – 6
• Romania – 6
• Serbia – 6
• China – 5
• Chinese Taipei – 5
• Canada – 4
• Croatia – 4
• India – 4
• Slovakia – 4
• Belgium – 3
• Colombia – 3
• Netherlands – 3
• Switzerland – 3
• Austria – 2
• Belarus – 2
• Bosnia and Herzegovina – 2
• Bulgaria – 2
• Chile – 2
• Hungary – 2
• Kazakhstan – 2
• Mexico – 2
• New Zealand – 2
• Portugal – 2
• Thailand – 2
• Tunisia – 2
• Barbados – 1
• Denmark – 1
• Dominican Republic – 1
• Georgia – 1
• Israel – 1
• Latvia – 1
• Liechtenstein – 1
• Lithuania – 1
• Luxembourg – 1
• Moldova – 1
• Montenegro – 1
• Paraguay – 1
• Puerto Rico – 1
• Slovenia – 1
• Sweden – 1
• Turkey – 1
• Uruguay – 1
• Uzbekistan – 1

 

Reference

• ITF. Rio 2016 Olympic Tennis Event entries. Access on July 31 2016.

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.

Basketball: Final Teams Determined For Men’s Tournament

Three European nations grabbed the final quotas in the Men’s Basketball World Olympic Qualification Tournaments. In total three qualification tournaments were held, each containing six teams where they were split into two groups of three where a round robin was played. The top two advanced to the semi-final with the winner of each tournament qualifying to the Olympics. The three tournaments were held from July 4th to July 10th 2016 in Belgrade, Serbia, Manila, Philippines and Turin, Italy respectively.

The first tournament in Serbia had the host nation top Group A with 87-81 and 83-60 victories over Puerto Rico and Angola respectively. Puerto Rico also advanced to the semi-final with a 91-81 victory over Angola. Group B saw Latvia top the group with 88-48 and 71-59 victories over Japan and the Czech Republic respectively. The Czech Republic advanced second in the group after a 87-71 victory over Japan.

The semi-final saw a close match between Latvia and Puerto Rico with Puerto Rico holding a 51-50 lead going into the final quarter. The match was tied with two minutes remaining and still in doubt with 30 seconds left, but late baskets from Puerto Rico gave them the 77-70 victory. In the other match Serbia won in relative ease 96-72. The final saw Serbia starting off very well to the tune of a 37-11 lead at the end of the first quarter. Puerto Rico would never fully recover from that as Serbia would go on to qualify to the Olympics with a 108-77 win.

The second tournament in the Philippines saw Group A’s Canada top the group with two close, but in control victories where they won 77-69 and 58-55 against Turkey and Senegal respectively. Despite a poor third quarter Turkey defeated Senegal 68-62 to advance to the semi-final. In Group B the hosts were met with an early tournament after 93-84 and 89-80 losses to France and New Zealand respectively, ending their bid to the Olympics. France finished first in the group where they went from being down 48-38 going into the fourth to winning the match 66-59.

The semi-final was similar for Canada where they did just enough to stay ahead and defeat New Zealand 78-72. France won the other semi-final over Turkey in a 75-53 match. The final saw Canada and France go toe to toe before France built up a small lead. While Canada challenged it a few times France was always equal to the task, winning the match and qualifying to the Olympics 83-74.

The third tournament in Italy saw Group A’s Greece top the group with an easy 78-53 win over Iran and needing a very strong second half to put Mexico whom actually led at half-time away 86-70. Mexico also advanced from the group after a 75-70 victory over Iran. Group B similarly saw Italy easily defeat Tunisia 68-41 and the third quarter was the difference in their match against Croatia where they won 67-60. Croatia advanced second in the group with a 72-52 victory over Tunisia.

The first semi-final match saw Croatia jump to a 31-13 lead after the first quarter against Greece. Greece however did not roll over and spent most of the match catching up and actually took a small lead towards the end of the third quarter. Croatia would eventually get it back together and quickly retook the lead and held on to it for a 66-61 point victory. The other semi-final match saw Italy win 79-54 over Mexico. The final was a very close affair. Any time Croatia would create any sort of lead Italy would erase it. A basket with five seconds remaining from Italy’s Nicolo Melli tied things up at 70-70 thus forcing overtime. Croatia would take the early lead in overtime and never relinquish it, winning the match and qualifying to the Olympics 84-78.

