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  1. With the conclusion of the 2020 Summer Olympics, curious eyes have turned to Paris and how those games will defer from Tokyo. What changes will we see? The most eye-catching stat is that Paris 2024 will have fewer events with 329 total, 10 fewer than Tokyo 2020. This is the first time since Rome 1960 that the next Olympics will have fewer events than the previous one. Totallympics takes a closer look. This decrease is largely due to the changes of host selected sports as Tokyo selected sports baseball/softball (2 events) and karate (8 events) have been removed. Additionally, four weightlifting events will be removed and not replaced (the 10 remaining weight classes will be confirmed at a later date). The other three Tokyo selected sports; skateboarding, sport climbing and surfing will make their return with sport climbing gaining an additional two events (men’s and women’s speed). The fourth and final host selected sport will be breaking, set to make its Olympic debut with B-boys and B-girls events. Additionally, other sports will have changes to their program, but will keep the same number of overall events. The biggest changes will be seen in canoeing and sailing. For canoeing the men’s and women’s K1 200m events were dropped while the slalom discipline gained two events with men’s and women’s extreme canoe. Additionally, the men’s K2 1000m and C2 1000m will consist of 500m events. Sailing sees the complete removal of the men’s Finn class while the men’s and women’s 470 will now become a mixed event. These changes will make room for the men’s and women’s kiteboarding. While the windsurfing events remain, they will change equipment from the RS:X to iQFoil. In order to decrease the difference between men’s and women’s medalling events, boxing will have a men’s event transferred to the women for a total of 7 men and 6 women events. The weight classes will be confirmed at a later date. Overall, there will be 157 men’s, 152 women’s and 20 mixed or open events. Other sports to have changes include athletics where the men’s 50km race walk will make way for the mixed team race walk, shooting where a rotation from mixed team trap to mixed team skeet will occur and sport climbing where the men’s and women’s combined will only include the bouldering and lead portions as speed is now a separate medalling event. Next week Totallympics will take a closer look as to the changes to the athlete quotas as the 2024 Olympics will have to adhere to the IOC’s 10,500 limit after having more than 11,000 athletes in Tokyo.
    9 points
  2. The first qualifying procedures have been released for Paris 2024. With thirty-two sports split into forty-seven "disciplines" in Paris 2024, the first eighteen disciplines in thirteen sports have been released. They are: Archery, Basketball (Basketball and Basketball 3x3), Boxing, Breaking, Gymnastics (Artistic, Rhythmic, and Trampoline), Handball, Hockey, Modern Pentathlon, Rugby Sevens, Shooting, Triathlon, Volleyball (Beach Volleyball and Volleyball), and Wrestling. Totallympics News will provide coverage on each qualification system as and when it is released. In this post, we will have a look at the ten qualification procedures already released. Archery Archery retains five events, with a men's and women's individual team, and a mixed team. Twelve nations per gender, including hosts France, will qualify a team, with the three members of the team also participating in the individual events. The remaining 28 spots, including two universality places, will be earned on an individual basis, with at most one per NOC. There is no separate qualifying for the mixed team, with entry automatic for every NOC with at least one athlete per gender. The team section has been changed, with a ranking and a continental system added. The 2023 World Archery Championship (Berlin, GER, 28 Jul-6 Aug 2023) will earn just three spots, down from eight. Three of those spots will go to the winners of Continental Championships (exactly which events are yet to be announced) for Europe, Asia, and the Americas. There will still be a Final World Team Qualification Tournament (date and location to be announced) for three places. Finally, two places will be earned for a Team World Ranking List, the date which will count will be announced at a later date. The winners of the mixed team competition at five Continental Games will qualify one individual spot for both genders. These are the 2022 Asian Games (Huangzhou, CHN, 10-25 Sep 2022), the 2023 European Games (Krakow, POL, 21 Jun-2 Jul 2023), the 2023 Pan-American Games (Santiago, CHI, 20 Oct-5 Nov 2023), and the 2023 Pacific Games (Honiara, SOL, Nov 19-1 Dec 2023). The 2023 African Games (Accra, GHA, Dates to be announced) are also meant to be part of this, but as of right now, archery is not on the programme. If this remains the case, one extra place per gender will be available for the Individual Qualifying Tournament. The remaining twenty-one places per gender are earned individually. Three will be earned at the 2023 World Archery Championship, two each will be earned at three Continental Games (the Asian Games, European Games, and Pan-American Games), and ten will be earned at five Continental Qualification Tournaments (which tournaments exactly will be announced by 31 December 2022): three for Europe, two each for Asia, the Americas, and Africa, and one for Oceania. Finally two (plus the potential reallocated African Games spot) will be earned at the Final World Individual Qualification Tournament (date and location to be announced). This system is similar to the one used for 2020, although more priority is given to Continental Games than Continental Qualification Tournaments. All-in-all, a new system for 2020. Artistic Gymnastics Artistic Gymnastics retains its fourteen events from Tokyo 2020, with eight men's events (Team, All-Around, Floor Exercise, Pommel Horse, Rings, Vault, Parallel Bars, and Horizontal Bars) and six women's events (Team, All-Around, Vault, Uneven Bars, Balance Beam, Floor Exercise). The total amount of athletes has been reduced however, with 96 spots per gender, down from 98. One spot per gender will be guaranteed to the host nation, France, although the team is considered strong enough to get at least one place for each gender anyway. A team of five athletes can qualify for an NOC: these five can then choose which individual events they want to take place in. An NOC without a team qualified can bring at most three athletes. This is a big change from 2020, where there were teams made up of four. Twelve teams will qualify per gender, with a similar format to 2016: The top three teams qualifying in the 2022 World Championships (Liverpool, GBR, 29 Oct-6 Nov 2022) and the remaining nine in the 2023 World Championships (Antwerp, BEL, 1-8 Oct 2023). However, the individual qualification places (34 per gender) have a new format in 2024: remember, these can only be earned by athletes not in a team. The top 3 teams at the 2023 World Championships not to qualify will gain one individual athlete per gender. The top eight male and top fourteen female All-Around athletes at the 2023 World Championships will gain a quota as well: only one place per NOC can be gained here. The winner of the six male and four female Apparatus finals at the 2023 World Championships will also gain a quota. The top two in each apparatus at the 2024 FIG World Cup (Athens, GRE, 15-17 Mar 2024; Pesaro, ITA, 22-24 Mar 2024; Sofia, BUL, 12-14 Apr 2024; Baku, AZE, 19-21 Apr 2024; Tashkent, UZB, 26-28 Apr 2024) will gain a spot: so twelve men and eight women. Finally, the winner (or highest-placed eligible athlete) of All-Around competitions in 2024 Continental Championships (a total of five for each gender) will take the final spots. It is yet to be announced which events will count, but the FIG prefers them to take place from April to May 2024. If, as expected, the hosts reallocate their place, it will be an extra place earned at the 2023 World Championships for the All-Around category, effectively boosting that to having nine male and fifteen female athletes qualifying. Basketball Basketball retains two twelve-team tournaments, just like Tokyo 2020. The qualification system for eleven teams each (as one spot goes to hosts France) is the same, differing however between men and women. For men, seven teams qualify from the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup (Various cities, IDN, JPN, PHI, Aug 25-Sep 10 2023): the top two teams from America and Europe and the top team from Africa, Asia, and Oceania. Qualification is in progress for that event. The remaining four spots will be earned in 2024 at FIBA Olympic Qualification Tournaments (Date and location tbc), which will include nineteen teams from the World Cup and five from Olympic pre-qualifying tournaments: the winners of each of the four tournaments, with six teams each, will earn the final spot. For women, only the champion of the 2022 FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup (Sydney, AUS, 22 Sep-1 Oct 2022) will qualify: the qualification procedure for that is finished. The remaining ten places will be earned at