Fencing EFC European Olympic Qualifier 2024

[Cinnamon Bun 911]

7 minutes ago, Faramir said:

Agree in theory but not in practice in this case: when your best was like 30th in the individual olympic ranking across all weapons, and the field is around 34 fencers, with any qualification system with continental limitations qualifying someone would be a coin toss

Not really as in that top 34 there's bound to be a couple countries that have 4 or 5 athletes meaning 1/6th of the athletes in that top 34 would be ineligible based on the 3 quota max rule. Either way in a sport like fencing there needs to be more priority towards ranking rather than one off events. I may be in a better mood about this tomorrow though if Maxwell or Brooke get a shock qualification. 

[Cinnamon Bun 911]

20 minutes ago, copravolley said:

Look at rowing... During the European Championships, special qualifying regattas are organized for European countries that have won less than 2 qualifications in total at the World Championships. Moreover, in the same place. As if it wasn't possible to simply make an open European Championship and distribute the quotas to the best crews who havn`t yet qualified. In my opinion, the IOC and their stupid rules are to blame because these absurdities apply to virtually every sports federation.

I see why they do so this but in the sports they do, Rowing and Taekwondo, the events they do them in already have a variety of nations competing so there's really no need to prevent top countries from other events from competing as those events already have a variety of countries qualified. 

[Olympian1010 8,261]

18 minutes ago, copravolley said:

Look at rowing... During the European Championships, special qualifying regattas are organized for European countries that have won less than 2 qualifications in total at the World Championships. Moreover, in the same place. As if it wasn't possible to simply make an open European Championship and distribute the quotas to the best crews who havn`t yet qualified. In my opinion, the IOC and their stupid rules are to blame because these absurdities apply to virtually every sports federation.

Right, but the point of reserved continental places is to increase diversity and the amount of qualified nations. Sailing and Rowing have pretty solid qualification systems in my opinion. I'd maybe queak a rule here or there, but I think they do a decent job at balancing international representation and the qualification of elite crews.

[Olympian1010 8,261]

14 minutes ago, Cinnamon Bun said:

Not really as in that top 34 there's bound to be a couple countries that have 4 or 5 athletes meaning 1/6th of the athletes in that top 34 would be ineligible based on the 3 quota max rule. Either way in a sport like fencing there needs to be more priority towards ranking rather than one off events.

Of course, you're also talking about qualification to a "one off" event.

 

I personally like that fencers can qualify through by individual ranking or continental tournaments. I think there are some changes you could make to help more top ranked individual fencers qualify through the rankings, but I like that individual athletes get two chances at qualification. 

Edited April 27, 2024 by Olympian1010

[Cinnamon Bun 911]

18 minutes ago, Olympian1010 said:

Of course, you're also talking about qualification to a "one off" event.

 

I personally like that fencers can qualify through by individual ranking or continental tournaments. I think there are some changes you could make to help more top ranked individual fencers qualify through the rankings, but I like that individual athletes get two chances at qualification. 

I'm not saying that there shouldn't be a one-off qualifier, I'm still all for them. I just think a top 30 fencer who has performed consistently well for 2 years shouldn't be confined to a one-off qualifier and should instead get in via the rankings. 

[JoshMartini007 2,788]

9 minutes ago, Cinnamon Bun said:

I'm not saying that there shouldn't be a one-off qualifier, I'm still all for them. I just think a top 30 fencer who has performed consistently well for 2 years shouldn't be confined to a one-off qualifier and should instead get in via the rankings. 

She had an opportunity to qualify through the rankings, she just didn't rank high enough. Her second opportunity was through this qualifier.

 

In all fairness, she's ranked 33rd (26th if you remove nations with more than 3 athletes). This isn't a top 5 athlete with a medal chance missing out.

[Makedonas 2,239]

36 minutes ago, Olympian1010 said:

Of course, you're also talking about qualification to a "one off" event.

 

I personally like that fencers can qualify through by individual ranking or continental tournaments. I think there are some changes you could make to help more top ranked individual fencers qualify through the rankings, but I like that individual athletes get two chances at qualification. 

Unless another person from your country is ranked higher and qualifies through the rankings, then you don't even get one chance, let alone two (see Despina Georgiadou).

[Cinnamon Bun 911]

1 hour ago, JoshMartini007 said:

She had an opportunity to qualify through the rankings, she just didn't rank high enough. Her second opportunity was through this qualifier.

 

In all fairness, she's ranked 33rd (26th if you remove nations with more than 3 athletes). This isn't a top 5 athlete with a medal chance missing out.

Doesn't matter, no one ranked 26th after removed nations should miss out on qualifying for the Olympics - there needs to be more respect from the IOC and relevant sporting bodies towards these individual athletes who consistently perform well across a 2 year span. And with how unpredictable fencing can be, I think she would've given herself a decent shot at challenging for a medal. 

[Olympian1010 8,261]

16 minutes ago, Cinnamon Bun said:

Doesn't matter, no one ranked 26th after removed nations should miss out on qualifying for the Olympics - there needs to be more respect from the IOC and relevant sporting bodies towards these individual athletes who consistently perform well across a 2 year span. And with how unpredictable fencing can be, I think she would've given herself a decent shot at challenging for a medal. 

It's a nice thought, but it isn't very practical. 26th would be close to the cutoff or behind it in many other individual sports as well.

 

The community can hope for more quotas in future editions, but sports have to make do with what they have now.

Edited April 27, 2024 by Olympian1010

[Jur 689]

26th in the world wouldnt give you a quota in taekwondo, artistic swimming, judo, boxing, any team sport or most of the sailing classes