This was the final opportunity for nations to qualify to the Olympics in basketball. For France this will be their ninth appearance in the men’s tournament while for Serbia and Croatia this will be their fourth Olympics as independent nations, though for Serbia this will be their first under the name “Serbia.”

 

Tournament 1 Rankings

1. Serbia
2. Puerto Rico
3. Latvia
4. Czech Republic
5. Angola
6. Japan

 

Tournament 2 Rankings

1. France
2. Canada
3. New Zealand
4. Turkey
5. Senegal
6. Philippines

 

Tournament 3 Rankings

1. Croatia
2. Italy
3. Greece
4. Mexico
5. Iran
6. Tunisia

 

References

• FIBA. Men’s Final Qualification Tournament – Serbia. Access on July 10 2016.
• FIBA. Men’s Final Qualification Tournament – Philippines. Access on July 10 2016.
• FIBA. Men’s Final Qualification Tournament – Italy. Access on July 10 2016.

Tennis: Qualified Athlete List Released

The International Tennis Federation has announced the full list of qualified athletes based on the ATP and WTA rankings. A nation can only qualify a maximum of six athletes for each gender. The ATP and WTA rankings contain various events throughout the year, specifically events taking place from June 8th 2015 to June 5th 2016.

For the singles the top 56 eligible athletes in the men’s ATP and women’s WTA rankings are qualified to the Olympics. A nation can only qualify a maximum of four athletes in each singles event and the athlete must fulfill their requirements to the Davis and Fed Cup or get special permission. Six quotas are classified as ITF places which are allocated to the (if unqualified) host nation, continental representation (must be in top 300) and former Olympic gold medalists or Grand Slam champions (must be in top 200). Should those quotas not be filled the next highest ranked eligible athlete will qualify. Also two tripartite quotas were allocated to each of the singles events.

For the doubles athletes in the top 10 of the men’s ATP and women’s WTA are qualified. Similarly they must fulfill the Davis and Fed Cup requirements. The athletes can partner with any eligible player from their nation provided that they do not exceed the maximum of two doubles teams in an event. 14 spots go to the teams with the highest combined rankings (singles or doubles). 8 spots are classified as ITF places which are allocated to the (if unqualified) host nation (must have combined ranking of less than 500) and continental representation (must have combined ranking of less than 300). Should those quotas not be filled the next highest ranked doubles will qualify.

The men’s singles list contains a few missing top athletes with the 4 in the top 20 missing. Reasons for not competing ranged from not fulfilling the Davis Cup requirements (South Africa’s Kevin Anderson), issues with their NOC (Australia’s Nick Kyrigos) and wanting to focus on the ATP season (Austria’s Dominic Thiem and United States’ John Isner). Of the four Thiem was the highest ranked athlete at the time of the Olympic rankings publication at seventh.

One of the interesting developments on the men’s side is that the ITF has provisionally included some athletes provided that they compete at the July Davis Cup or have an appeal. This was reserved for athletes who have not completed their Davis Cup requirements; the most notable athlete subjected to this is Spain’s Rafael Nadal. In the men’s singles seven athletes qualified through protected rankings, usually reserved from athletes returning from long term injury. Athletes which qualified through the injury list include. Argentina’s Juan Monaco and Juan Martin del Potro, Australia’s Thanasi Kokkinakis, Chinese Taipei’s Lu Yen-Hsun, Poland’s Jerzy Janowicz and United States’ Brian Baker. Overall the ITF Places were reallocated to the next best ranked athletes while the tripartite commission selected Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Damir Dzumhur and Barabdos’ Darian King to compete at the Olympics.

The women’s singles on the other hand had relatively few missing top athletes. Out of the top 40 only two are missing, recently retired Flavia Pennetta of Italy and Russia’s Maria Sharapova whom is serving a doping ban. Three athletes also used their protected rankings as a way to qualify to the Olympics; China’s Peng Shuai, Italy’s Karin Knapp and Kazakhstan’s Galina Voskoboeva. Also three athletes qualified through the intended use of the ITF Places; Brazil’s Teliana Pereira qualified by being from the host nation, Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur qualified by being the highest ranked athlete from Africa and Italy’s Francesca Schiavone qualified by being a former Grand Slam champion. The other three quotas were reallocated to the next highest ranked eligible athletes. The tripartite commission selected Paraguay’s Veronica Cepede Royg and Liechtenstein’s Stephanie Vogt to compete at the Olympics.