FIBA Olympic Qualification Tournaments (Date and location tbc): there will be four groups of four, with the top three qualifying, although France and the Women's World Cup champions will be included: in the groups with those two, only two places will be earned. This is no change from the Tokyo 2020 system. Basketball 3x3 Basketball 3x3 retains its two 8-team tournaments from 2020. There is a change to the system (which is the same for men and women). Now, only the top three teams (down from four) qualify a spot on the 3x3 Federation Ranking List of 1 November 2023. There are now two 2024 Universality-driven Qualification Tournaments (locations and dates for both TBC), with eight teams in both and one winner, and finally, a 2024 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament that is still worth three places. Also, if France don't qualify a place, then whichever genders team is ranked higher takes a ranking place off the lowest-qualified team. Beach Volleyball Beach Volleyball retains a men and a women's 24-team tournament (max 2 teams per NOC) from 2020. With one spot to the hosts, there are 23 teams qualifying per NOC. However, they have removed a qualification tournament that gained two spots, with two more teams earned by world ranking. Firstly, the winner of the 2023 FIVB Beach Volleyball Senior World Championships (date and location TBC) gets a place. Then, the top seventeen (or eighteen should the host spot get reallocated) teams of the Olympic Ranking List of 10 June 2024 will get a spot. Finally, the winners of five Beach Volleyball Continental Qualification Events will earn spots. These dates will be confirmed by 31 May 2022. The final phase of these will be hosted in June 2024, after the publication of the ranking. A simple system to follow. Boxing Boxing has had a switch from 2020. That year, there were eight male weight classes, and five female ones, but now there are seven male weight classes (51, 57, 63.5, 71, 80, 92 and +92kg weight limits) and six female ones (50, 54, 57, 60, 66, and 75kg weight limits). There will be 124 athletes in each gender (compared to 206 men and 80 women in Tokyo), a total of 248, which is down from 286 in 2020. Each event will still have at most one athlete per NOC. To breakdown by event: Women's 54 and 66kg: 24 places Women's 50kg: 22 places Men's 63.5 and 71kg, Women's 57kg: 20 places Men's 57 and 80kg, Women's 75kg: 18 places Men's 51, 92, and +92kg, and Women's 60kg: 16 places The first event in the calendar are the 2023 IBA World Boxing Championships (Tashkent, UZB, dates TBC) and 2023 IBA Women's World Championships (dates and locations TBC). The finalist of each event will earn a spot: as there are thirteen men's and ten women's categories, this means most events will actually get four spots: the Men's +92kg and Women's 57 and 60kg will get two spots. Then, the Olympic Ranking Lists of 31 December 2023 will earn six spots per event. France are guaranteed at least four men and at least three women, and there are also four male and five universality spots: the confirmation of these will affect the exact amount of quotas up for grabs in the Olympic Ranking Lists of 31 March 2024. Finally, in May 2024, a World Qualification Tournament (locations and dates TBC) will earn two spots for each event. A new-look system for the new-look IBA. Breaking The new sport of Breaking has sixteen participants per gender (at most two per NOC). One spot goes to hosts France, and two will be earned by way of "universality", meaning there are thirteen qualification spots. The winner of the WDSF World Championship (Leuven, BEL, 22-24 Sep 2023) will earn a spot as will the winner of five Continental Games/Championships (although exactly which Games or Championships are still to be confirmed). Finally seven athletes in each gender (or eight if the French spot is reallocated) will earn a spot at the Olympic Qualifier Series. Handball Handball retains a 12-team tournament for both genders from 2020. The system has not changed for 2020, with eleven qualification spots each once the host spot is allocated to France. The first spot goes to the winner of the IHF Men's World Championship 2023 (POL and SWE, 11-29 Jan 2023) and the winner of the IHF Women's World Championship 2023 (DEN, NOR, and SWE, exact dates TBC). The winners of four Continental Qualification Events: for men the Pan-American Games, an Asian event pencilled in for autumn 2023, the 2024 European Championship (GER, 10-28 Jan 2024) and the January 2024 African Championship (location and exact dates tbc); and for women the Pan-American Games, an Asian event also in autumn 2023, the 2022 European Women's Handball Championship (MNE, MKD, SLO, 4-20 Nov 2022), and an African event currently meant to take place in 2023. The final six places will be earned at three Olympic Qualifying Tournaments (dates and locations TBC) that will be held in March 2024 for men and the next month for women. A familiar qualifier for a familiar Olympic sport. Hockey Another team sport returning from 2020, there is a 12-team tournament for both genders. Once France get their spot, eleven places are earned in qualifiers for each gender. Unlike 2020, the system is the same for men and women. Five spots are earned by winning Continental Qualifications: these being the 2022 Asian Games, 2023 Pan-American Games, the 2023 African Hockey "Road to Paris" Championships (dates and locations TBC), the 2023 EuroHockey Championships (Monchengladbach, GER, exact dates TBC), and the 2023 Oceania Cup (dates and locations TBC). The top three teams in two FIH Olympic Qualification Tournaments (dates and locations to be announced on 6 November 2023) will win the final spots, a change from 2020 when play-offs were used. Modern Pentathlon Modern Pentathlon retains 36 athletes in each gender: at most two per NOC. With one host spot and two invitational spots, there are 33 qualifying spots per gender, and the system is the same for both, being mostly similar to the 2020 system. The winner of the 2023 UIPM World Cup Final (date and locations TBC) will earn a spot, but twenty (at most one per NOC) will be from various Continental Championships (date and locations TBC): eight for Europe, five for Asia and for Pan America (with one spot for first place, one for the next two North Americans (which includes Central America and the Caribbean) and one for the next two South Americans), and one for Africa and Oceania. Three spots will be earned at the 2023 UIPM Pentathlon World Championships (Bath, GBR, dates TBC), and finally, six will be earned through the UIPM Olympic Pentathlon World Ranking List of 17 June 2024. Rhythmic Gymnastics Rhythmic Gymnastics is a female-only sport, and there are now only 94 athletes, instead of 96. There are still fourteen group (of five, so 70 athletes), but now just 24 individuals, down from 26. There are fourteen teams, including France, with thirteen qualification spots. The top three teams at the 2022 World Championships (Sofia, BUL, 14-18 Sep 2022) will get a spot, as will the top five teams (or six should the French spot be reallocated) at the 2023 World Championships (Valencia, ESP, 21-27 Aug 2023). The final five spots will go to the winners of the 2024 Continental Championships, dates and locations of which are to be confirmed. Unlike artistic gymnastics, the group competition is not integrated in qualifying with the individual one. With 26 places available (at most two per NOC), including one host spot and one universality place, there are 24 qualification spots to fight for. The top three individuals at the 2022 World Championships, the top fourteen (or fifteen should the French spot be reallocated) at the 2023 World Championships, and the winners of the five 2024 Continental Championships get a spot. A relatively simple system to follow, then. Rugby Sevens Rugby Sevens retains its 12-team tournaments from 2020: that includes a host spot each. The eleven qualification spots are the same as in 2020. The top four teams in the 2022-3 World Rugby Sevens World Series, the details of which will be announced by 30 June 2022 corresponding to each gender will gain a spot, as will the winners of six Regional Association Olympic Qualification Tournaments in 2023 and a Final Olympic Repechage Tournament which should happen in 2024. Details and locations for all events are to be confirmed. Shooting Shooting retains thirteen events from 2020, although now there are only 170 athletes per gender, instead of 180. The programme is slightly changed. The men's and women's events are the same (10m Air Rifle, 50m 3 Positions, 10m Air Pistol, 25m Rapid Fire Pistol (Men)/25m Pistol (Women), Trap, and Skeet) while the Mixed Team in 10m Air Rifle and 10m Air Pistol also remain, although the Mixed Team Trap is replaced for a mixed Team Skeet event. There is no mixed team qualification: instead those with one man and one woman in each event can enter a corresponding mixed team: at most two teams per NOC. At most twelve men and at most twelve women per NOC can qualify, and at most two athletes per individual event per NOC can qualify. There are 25 qualification spots per event, with a host country spot, one universality spot (two in