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.

Tennis: Athlete List Updated After Withdrawals

After a number of late withdrawals the International Tennis Federation has announced an updated list of qualified athletes. In total three men and three women withdrew and have been replaced.

For the men Milos Raonic (Canada), Tomas Berdych (Czech Republic) and Richard Gasquet (France) have withdrawn and Jordan Thompson (Australia), Benoit Paire (France) and Teymuraz Gabashvili (Russia) have replaced them. For the women Victoria Azarenka (Belarus), Karolina Pliskova (Czech Republic) and Simona Halep (Romania) have withdrawn and Mariana Duque-Marino (Colombia), Ana Konjuh (Croatia) and Cagla Buyukakcay (Turkey) have replaced them.

Due to these changes a number of doubles partners have changed. In the men’s doubles Daniel Nestor, whom has been added and Vasek Pospisil (Canada), Lukas Rosol and Radek Stepanek (Czech Republic) and Gael Monfils and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (France) will compete together. Also the Czech Republic will only send one doubles team meaning Mexico’s Santiago Gonzalez and Miguel Angel Reyes Varela will compete in the event. For the women’s doubles only the Czech Republic contain a change with Lucie Safarova partnering up with Barbora Strycova.

 

Net Athlete Changes by Nations

• Mexico – 2
• Australia – 1
• Colombia -1
• Croatia – 1
• Russia – 1
• Turkey – 1
• Canada – 0
• France – 0
• Belarus – -1
• Romania – -1
• Czech Republic – -2

 

References

• ITF. Rio 2016 Olympic Tennis Event entries. Access on July 19 2016.

Athletics: Relay Nations Qualified By Aggregate Times Revealed

The final relays in athletics have been revealed by the IAAF. Of the nations which have yet to qualify, they are ranked by the aggregate times of their best two performances over the qualification period. The top eight nations from each relay event qualify to the Olympics. The relay times can only be performed in approved events ranging from May 1st 2015 to June 11th 2016.

For the men’s relays the nations which qualified in the 4x100m are China, Canada, Antigua and Barbuda, Great Britain, Netherlands, Turkey, Dominican Republic and Cuba. The nations which qualified in the 4x400m are Cuba, France, Russia, Dominican Republic, Poland, Colombia, India and Venezuela.

For the women’s relays the nations which qualified in the 4x100m are Netherlands, Germany, Ukraine, China, Kazakhstan, Russia, France and Ghana. The nations which qualified in the 4x400m are Nigeria, Russia, Ukraine, Italy, Germany, India, Romania and Netherlands.

While Russia is listed in the rankings their participation is conditional on the CAS ruling. Should Russia remain banned in athletics the relays will be reallocated to the next highest ranked nation, specifically Japan (men’s 4x400m), Poland (women’s 4x100m) and Bahamas (women’s 4x400m).

 

Quotas by Nations

• Netherlands – 3
• Russia – 3
• China – 2
• Cuba – 2
• Dominican Republic – 2
• France – 2
• Germany – 2
• India – 2
• Ukraine -2
• Antigua and Barbuda – 1
• Canada – 1
• Colombia – 1
• Ghana – 1
• Great Britain – 1
• Italy – 1
• Kazakhstan – 1
• Nigeria – 1
• Poland – 1
• Romania – 1
• Turkey – 1
• Venezuela – 1

 

References

• IAAF. Best Relay Performances (updated as at 11 July 2016). Access on July 13 2016.

Boxing: Professional Athletes Qualified at APB/WSB Qualifier

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

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

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

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

 

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

 

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

 

Quotas by Nations

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

 

References

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

Sailing: Second Round of Reallocations Announced

World Sailing has announced the second stage reallocation of rejected quotas. In total six boats were rejected by their federation. The highest ranked eligible boat from the 2015 World Championship is granted the reallocation quota.

Four of the boats came from the RS:X events. Canada rejected their quotas from both genders while Sweden rejected the two boats which it gained through the last round of reallocation due to their strict qualifying standards. For the men’s RS:X the boats were reallocated to Chinese Taipei and Turkey while for the women’s RS:X they were reallocated to Latvia and Singapore as Germany also rejected the reallocation quota.  Canada also rejected the men’s 49er boat it was given through the previous round of reallocation thus the boat now goes to Switzerland. The final rejected quota was in the 49erFX where Australia rejected the boat. Initially the boat was reallocated to Croatia, but since they also rejected the quota it has now been given to Austria.

With the exception of Austria in the women’s 49erFX all other boats have been confirmed by their NOC thus we now know the make-up of the races. All that is left is for the final athletes to be announced.

 

Net Quotas by Nations

• Austria – 1
• Chinese Taipei – 1
• Latvia – 1
• Singapore – 1
• Switzerland – 1
• Turkey – 1
• Australia – -1
• Sweden – -2
• Canada – -3

 

References

• WorldSailing. All Nations Qualified for the 2016 Olympic Sailing Competition as of 28 June 2016. Access on June 28 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.

Basketball: Women’s Line-Up Completed After Final Tournament

The final teams were decided at the 2016 Women’s Basketball World Olympic Qualifying Tournament. 12 teams were divided into four groups of three where a round robin was played where the top two advanced to the quarter-final. The four quarter-final winners qualified to the Olympics while the losers played for fifth place and the final spot. No semi-final or finals were played. The Women’s Basketball World Olympic Qualifying Tournament was held in Nantes, France from June 13th to June 19th 2016.