Unlike during the ATP and WTA tour doubles pairs must be from the same nation. This has caused many pairs to break-up and compete with someone else for one tournament. In the men’s doubles brother Mike and Bob Bryan of the United States will attempt to depend their gold medal. Overall six athletes will compete with someone else in the top 10 meaning three quotas are reallocated to the combined ranking list. Like with the men’s singles some athletes are provisionally chosen with the expectation that they will compete in July’s Davis Cup competition or submit an appeal. None of the ITF Places were used as intended and were reallocated to the highest combined ranked pairs which applied.

The women’s doubles will have the United States’ Serena and Venus Williams defending their Olympic gold medal. Four athletes will compete with someone else in the top 10 meaning two quotas are reallocated to the combined ranking list. One ITF Place was given to Brazil’s Teliana Pereira and Paula Cristina Goncalves so that the host nation will have participation. The other seven places were reallocated to the highest combined ranked pairs which applied.

The mixed doubles pairs won’t actually be announced until after the Olympics begin. Only players which have already qualified in other events can participate. A total of 16 pairs will compete, with 4 ITF Places included.

 

Athletes by Nations

• United States – 12
• Czech Republic – 10
• France – 9
• Germany – 9
• Spain – 9
• Russia – 8
• Brazil – 7
• Great Britain – 7
• Italy – 7
• Serbia – 7
• Ukraine – 7
• Argentina – 6
• Australia – 6
• Switzerland – 6
• Chinese Taipei – 5
• Romania – 5
• Canada – 4
• China – 4
• India – 4
• Japan – 4
• Kazakhstan – 4
• Poland – 4
• Slovakia – 4
• Belarus – 3
• Belgium – 3
• Croatia – 3
• Netherlands – 3
• Austria – 2
• Bulgaria – 2
• Chile – 2
• Colombia – 2
• Hungary – 2
• Latvia – 2
• New Zealand – 2
• Portugal – 2
• Tunisia – 2
• Barbados – 1
• Bosnia and Herzegovina – 1
• Cyprus – 1
• Denmark – 1
• Dominican Republic – 1
• Israel – 1
• Liechtenstein – 1
• Lithuania – 1
• Luxembourg – 1
• Montenegro – 1
• Paraguay – 1
• Puerto Rico – 1
• Sweden – 1
• Uruguay – 1
• Uzbekistan – 1

 

References

• ITF. Rio 2016 Olympic Tennis Event entries. Access on June 30 2016.

Judo: Olympic Rankings Published 113 Nations Qualify

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

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

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

 

Quotas by Nations

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

 

References

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

Cycling Mountain: Cross-Country Olympic Rankings Published

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

Quotas by Nations

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

 

References

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

Rowing: Qualification Concludes With European and Final Regatta

In total 24 nations qualified boats at the 2016 European and Final Olympic Qualification Regatta. The regatta was split into two qualification tournaments. The European portion which includes entries from Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States had Olympic qualification for the top three boats in the single sculls and the top two boats in the lightweight double sculls. Like the other continental qualifiers a nation can only qualify one boat per gender. The final regatta portion contained the other 10 events where any nation can qualify. In total two boat quotas were available in the double sculls, quadruple sculls, eights, men’s pairs, men’s fours and men’s lightweight fours while four boat quotas were available in the women’s pairs. The European and Final Olympic Qualification Regatta was held in Lucerne, Switzerland from May 22nd to May 24th 2016.

In the European Regatta an extra boat quota was made available in the women’s single sculls due to a returned quota from the tripartite commission. The women’s single sculls was won by New Zealand’s Emma Twigg whom finished with a time of 7:21.870. Also joining her to the Olympics were boats from Ireland, Belarus and Denmark. The women’s lightweight doubles sculls was won by the Netherlands with a time of 6:54.910. Joining them was the silver medal boat from Romania.

On the men’s side the single sculls was won by Belgium’s Hannes Obreno whom won gold with a time of 6:47.610. Also qualifying to the Olympics were boats from Australia and Hungary. Belgium also won the men’s lightweight double sculls with a time of 6:21.780 while Turkey won the silver medal. Since a nation can only qualify one boat per gender at the continental qualifier this meant Belgium will have to pick between the men’s single sculls and lightweight double sculls. The non-selected boat will be reallocated to the next best boat here which will be Denmark regardless of choice.