the air rifle and air pistol events) and one earned at the Olympic Qualification Ranking of 9 June 2024. In the Air Rifle and Air Pistol events, four spots are earned at the 2022 World Rifle and Pistol Championship (Cairo, EGY, 12-25 Oct 2022). One spot will be earned at the 2022 CAT Championship (Lima, PER, 9-16 Nov 2022). Two spots are earned at the 2023 European 10m Championship (Tallinn, EST, 5-15 Mar 2023). One spot is earned at the 2023 European Games, one at the 2023 Pan-American Games, and another two at the 2023 Asia Championship (Changwon, KOR, exact dates tbc), four at the 2023 World Championship (14-31 Aug 2023, location TBC), two at the 2023 Africa Championship (Cairo, EGY, exact dates 1-10 Oct 2023), two at the 2024 European 10m Championship (Gyor, HUN, exact dates TBC), one at the 2024 CAT Championship, two at the 2024 Asia Rifle and Pistol Championship (date and location tbc), two from a 2024 Final Olympic Qualification Championship (date and location TBC) and one from an Oceania Championship (date and location TBC). For the 25m and 50m events, two spots are earned at the 2022 European 25m/50m Championship (Wroclaw, POL, 5-18 Sep 2022). Four spots are earned at the 2022 World Rifle and Pistol Championship, one at the 2022 CAT Championship, one at the 2023 European Games, one (two for 25m events) at the 2023 Pan-American Games, two at the 2023 Asia Championship, four at the 2023 World Championship, one at the 2023 Africa Championship, two at the 2024 European 25m/50m Qualification Event (dates and locations tbc), one at the 2024 CAT Championship, two at the 2024 Asia Rifle and Pistol Championship, two from a 2024 Final Olympic Qualification Championship and two (one for 25m events) from the mysterious Oceania Championship. The trap and skeet events will be the first event to get underway, with the 2022 European Shotgun Championships (Larnaca, CYP, 24 Aug-12 Sep 2022) earning two spots. Four spots will be earned at the 2022 World Shotgun Championship (Osijek, CRO, 22 Sep-11 Oct 2022), one at the 2022 CAT Championship, one at the 2023 European Shotgun Championship (Leobersdorf, AUT, 25 Jul-6 Aug 2023), two at the 2023 Pan-American Games, two at the 2023 Asia Championship, four at the 2023 World Championship, one at the 2023 Africa Championship, one at the 2024 European Shotgun Championship (Dates and locations TBC), one at the 2024 CAT Championship, two at the 2024 Asia Shotgun Championship (Date and locations TBC), two at the 2024 Final Olympic Qualification Championship and one from the Oceania Championship. The main headline is the removal of World Cup events, and remember that quotas earned in one event can be used in a second as long as the athlete is eligible in both (i.e. gets the minimum entry standard). The headline is the removal of the World Cup events, which is sure to split opinion. Trampoline The only form of gymnastics not to have its quotas cut, it retains sixteen men and sixteen women in 2024. There can be at most two places per NOC, but only three NOCs per gender can earn two places. The highest eight ranked athletes per gender in the 2023 World Championships (Birmingham, GBR, 9-12 Nov 2023). The remaining eight spaces will be won at the 2023-4 Trampoline Individual World Cup Series, dates and locations of which are to be confirmed. However, if a continent doesn't have a place then a spot will be allocated to a relevant 2024 Continental Championship. A host spot and a universality spot may also be taken away from the World Cup series. Triathlon Triathlon avoids any cuts from 2020 to 2024, with 55 athletes from each gender: at most three per NOC. There is a men's, women's, and mixed team event. There are no qualification spots for mixed teams, instead, any NOC with at least two in each gender can enter a mixed team. However, there are some mixed team events that do qualify two places per gender, thus guaranteeing a place in the mixed relay. This includes an automatic spot for the host nation, a spot for the winner of the 2022 World Triathlon Mixed Relay Championships (Montreal, CAN, 26 Jun 2022), a spot for the winner of the 2023 World Triathlon Mixed Relay Championships (Hamburg, GER, date TBC), six spots on offer from the World Triathlon Mixed Relay Ranking of 25 March 2024, and two spaces on offer at the 2024 Mixed Relay Olympic Qualification Event (dates and location TBC). All 31 individual spots (earned separately for each gender) are earned for the World Triathlon Olympic Qualification Ranking of 27 May 2024: the top 26, and then the highest next athlete per continent. Finally, there are two universality places. Just like 2020, there is a mostly ranking-based system for Olympic qualifying. Volleyball Volleyball retains two twelve-team tournaments from 2020 to 2024: so eleven qualification spots once France are taken out. Two spots each are earned in three 2023 Olympic Qualification Tournaments (in each gender, locations tbc: 16-24 Sep 2023 for women, 30 Sep-8 Oct 2023 for men), but in a major shake-up, the remaining five will be earned based on World Rankings (17 June 2024 for women and 24 June 2024 for men). This will be a massively controversial shakeup: with supporters and detractors. Wrestling Finally, we come to Wrestling, a sport for which both disciplines (Greco-Roman and Freestyle) have had their system released together. Greco-Roman is a men-only event, with 96 men participating in six weight classes (60, 67, 77, 87, 97, and 130kg), and 96 of each gender in Freestyle: six weight classes for both men (57, 65, 74, 86, 97, and 125kg) and women (50, 53, 57, 62, 68, and 76kg). There are sixteen spots per event. The top five athletes for each event at the 2023 Senior World Championships (Krasnoyarsk, RUS, 16-24 Sep 2023, obviously take that with a pinch of salt) gain a place. Then, the top two athletes at four 2024 Continental Qualification Tournaments (African & Oceania Tournament, 22-24 Mar 2024, European Tournament, 4-7 Apr 2024, Asian Tournament, 12-14 Apr 2024, Pan-American Tournament, 19-21 Apr 2024, locations all TBC) gain a place. Finally, the top three athletes for each event at the 2024 World Qualification Tournament (9-12 May 2024, location TBC) will earn a place. Plenty of things to debate: it seems in general, there is a move towards rankings-oriented systems, although there is a lot of variation. Let's see if this trend continues for other sports. Patrick Green Writer, Totallympics News
    6 points
  3. Last week we looked at the event changes between the 2020 and the 2024 Summer Olympic Games. The other notable change ahead of those games will be the number of athletes competing. Totallympics takes a closer look. Using the qualification documents, the 2020 Olympics had an expected athlete quota of 11,114 (the final number was higher due to some sports having more athletes than expected qualify and the IOC allowing more athletes to compete at the games due to COVID-19, court appeals and via the refugee team). The 2024 Olympics is set to have a total of 10,500 athletes, a decrease of 614 quotas. As baseball/softball and karate were not selected as host selected sports, the athlete quotas were completely removed. This saw a reduction of 234 and 80 quotas respectively. However, with the other host selected sports seeing an increase in athlete quotas, this reduction had a net effect of -242. The remaining 72 quotas were split between the four sports with breaking getting the most quotas (32 athletes) as the sport is set to make its Olympic debut. Sport climbing, the only returning sport to get an increase in its total events sees a notable increase of 28 athletes while skateboarding and surfing will see increases of 8 and 4 respectively. Of the 28 core sports, all of them either saw them maintaining their 2020 quotas or saw an overall decrease. Cycling is a bit unique as while the overall sport saw a decrease of quotas (-14 athletes), the BMX freestyle (+6) and track cycling (+1) disciplines saw an increase of athletes, but were offset by a decrease in mountain biking (-4) and road cycling (-17). Among the core sports, athletics will experience the largest decrease with 90 fewer athletes expected to attend the 2024 games. Due to the removal of four events, weightlifting also has a significant decrease with 76 fewer athletes while aquatics rounds out the top 3 with 62 fewer athletes (-8 in artistic swimming, -6 in open water swimming, -26 in swimming and -22 in water polo). A summary of the quota changes can be seen in the table below. Of the sports which lost athlete quotas most of them only saw losses of less than 6% of their total quotas from 2020. The two exceptions were boxing and weightlifting. Both sports have recently lost favour in the eyes of the IOC. Even after adjusting weightlifting having fewer events, both sports will experience a decrease of over 10% of their 2020 total. While these athlete quota cuts were made by the IOC as a cost saving measure, they remain quite controversial. Detractors argue that it is not in the spirit of the Olympics and that it would make nations with smaller teams even smaller. What do you think, is the cost saving measures a necessary evil or are there other ways the IOC could cut costs?