In the group stage France topped Group A with 83-67 and 70-52 wins over Cuba and New Zealand respectively. Cuba, after building a 50-29 lead at half-time was able to hold off a late surge from New Zealand to qualify to the quarter-final via a score of 64-62.

Group B was dominated by Turkey as they defeated Argentina and Cameroon 66-38 and 72-46 respectively. Argentina had a very strong performance against Cameroon as they led the team 43-23 by half-time and coasted to a 75-64 win.

Group C was the most thrilling group as Belarus won the first match against Nigeria 71-60. In the second match South Korea took an early 20-13 lead after the first quarter, but Nigeria stood defiant and spent the entire match trying to catch-up, only to take brief leads in the fourth. Going into the dying seconds South Korea led by 2, but a three-point basket in the final five seconds gave Nigeria the lead to win the game 70-69. Nigeria’s joy disappeared in the final match where South Korea did just enough to hold off Belarus to win the match 66-65. Since all three teams won and lost a game the tie-breaker went to point difference meaning Belarus finished first, South Korea in second while Nigeria was left out of the quarter-final.

Group D was won by Spain as the team set aside both China and Venezuela via a score of 77-43 and 83-55 respectively. China finished in second with their opening win against Venezuela where they won 77-59 in a relatively easy fashion.

The quarter-final matches saw the European nations performing well, particularly Spain, Turkey and France where they defeated South Korea, Cuba and Argentina 70-50, 71-45 and 90-53 respectively to qualify to the Olympics. The other match between Belarus and China was close with China taking a 32-28 lead at half-time. However, in the third quarter China blew up the game as they extended their lead to 19 and ultimately qualified to the Olympic with an 84-70 win.

The fight for the fifth and final Olympic quota saw South Korea defeat Cuba in an 81-62 match while Belarus demolished Argentina 84-44. The fifth place match was a very defensive affair though it was Belarus whom built up a 27-16 lead at half-time. South Korea tried to comeback in the third, but was unable to make any gains as Belarus went on to win the match and qualify to the Olympics with a score of 56-39.

With these five teams the women’s basketball line-up is now complete. Among the teams France will be attempting to defend its silver medal won in 2012 while Belarus and Spain will be making their return to the Olympics after missing out in 2012.

 

Qualified Nations (12 Athletes Each)

• Belarus
• China
• France
• Spain
• Turkey

 

References

• FIBA. Women’s Basketball Final Qualification Tournament Results. Access on June 19 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.

Sailing: Boat Reallocations Announced

World Sailing has announced the reallocation of rejected quotas. In total six boats were rejected by their federation. The highest ranked eligible boat from the 2015 World Championship is granted the reallocation quota.

New Zealand with their high standards rejected three boats; the men’s RS:X, the women’s RS:X and the women’s laser radial. In addition Australia rejected their boat in the women’s RS:X. Sweden benefited the most from the reallocation as they are now qualified in the men’s and women’s RS:X while Turkey also qualified in the women’s RS:X. The women’s laser radial was reallocated to Spain. Also rejecting quotas were Canada in the women’s 470 and Sweden in the men’s 49er. Those quotas were reallocated to Italy and Canada respectively.

All the other quotas have been confirmed by their NOCs. All that is remaining is for these six quotas to be confirmed.

 

Net Boat Quotas by Nations

• Italy – 1 (1 Gain)
• Spain – 1 (1 Gain)
• Sweden – 1 (2 Gain, 1 Loss)
• Turkey – 1 (1 Gain)
• Canada – 0 (1 Gain, 1 Loss)
• Australia – -1 (1 Loss)
• New Zealand – -3 (3 Loss)

 

References

• World Sailing. All Nations Qualified for the 2016 Olympic Sailing Competition. Access on June 3 2016.

Archery: Turkey Tops European Qualification Tournament

Turkey won both of the Continental Qualification Tournaments held in conjunction with the 2016 European Archery Championship. The continental qualification tournament contained athletes which were eligible to qualify to the Olympics. In total three quotas were available for each gender with a maximum of one nation per each gender. The entirety of the European Archery Championship was held in Nottingham, Great Britain from May 23rd to May 29th 2016.

The women’s continental qualification tournament was won by top seed Yasemin Anagoz of Turkey. She easily dominated her opponents until the final where she required a tie-breaker to win against seventh seed Alexandra Longova of Slovakia. The third and final quota was won by 13th seed Olga Senyuk of Azerbaijan whom defeated the third seed Hanna Marusava of Belarus in the bronze medal match 6-2.

The men’s continental qualification tournament saw quite a few upset. In fact besides second seed Mete Gazoz of Turkey the highest seed to reach the semi-finals was 20th seed Samuli Piippo of Finland. Piippo defeated Serbia’s Luka Popovic 6-0 to reach the final while Gazoz defeated Great Britain’s Patrick Huston 6-2. Gazoz won the event in a tie-breaker while Huston won the bronze and final Olympic quota over Popovic in a score of 6-4.

Unqualified nations will have one more opportunity to reach the Olympics. The final qualification tournament will also be the final place where nations can qualify to the team event.

 

Quotas by Nations

• Turkey – 2
• Azerbaijan – 1
• Finland – 1
• Great Britain – 1
• Slovakia – 1

 

References

• Ianseo. European Archery Outdoor Championships 2016 + CQT Europe Results. Access on May 27 2016.