At the Final Olympic Qualification Regatta Spain won the women’s pairs event with a time of 7:10.160. Joining them to the Olympics will be China, Italy and Poland. The women’s double sculls had the Czech Republic defeating Denmark with a time of 6:56.690. The women’s quadruple sculls was won by China whom finished 1.67 seconds ahead of the silver medalists from the Ukraine finishing with a time of 6:19.000. Romania won the women’s eights with a time of 6:02.560 while the Netherlands also qualified to the Olympics, finishing with the silver medal.

Among the men’s boats the Czech Republic won the men’s pairs with a time of 6:29.820 while Hungary also qualified by winning the silver medal. The men’s double sculls was won by Norway whom won by almost 2 seconds against Serbia, finishing with a time of 6:16.130. Similarly South Africa won the men’s fours by almost 2 seconds, winning against France with a time of 5:55.220. The men’s quadruple sculls was won by Russia whom defeated Canada with a time of 5:42.130. Russia was also able to win the men’s lightweight four by defeating Germany with a time of 6:02.970. The men’s eights had a three-way race for almost the entire race, but with only two Olympic quotas available Italy was the odd nation out as the United States won the gold over Poland with a time of 5:29.160.

This was the final opportunity for nations to qualify in rowing and with the exception of Belgium’s choice between the men’s single sculls and lightweight double sculls all of the boats competing are now known. In total 68 nations will be competing in rowing.

 

Boats by Nations

• Belgium – 2*
• China – 2
• Denmark – 2
• Hungary – 2
• Netherlands – 2
• Poland – 2
• Romania – 2
• Russia – 2
• Australia – 1
• Belarus – 1
• Canada – 1
• France – 1
• Germany – 1
• Ireland – 1
• Italy – 1
• New Zealand – 1
• Norway – 1
• Serbia – 1
• South Africa – 1
• Spain – 1
• Turkey – 1
• Ukraine – 1
• United States – 1

* Must choose one boat

 

Athlete Quotas by Nations

• Netherlands – 11
• Poland – 11
• Romania – 11
• United States – 9
• Russia – 8
• China – 6
• Canada – 4
• Czech Republic – 4
• France – 4
• Germany – 4
• South Africa – 4
• Ukraine – 4
• Belgium – 3*
• Denmark – 3
• Hungary – 3
• Italy – 2
• Norway – 2
• Serbia – 2
• Spain – 2
• Turkey – 2
• Australia – 1
• Belarus – 1
• Ireland – 1
• New Zealand – 1

* Will either be 1 or 2 athlete quotas depending on boat choice

 

References

• WorldRowing. 2016 FISA European and Final Olympic Qualification Regatta Schedule and Results. Access on May 24 2016.

Table Tennis: Singles Reallocation Quotas Announced

The International Table Tennis Federation has announced the reallocation of single quotas. These quotas are unused quotas from the team event along with the host quotas. In total seven of each gender is available. The reallocated quota goes to the highest ranked eligible athlete from the Olympic World Rankings. As a reminder all athletes had to have participated in their respective continental qualifier to be allowed entry into the Olympics.

The men’s reallocation quotas went to Lubomir Jancarik (Czech Republic), Benedek Olah (Finland), Dmitrij Prokopcov (Czech Republic), Adam Pattantyus (Hungary), Zhiwen He (Spain), Aleksandar Karakasevic (Serbia) and Adrian Crisan (Romania).

The women’s reallocation quotas went to Xialian Ni (Luxembourg), Margaryta Pesotska (Ukraine), Maria Dolgikh (Russia), Hana Matelova (Czech Republic), Carole Grundish (France), Eva Odorova (Slovakia) and Alexandra Privalova (Belarus).

 

Quotas by Nations

• Czech Republic – 3
• Belarus – 1
• Finland – 1
• France – 1
• Hungary – 1
• Luxembourg – 1
• Romania – 1
• Russia – 1
• Serbia – 1
• Slovakia – 1
• Spain – 1
• Ukraine – 1

 

References

• ITTF. Players Qualified For The Rio 2016 Olympic Games. Access on May 21 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.