    5 points
  4. History was made today as Sofia Raffaeli became the first Italian to win gold in the women’s individual all-around at the Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships. The event also doubled as the first Olympic qualification opportunity for the rhythmic individual all-around event where the top three athletes qualified their nation to the games. The 2022 Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships are currently being held in Sofia, Bulgaria from September 14th to September 18th 2022. The qualification round was topped by Italy’s Sofia Raffaeli whom finished with a total of 98.850. In the qualification round only the three best apparatus scores are counted towards your overall total. Raffaeli was the top performer in the ball and ribbon. The top performer in the hoop and clubs was Bulgaria’s Stiliana Nikolova whom finished just behind Raffaeli with a score of 98.200. The pair had an over 2-point gap ahead of third place Darja Varfolomeev of Germany. In the final, all four apparatus performances are counted towards your total, meaning there was no room for error. The top three from the qualification round continue to be the best performers. After the first two rotations Varfolomeev held a 1.050 lead over Nikolova and Raffaeli. However, a poor ribbon by Nikolova essentially knocked her out of contention for gold leaving Varfolomeev and Raffaeli to battle for gold in the final rotation. Varfolomeev held a 1.000 lead and had to compete in the ribbon while Raffaeli’s final apparatus was the ball. Varfolomeev had a 32.450 performance in the ribbon, but Raffaeli was able to counter with a 34.250 on the ball, allowing her to win gold with a total score of 133.250. She finished first in the hoop, ball and ribbon. Varfolomeev finished in the silver medal position by winning the clubs and finishing with a total score of 132.450. Bronze and the final Olympic quota went to Nikolova who finished with a total of 128.800. Raffaeli had a breakout season in 2022 where she won gold in the individual all-around at 3/5 World Cup events. She also added many apparatus medals to her collection including three golds (hoop, ball & ribbon) and one bronze (clubs) at this World Championships. The next Olympic opportunity for nations to qualify in this event will be at the 2023 World Championships.
    4 points
  5. The first eight spots in Paris 2024 Shooting will be earned over the coming weeks at the 2022 European Championship (Shotgun) takes place in Larnaca, Cyprus. A modest "hidden gem" on the island nation's south-eastern coast, Larnaca is the country's third largest city, although the Larnaca Olympic Shooting Range is actually in the nearby village of Tersefanou, with a population of about 1300. Plenty of events will take place, but four of them matter for Paris 2024 qualification: the Men's and Women's Trap and Skeet events. The top two athletes will earn at most one place for their NOC (so the same country cannot snag both quotas). The opening ceremony will take place on Thursday, with Trap qualification on Friday and Saturday before the finals later on Saturday, with the women at 14:30 local time and the men at 16:30. After that, a few non-Olympic events take place but the Skeet Qualification begins on 8 September, before continuing on 9 September. Later on 9 September the finals will take place, again with the women beginning at 14:30 and the men at 16:30. Qualifying one man and one woman in Skeet will also guarantee a place in the Mixed Team event. In Lonato del Garda in 2019, eventual Olympic champion Czech Republic's Jiří Lipták and Great Britain's Aaron Heading earned a spot in the Men's Trap, with Greece's Nikolas Mavrommatis and Cyprus' Dmitris Konstantinou earning a spot in the Skeet. On the women's side, the ROC's Daria Semianova and San Marino's Alessandra Perilli (who won bronze in Tokyo) earned a spot in the Trap with the Czech Republic's Barbora Šumová and Ukraine's Iryna Mavlochiko earning a spot in the Skeet. However, this time, the European Shotgun championship is top of the pecking order (Shooting quota places have priority based on chronological order) rather than somewhere in the middle. The European Shotgun Confederation (ESC) has not provided a start list, but noted that "All members of the European Shooting Confederation are invited to participate without any exception", implying that Russian and Belarusian athletes will be able to compete. Some big names are expected to compete however: in Tokyo 2020, all three men's trap medallists (including champion Lipták), two women's trap medallists and the silver medallists in both skeet events were Europeans, as were the top two in the mixed trap team. An article on the IOC website confirms at least six Olympic medalists will be present: Jesper Hansen (Silver, Men's Trap, Denmark), Matthew Coward Holley (Bronze, Men's Skeet, Great Britain), Fátima Gálvez, Alberto Fernández (both Gold, Mixed Trap, Spain), Gianmarco Berti, and Alessandra Perilli (both Silver, Mixed Trap, San Marino; Perilli also won bronze in the individual trap event). With only two spots up for grabs in Larnaca per event, there will be stiff competition.
    4 points
  6. The victory of the hosts brought the team event of dressage at the FEI Wrold Championship in Herning to a conclusion. Denmark shared the podium with Great Britain and Germany. Alltogether seven teams secured a place for the Paris 2024 Olympics. The Grand Prix have been held for two days with two athletes achieving a result above 80% - Cathrine Laudrup-Dufour on Vamos Amigos (81,864%) and Charlotte Fry on Glamourdale (80,838%). They were the leaders of the teams battling for the gold. The success was on the hosts' side with Nanna Merrald Rasmussen on Blue Hors Zack (76,724%) and Carina Cassøe Krüth on Heiline's Danciera (76,863%) beating the Brits, where Fry was joined by Charlotte Dujardin on Imhotep (77,407%) and Gareth Hughes on Classic Briolinca (75,978%). The podium was completed by the title defending Germans with Ingrid Klimke on Franzikus having their result dropped as the worst in the team (75,683%) the result of 230,791% was achieved by Isabell Werth on DSP Quantaz (77,127%), Bejamin Werndl on Famoso OLD (77,003%) and Frederic Wandres on Duke of Britain FRH (76,661%). Beside the medallists, the three next teams also secured a place in the Paris 2024 Olympic team event (as well as team members starting in the individual competition). These are Sweden, Netherlands (including Dinja van Liere on Hermes - third pair of the Grand Prix with 78,835%) and USA. Another quota went to team of Australia, placed eighth, being the best from the Group G of South East Asia and Oceania with Japan in 15th and New Zealand eliminated as Gaylene Lennard's Jax Johnson haven't passed the inspection and the team had no reserve of their three-pair team. The next medal events are to be held on Monday with dressage Grand Prix Special (individual only) and the non-Olympic vaulting Squad and Individual medals to be given. The next Olympic quotas will be distributed during the jumping team final on Friday the 12th. Author: Wojciech Nowakowski, Totallympics Photo: © FEI/Leanjo de Koster
    4 points
  7. Hello all, As qualification systems are starting to be released for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, Totallympics is reviving its news section. Founded in 2020 as "Qualifying to the Games", the section was put on hold in 2021. It has rebranded to "Totallympics News" with an aim to publish regular articles leading up to Paris 2024 and beyond. In the past, this was more in the style of a blog, with irregular articles mostly published when a writer had a whim to write on a topic interesting them. The aim of this project is to provide a more comprehensive news section to compliment the forum. There is no sports news site currently has a primary focus on Olympic qualifications, and therefore we can help fill that gap. I hope people continue to use and enjoy Totallympics, and if you are interested in helping in this project, please contact the site admin @Sindo. Patrick Green Writer, Totallympics News
    4 points
  8. The UIPM has recently announced the introduction of the New Olympic Pentathlon, which aims to shorten the time of the competition and make it more attractive to the audience. The approval of the format by the Executive Board caused a mostly negative reaction, from the athletes, whom the changes will affect the most. The following is an interview with Shiny Fang, UIPM Secretary General, in which she tries to explain the biggest doubts about the changes. The first question is, what is on the mind of the Pentathlon community – what is the reason for those changes? To aim for the future, to embrace the youth, and to widen the sport’s audience with a more compact and understandable sport product for media, also to demonstrate our most complete athletes in a shorter time without losing audience in between parts of the longer competition. Modern pentathlon’s place in the Olympic programme is a crucial thing for the sport, which is also a legacy of being founded by Baron Pierre de Coubertin himself. Was the proposal consulted with the IOC representatives as they should be the ones to know better, in which direction the changes should go? Certainly UIPM as the world governing body of the sport knows better how we can improve the sport and its product/format. However, if we are talking about Pentathlon in the Olympic Games, we first need to understand what is the IOC’s vision for future Games, and what would be the most valuable things to evaluate the sport’s impact in the Games. Therefore, it is a collective effort by all involved or responsible parties in the Games, including valuable advice from OBS, Olympic Channel and Paris 2024. Modern pentathlon has been changing for some time, but this is a true revolution. Doesn’t it bring confusion to new pentathlon fans to learn the sport from the beginning? Well, what we are changing or innovating is about our sports product, to smoothly shape it to a fan-friendly and media-friendly format so that audience can see a compact and complete sport within a shorter time. As you might know well, the sport has come from 5 days, to 1 day, to 5 hours, and now to 90min. However, what we haven’t changed is the core essence of the sport created by Coubertin – that is, the historical elements/disciplines are still the same since the sport was born. The proposed changes apply for only the Olympic Games (and the Olympic qualifiers, as far as I understand). Would it not be harder for fans to learn one format for the Olympics and another for all other competitions? We do have EB approved Olympic format and qualification events format, and those Olympic qualification events will be major UIPM competitions. Therefore, in terms of the format for UIPM major competitions, we will keep the same direction as the Olympic format, but with certain flexibility, such as number of athletes in final group, length of the breaks between each disciplines, etc. For UIPM competitions, we will have relatively more time to test and to fix more details, since the qualification events will only start from 2023. But for the Olympic format, we must be in line with the timeline of the IOC and Paris 2024, to give organisers enough time. By the way, it is quite normal that some other sports also have an Olympic format and a different IF format, so nothing unusual. The athletes are openly against it, and primarily because of the increased injury risks caused by a shortened warm-up time. Was the new format consulted with them? Actually the athletes are not against innovations, they are open-minded and intelligent, also sometimes they give us a lot of good ideas. For the new format, due to a series of processes which we also want to keep low profile with mainly athletes representatives in each working group and committees, it is normal that a lot of athletes who haven’t joined in athletes meetings at earlier stage, haven’t been well informed. Clearly, the communication with athletes is the key, and during the athletes call on November 11, a lot of their questions and doubts were addressed. But it is not enough, we will certainly engage more with them during the rest of the process. There were also very few test events with the new format – just the two in Budapest and Cairo, where the participation of athletes from all around the world was limited due to Covid-19 pandemic. Has the UIPM tried to conduct more test events, for example during the national competitions that were held in different countries, for example Russia, Belarus or Poland? Actually, we felt fortunate that we were able to manage two decent tests during this pandemic time with full support of our organizers, and yes, we will have more tests in 2021 before and/or after the Tokyo Olympics. More details will be fixed early in 2021. The changes were to be introduced this year, but because of the pandemic the Congress will be held in 2021. Were there ideas to postpone it to the 2024-2028 Olympic cycle, as the pre-Paris one is a shortened one after? No we won’t postpone, innovation has been a continuous process for decades in UIPM, Paris is a milestone that we cannot miss, and it will demonstrate more possibilities for LA 2028 as well. In Polish По-русски (Трансляция: Себастьян Стасяк)
    4 points
  9. With the opening ceremony set to begin Saturday evening, about 4700 of the best athletes in South America have arrived in Paraguay to compete at the 2022 South American Games. The games are going to be held in the capital city of Asuncion from October 1st to October 15th 2022. The athletes represent 15 nations, with Curacao set to compete for the first time. The constituent country, part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands previously competed as part of the Netherlands Antilles prior to its dissolution. Also competing are Argentina, Aruba, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay and Venezuela. Overall, 412 events are scheduled to take place across 36 sports. This includes 28/32 sports set to be held at the 2024 Olympics (missing breaking, modern pentathlon, sport climbing and surfing) along with bocce, bodybuilding, bowling, chess, karate, padel, squash and water skiing. Not only will athletes strive to win gold for their nation, but the South American Games are also qualifiers in 18 sports and will provide direct quotas to compete at the 2023 Pan American Games. The table below gives a breakdown of those qualifiers. Sport Quotas to Pan Am Games Aquatics Artistic Swimming – Top two eligible teams (plus Chile) will qualify a team and duet and top two eligible duets will compete in the duet. Diving – 10-12 athletes in men’s events and 10-12 athletes in women’s events Open Water – Top seven (plus Chile) eligible athletes per gender Water Polo – Two highest ranked eligible teams plus Chile Archery Gold medalists in the men’s and women’s individual recurve and compound events Athletics Gold medalists of each individual event will be eligible to compete. Additionally, the gold and silver medalists of the five relay events will qualify. Bowling The three best men’s and women’s nations with the best combined score by their two athletes. Boxing Gold and silver medalists in each event. Cycling Track – The highest ranked eligible nation from each event. Mountain – The highest ranked eligible nation from each event. Equestrian Dressage – Two highest ranked teams, three highest ranked individuals without a team. Jumping – Three highest ranked teams, four highest ranked individuals without a team. Field Hockey Two highest ranked eligible teams Handball Two highest ranked eligible teams Karate Two highest ranked eligible athletes in each individual event. Roller Sports Speed skating – Highest ranked eligible athlete in each gender after combining the results of the sprint or distance events will qualify their nation (2 men and 2 women). Rugby Sevens Two highest ranked eligible teams. Shooting Highest ranked eligible athlete will qualify their nation. Squash Gold medalists from the team events Table Tennis Highest ranked eligible men’s and women’s teams Tennis Gold and silver medalists in each individual event. Triathlon Gold medalist in the mixed relay Water Skiing Gold medalists in each wakeboard event. As the Pan American Games will be a qualifying event to the 2024 Olympics, the South American Games can be considered the first step for Olympic qualification for the region. Of the 18 sports offering direct quotas to the Pan American Games, 9 sports; (aquatics (artistic swimming, diving, water polo), archery, boxing, equestrian, field hockey, handball, shooting, table tennis and tennis) will offer direct quotas to the Olympics while in athletics and cycling, athletes will be able to earn world ranking points. The first medals are set to be awarded on Sunday where 38 events across 8 sports will be decided.