Taekwondo: European Nations Qualify After European Qualifying Event

13 nations were able to qualify one athlete at the 2016 European Olympic Qualification Tournament. The two finalists from each of the eight events qualified to the Olympics. This was also the first event in which refugees could attempt to qualify under the Olympic banner. Nations were only allowed to send two athletes per gender to this event, minus any qualified through the world rankings. The European Olympic Qualification Tournament was held in Istanbul, Turkey from January 16th to January 17th 2016.

Four events were held on the first day. In the men’s -58kg it was former world junior champion and current European Games silver medalist Jesus Tortsa of Spain which grabbed the first quota though he was made to work for it as he narrowly defeated Meisam Rafiei of Iceland and required a comeback to win over Serbia’s Milos Gladovic in the semi-final. A last second comeback was also required for Israel’s Ron Attias to win the second quota as he was able to deliver a quick kick before time expired. Attias defeated Tortsa in the final 3-2.

The men’s -68kg was dominated by Poland’s Karol Robak whom won all four of his matches by double digits to secure his nation a spot in the event. The other semi-final match was a repeat match from the 2012 European Qualification Tournament between Serbia’s Damir Fejzic and Croatia’s Filip Grgic. This time Grgic was able to get some form of revenge for his loss as he was able to secure Olympic qualification for his nation by winning the match 16-9.

Two former 2012 Olympians met in the semi-final of the women’s -67kg event. The match was between Farida Azizova of Azerbaijan and Slovenia’s Franka Anic. In a very defensive minded match both athletes finished scoreless. The match would be decided by the judges where Azizova won through superiority. The second semi-final was won by Germany’s Rabia Gulec whom defeated Moldova’s Ana Ciuchitu 5-3. Azizova won the tournament winning narrowly 1-0against Gulec.

The surprise performance of the day went to Norway’s Tina Skaar in the women’s +67kg. She was able to defeat world bronze medalists Nafia Kus and Olga Ivanova to secure her nation a spot at the Olympics. The second Olympic quota went to the Netherlands as Reshmie Oogink only had to defeat a single opponent due to getting a bye in the first round. She defeated 2012 Olympian Nusa Rajher of Slovenia 7-1 to reach the finals. Skaar would win the tournament with a 4-1 win over Oogink.

On the second day the other four events were played out to completion. In the men’s -80kg it was Poland’s Piotr Pazinski and Azerbaijan’s Milad Beigi whom won quotas for their nations with semi-final victories over Richard Ordermann of Norway and Yunus Sari of Turkey respectively. Beigi won the final over Pazinski in a 14-2 blowout.

Italy’s Carlo Molfetta will not be able to defend his Olympic title as he lost in the semi-finals to Great Britain’s Mahama Cho. The second quota went to Belarus where Arman-Marshall Silla defeated Slovenia’s Ivan Trajkovic 7-5 to reach the final. Cho won the tournament over Silla by a score of 4-2.

The women’s -49kg saw 2015 World -46kg silver medalist Iryna Romoldanova of Ukraine lose a narrow 3-1 match to Azerbaijan’s Patimat Abakarova whom qualified her nation to the Olympics. The second quota went to Serbia as Tijana Bogdanovic defeated Italy’s Erica Nicoli 11-4. Abakoarova won the final match over Boganovic 6-5.

While three refugees competed in the tournament the only one seen with a chance at qualifying was Raheleh Asemani, an Iran citizen and 2010 Asian Games silver medalist currently living in Belgium. Asemani lived up to the expectation as she won the entire -57kg tournament and qualified to the Olympics. Joining her was Finland’s Suvi Mikkonen whom defeated Germany’s Anna-Lena Fromming 9-8 in the semi-finals to book her nation a spot.

This was the final opportunity for European nations to qualify to the Olympics. The other continents will have their opportunity to qualify over the coming months.

 

Quotas by Nations

• Azerbaijan – 3
• Poland – 2
• Belarus – 1
• Croatia – 1
• Finland – 1
• Germany – 1
• Great Britain – 1
• Individual Olympic Athletes – 1
• Israel – 1
• Netherlands – 1
• Norway – 1
• Poland – 1
• Serbia – 1
• Spain – 1

 

References

• WTF. Results Day 1 – European Qualification Tournament Rio 2016. Access on January 17 2016.
• WTF. Refugee Athlete Among 16 Taekwondo Fighters to Secure Rio 2016 Place at European Qualification Tournament. Access on January 18 2016.