    3 points
  10. While the 2022 European Shotgun Championships continue in Larnaca, Cyprus, another blue ribbon shooting event with places in Paris up for grabs is taking place in a very different European city. Wrocław is the capital of Poland's southwestern Lower Silesian Voivodeship, with about 650,000 people calling it home. The city will be hosting the 2022 European 25m/50m Shooting Championships, with places at the 2024 Olympic Games on the line. Hosted at the shooting range of Polish top-flight football club Śląsk Wrocław, which also has top-tier teams in women's football and handball as well as being the reigning Polish basketball champion. The top two places (with the stipulation that the same country can't win both places) in four events will earn a spot for their country at the 2024 Olympics: the 50m Rifle 3 Positions for both genders, the Men's Rapid Fire Pistol and the Women's 25m Pistol. The first week of competition will be dedicated to junior competitions which do not earn quota places, but preliminary competition for the Olympic events starts on 12 September for all events apart from the Women's 50m Rifle 3 Positions, which starts on 13 September. On 14 September, the finals will take place: firstly the Women's 25m Pistol at 11:00 local time, before the Men's Rapid Fire Pistol at 17:00 and the Men's 50m Rifle 3 Positions at 19:00. The Women's 50m Rifle 3 Positions final will take place on 15 September at 17:00. It is too early for a start list, but there is guaranteed to be a range of talent on show. At Tokyo 2020, out of the twelve medallists in these events, seven were European, although four of these were Russian and will not be competing. The other three Europeans to medal in these events were Men's Rapid Fire Pistol champion Jean Quiquampoix of France, Men's 50m Rifle 3 Positions bronze medallist Milenko Sebić of Serbia, and champion in the Women's 50m Rifle 3 Positions event Nina Christen of Switzerland. While finding information on participation is not the easiest, the Swiss federation has confirmed that Christen will compete, so we will see at least one Olympic champion. This event has a different priority than it did in the Tokyo cycle, coming first in the schedule for shooters in this event. In the Tokyo Games, it was somewhere in the middle of the calendar. The Czech Republic and Italy got a place in the Men's 50m Rifle 3 Positions thanks to Petr Nymburský and Lorenzo Bacci, while in the Women's event it was Belarus' Maria Martynova and Denmark's Stine Nielsen. In the Men's Rapid Fire Pistol Italy's Riccardo Mazzetti and Azerbaijan's Ruslan Lunev earned a spot, while in the Women's 25m Pistol both places went to France thanks to Mathilde Lamolle and Celine Goberville, something that would be impossible this time around.
    3 points
  11. The Czech Republic's Jiri Liptak starred in a wonderful two days of Trap action at the European Championships (Shotgun) in Larnaca, Cyprus. With the top two in both the Men's and Women's Trap earning spots at Paris 2024, there was something extra motivating these athletes in addition to the potential of European glory. A total of one hundred athletes entered the qualification stage, although thirteen of these were not eligible to reach the final and in it for ranking points only. With five rounds of 25 targets each, the top eight would qualify. Tokyo 2020 champion Liptak lead with 123 hits, with Sweden's Rickard Levin-Andersson second with 122. Third would be decided by shootoff as Great Britain's Nathan Hales and Cyprus's Andreas Makri were tied for 121, while fifth would also be decided by shoot-off to decide between France's Clement Borgue, GB's Matthew John Coward-Holley, and Portugal's Armelim Felipe Rodrigues, who were all on 120 points. Most importantly, the eighth and final spot would also be decided by shoot-off, as Croatians Anton Glasnovic and Francesco Ravalico were tied on 119 points with Teemu Antero Ruutana of Finland and Erik Varga of Slovakia. The Czech Republic's Vladimir Stepan also got 119 points but was ineligible to make the final as a 'ranking points only' (RPO) athlete. Makri got the better of Hales in the shootoff to come third, while in the shoot-off for fifth Rodrigues with six got ahead of Coward-Holley with five and Borgue with none. Glasnovic hit three targets to beat out Ruutana on two and Ravalico and Varga on one to make the next round. Here, there would be two ranking matches of four athletes each, with the top two making the medal match. The first match was made up of Bourgue, Liptak, Makri, and Rodrigues; there would be twenty-five shots, although the athlete in last after fifteen would be eliminated. That happened to be Makri with ten, while it was a tight race in front: Liptak on fourteen, Rodrigues on thirteen, and Bourgue on twelve. But Bourgue missed his next three shots and could only post a total of nineteen, while Liptak (22) and Rodrigues (21) advanced to the final. In the other match, comprised of Coward-Holley, Glasnovic, Hales, and Levin-Andersson; after fifteen it was Glasnovic that was eliminated with eleven, with Hales in front with thirteen and both Coward-Holley and Levin-Andersson on twelve. But Levin-Andersson recovered, only missing one of his final ten shots to post a score of 21, tying with Hales, meaning Olympic bronze medallist Coward-Holley would not advance. In the medal match, there would be thirty-five shots, with last place eliminated after fifteen and again after twenty-five. After fifteen shots Rodrigues was eliminated with ten hits; both Levin-Andersson and Hales had twelve, but something special was in the works as Liptak had all fifteen. With the Czech seemingly uncatchable, the next ten shots would be crucial to decide who got the Paris spot. Both of them hit their next five perfectly, but both missed one shot. Tied for 21 points, they were separated by their score in the Ranking Match. However, as this was also equal, this meant they were separated by their score in the qualification match, and Levin-Andersson survived: a true reflection that every shot matters. But the Swede would have to settle for silver: while he was battling with Hales, Liptak had extended his perfect run: with five shots to go the Czech led 30-25. That meant he just needed to get the next shot to guarantee it and he did, a "golden hit" stopping the contest early and winning gold with a perfect 31 out of 31 in the final. The quotas then went to the Czech Republic and Sweden. On the women's side, it was a somewhat less crowded field, with forty-five athletes, three of whom were RPO. Italy's Silvana Stanco got 119 hits in qualifying, with Portugal's Maria Ines Coelho de Barros and Italy's Giulia Grassia tied for 118. France's Carole Cormenier, Lucy Charlotte Hall of Great Britain, and Jessica Rossi of Italy were tied for fourth with 117 points, while two Spaniards: Fatima Galvez and Mar Molne Magrina were tied for seventh with 116. Grassia hit six targets in the shootoff ahead of Coelho de Barros with five to confirm an Italian 1-2, while Hall won her shoot-off for fourth with three targets ahead of Cormenier on two and Rossi on one. Galvez hit one target to beat Molne Magrina on none. This meant that both European medallists in Tokyo 2020: champion Zuzana Rehak Stefecekova of Slovakia (10th, 114) and bronze medallist Alessandra Perilli of San Marino (24th, 110) were casualties of the qualification stage. The first ranking match was made up of Coelho de Barros, Cormenier, Galvez, and Stanco. After fifteen it was the French athlete who was eliminated, missing four of her first five shots and registering a total of nine. At this stage, Stanco was way in front with a perfect fifteen, with both Coelho de Barros and Galvez on eleven. But Coelho de Barros missed three of her next four and then her last three to register only fifteen in total, with Galvez coming second with twenty, safely behind Stanco who managed an impressive twenty-four. In the other ranking match, composed of Grassia, Hall, Molne Magrina and Rossi, Grassia was eliminated early with just nine of her first fifteen, while Molne Magrina was off in front with thirteen, just ahead of Hall and Rossi on twelve. However, the Spaniard faltered, hitting just four of the final ten shots to register a total of seventeen, with Rossi on twenty and Hall on nineteen qualifying. Into the medal match then, and the quality was evident from the start. Galvez was eliminated after fifteen due to only hitting ten: Hall lead on fourteen with the Italians on thirteen each. But Rossi missed three of her next five and could only recover to twenty, with Hall on 21 and Stanco on 22. Hall hit the next ten perfectly to end on 31 and put the pressure on Stanco... but the Italian held her nerve to do the same and pip the Brit into second with 32. This meant that the women's quotas went to Italy and Great Britain. So the first qualifiers for shooting have been decided: on the men's side, the Czech Republic and Sweden, and on the women's side, Italy and Great Britain. On 8 September, qualifying for the Men's and Women's Skeet will begin, the other events with Olympic quotas to be decided in Larnaca. The next chance for European (and indeed any) trap shooters will be at the 2022 World Championship (Shotgun) in Osijek, Croatia, which starts next month. Patrick Green Writer, Totallympics News
    3 points
  12. The North American men's football qualifiers are set with the CONCACAF Under 20 Championship now complete. The semifinals took place in Estadio Morazán in San Pedro Sula, with the winners of each knowing they would qualify to Paris 2024 as the two representatives of North America, Central America and the Caribbean. The Dominican Republic took on Guatemala in the first game with Guatemala racing into an early lead. First Arquimides Ordoñez headed home a cross before Sebastián Mañón poked a teasing ball into his own goal. But the Dominican Republic fought back with two goals in quick succession in the second half: first Guillermo de Peña took advantage of a loose ball before Edison Azcona's low long shot found its way in. No more goals would come in regulation time, and extra time was mostly uneventful, apart from a Dominican penalty being overturned by the video assistant referee (VAR). So the Olympic spot and a place in the final would be decided on penalties. First Thomas Jungbauer stepped up for the Dominican Republic and sent the goalie the wrong way. And they had a clear advantage when Mathius Gaitán hit the post. But when Ángel Montes De Oca skied it and Daniel Cardoza dispatched his spot-kick the scores were level again. Azcona and Johnathan Franco both looked as cool as a cucumber, so it was 2-2 with two penalties each left. De Peña put his home, but Ordoñez saw his shot saved to give Adhonys María the chance to send the Dominican Republic through to the final, and that was exactly what he did. The other semifinal was at the same stadium as part of a double-header, and the US took on Honduras. And the Stars and Stripes did not delay as Paxton Aaronson poked home a freekick to put them ahead just two minutes in. Alejandro Alvarado Jr. then doubled the lead when his shot squirmed past the goalkeeper, and a large crowd were even more disappointed when Quinn Sullivan put in an open goal. A massacre was avoided as there were no goals in the semifinal, but things did get worse for the hosts when Jefryn Macías earned a late red card for a horror tackle on Nikolas Tsakiris. The final took place at the Estadio Olímpico Metropolitano, although both teams knew they would be in the Olympic Games no matter what. It was the US who drew first blood, with Tyler Wolff heading home a cross. Aaronson, certainly the star of the tournament doubled the lead with a smart short-range finish, before Noah Allen's deflected effort pretty much wrapped up the game before half time. There was still time for more though: Jack Mc Glynn fired in at long range with a low effort, before the Dominicans failed to mark Aaronson from a free-kick as the Philadelphia Union player got his seventh goal of the tournament. The final goal would be scored by Tsakiris as the Dominican Republic failed to clear their lines, to wrap up a hugely impressive 6-0 victory and take home the trophy. In men's football, the US have only ever won two medals, with the bizarre tournament at St. Louis 1904 containing one Canadian team and two American teams: Christian Brothers College won silver and St. Rose Parish won silver. But in the modern era they have won nothing. Since men's football became an underage competition in Barcelona 1992, the best they have done is a fourth placed finish in Sydney 2000. But they have missed the last three tournaments: a last minute goal conceded to El Salvador in Nashville cost them in 2012, a loss to Colombia scuppered their chances in 2016, and in 2020 it was Honduras that beat them. For a country that is becoming more and more of a 'soccer' nation, this triple failure was unacceptable for a country that looks to fight to be the best in the continent. But it seems they benefited from the change in format with the Under-20 Championship doubling as a qualifier (rather than a separate Under-23 championship). Throughout they were dominant, with a mature performance against a partisan crowd in the semifinal, fully justifying their top-seeded position and they deserve their place in Paris. The Dominican Republic's story is remarkable. It is the first time a Dominican football team of either gender has qualified for the Olympics, and 2020 was the first time they had even qualified for the qualification event, coming last and losing every game in their group. They were ranked so low that they had to enter a qualifying round, where they were 2-0 down to Saint Lucia and heading out with two minutes to go, before two late goals got them the goal they needed. Beating an impressive El Salvador side who topped their group 5-4 was one thing, before they showed perseverance against Jamaica and resilience to come back from 2-0 down against Guatemala. The 6-0 loss in the final aside, they may have gotten some luck but they also deserve their place in the final. North American men's football qualification for the Olympics is thus decided: the champions, the US and the runners-up Honduras will go to Paris. They will also enter the 2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Indonesia, where they will be joined by losing semi-finalists Honduras and Guatemala. The other country in the Olympics is hosts France, with all other qualifying events listed currently as "to be determined". However, for football fans, the women's North American event, the CONCACAF W Championship, starts soon. Patrick Green Writer, Totallympics News
    3 points
  13. The International Olympic Committee announced the Refugee Olympic Team for Tokyo 2020 on Tuesday, and as a connoisseur of multi-sports games, I found myself curious as to the multi-sports games credentials of the athletes selected for the team. I began my quest for knowledge by consulting an archive of multi-sports games results dating from the early 2000s to the present. While the search itself took a few hours, having to comb through results of various multi-sports games, it did produce some interesting factoids about a few members of the Refugee Olympic Team. The first “hit” in the database was for athletics participant, Dorian Keletela. Keletela ran as a representative of the host country, Republic of Congo, back at the 2015 African Games. He was entered into the 100m and clocked a time of 10.68 in the heats. He failed to advance out of the heats, thus ending his pursuit of gold. This was also his only recorded participation at a multi-sports games. The second athlete to pop up during the search was Wessam Salamana. Salamana competed in boxing at the 2010 Asian Games as a representative of the Syrian Arab Republic. Salamana actually enjoyed relative success at the Games, beating opponents from Timor-Leste, Republic of Korea, and Bhutan on his way to earning a bronze medal. In fact, his only loss came in the semifinals when he was defeated by the eventual gold medalist from Thailand. The 2010 Asian Games would mark Salamana’s only participation at a multi-sports games, but he’ll definitely be hoping to relive his time on the podium at the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympic Games. The next athlete to appear in the database also registered a start for the Syrian Arab Republic. Ahmad Badreddin Wais competed for the country in cycling at the 2018 Mediterranean Games. He recorded results in both the road race and time trial. In the road race, Badreddin Wais finished in 47th place and outside the time limit. However, he faired much better in the time trial placing 16th out of 20 riders, only 2:55 behind the winner of the event. He will likely be hoping for a similar performance in the time trial during the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympic Games. Perhaps the most prolific multi-sports games athlete on the Refugee Olympic Team is Javad Mahjoub. Mahjoub competed for the Islamic Republic of Iran at both the 2010 and 2014 Asian Games. His performances in Judo at both Games were full of ups-and-downs. At the 2010 Asian Games he managed to win his first match, before subsequently losing two matches, including one in the repechage round. He faired slightly better at the 2014 Asian Games, qualifying for the bronze medal match after losing in the semifinal stage. Unfortunately, he finished the competition in 5th place after a loss in the bronze medal match. He will definitely be hoping for improved results at Tokyo 2020. The last athlete to appear in the database was Cyrille Fagat Tchatchet II. Tchatchet II participated in weightlifting at the 2014 Commonwealth Games representing the country of Cameroon. He managed a very respectable result at the Games finishing his event in 5th place ahead of 15 other lifters. In total, he managed to lift 315kg during the -85kg competition. The 2014 Commonwealth Games would also mark the end of his multi-sports games journey until it was announced he made the Refugee Olympic Team for Tokyo 2020. In total, these five athletes represent only a small part of the Refugee Olympic Team. However, these five athletes also show that the Refugee Olympic Team is not to be taken lightly in Tokyo. While they might not be favorites for medals, they are experienced competitors at this level, and will be ready to give it their all in Tokyo. For those who missed the announcement of the Refugee Olympic Team, a full list of the athletes selected can be found here.
    3 points
  14. The women’s water polo tournament at the 2020 Olympics has been decided with the results of the Women’s Water Polo Olympic Qualification Tournament. The two finalists of the eight-team tournament qualified to the games. The format included a round robin group stage where all eight teams advanced to the quarterfinals. The event was held in Trieste, Italy from January 19th to January 24th 2021. A draw between the Netherlands and Italy (7-7) saw the two nations finished atop of Group A with five points each. With a better goal differential, it was Italy who finished first in the group. Third place was won by France who fought off a second quarter comeback by Slovakia to win the match 17-9. Group B came down to Greece and Hungary as the two nations had back-to-back victories over Israel (20-1 and 27-2 respectively) and Kazakhstan (13-5 and 23-6 respectively). In the deciding match, it was Greece which finished with an 8-5 victory. The third-place match of the group between Israel and Kazakhstan ended in a 7-7 draw and thus the latter finished ahead due to goal differential. The quarterfinals saw no upsets as the four European powerhouses dispatched their opponents. The Netherlands defeated Kazakhstan 19-6, Greece won over Slovakia 22-3, Hungary finished ahead of France 20-7 and Italy was the victor over Israel 15-6. The semifinals and the Olympic qualification deciding matches saw Greece take an early lead over the Netherlands where they held a 4-3 advantage at half-time. However, the Netherlands were able to prevent Greece from scoring again as they won the match 7-4. The second Olympic quota was won by Hungary who took a 3-1 first quarter lead over Italy and thanks to a six-goal effort by Rita Keszthelyi, won the match 13-10. The final and bragging rights was won by Hungary who defeated the Netherlands 13-11. Third place went to Greece as they won over Italy 10-4. This will be the Netherlands’ first Olympic appearance since winning the gold medal at the 2008 Olympics. The team will be hoping to repeat that performance at the 2020 Olympics. Hungary on the other hand, will be looking to win their first Olympic medal after finishing fourth at the previous three Olympics. This completes the Olympic roster for the women’s water polo teams. The final men’s teams will be decided at their respective Olympic qualification tournament scheduled to be held in February. Qualified Nations Women's Tournament Hungary Netherlands
    3 points
  15. The CCIO4*-L contest at Equestrian Festival Baborówko has decided the Olympic quota for the team in group C. It was won by the host team of Poland - the only one to complete the eventing with all the riders. Already on Thursday it was clear that Czech team will not participate in this battle as Miloslav Přihoda Jr's horse Ferreolus Lat didn't pass the veterinarian inspection. It brought the battle down to two teams - Poland and Hungary. Dressage test gave 9,7 point of advantage to the hosts, but it was the cross country to become crucial. With Noémi Viola Doerfer falling of her horse and Balázs Kaizinger retiring and all the Polish pairs reaching the finish line with no obstacle penalties it was enough for Poland to complete the competition to get the tickets to Paris. The CCIO4*-L contest was however a great chance to get the MER score - and all the Polish athletes reached the final TOP5 with Jan Kamiński winning, Mateusz Kiempa (starting individually only), Małgorzata Korycka, Paweł Warszawski and Wiktoria Knap behind him. Now it's up to the national team's coach, Olympic champion Andreas Dibowski, to pick the three pairs and an alternate one for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. According to the plan, he wants to raise the level in Poland to have seven or eight pairs to pick from late spring next year. Equestrian FEI Eventing Group C Olympic Games Qualifier 2023 Discussion Thread Eqeustrian at the Summer Olympic Games Paris 2024 Qualification Tracker
    2 points
  16. Thursday was te first competition day of Equestrian Festival Baborówko, which CCIO4*-L contest is the Paris 2024 Qualification event for Group C. The veterinarian inspection for the participating was held and that brought the battle to just two nations. Only four countries entered their athletes to the CCIO4*-L - Bulgaria with just one Petar Marchev and Gaskon, Czech Republic and Hungary with three pairs and the event host, Poland, with six pairs. During the horse inspection Miloslav Přihoda Jr and Ferreorus Lat were eliminated, which caused Czech team to be incomplete and thus unable to battle for the Olympic quota. This means only two countries will have the opportunity to fight for the Paris 2024 - Hungary and Poland. With Poland having six pairs in the CCIO4*-L, the national team coach, Andreas Dibowski, decided the team will feature Małgorzata Korycka and Canvalencia, Jan Kamiński and Jard, Paweł Warszawski and Lucinda Ex Ani 4 and Wiktoria Knap and Quintus 134. The Hungarian team will have Balázs Kaizinger and Clover 15, Noémi Viola Doerfer and Crystal Barney and Imre Tóth and Zypresse 8. The dressage test will be held on Friday, the cross on Saturday while the final show jumping test will decide the quota on Sunday. Poland seems to be favorite again - they've won the quota for Tokyo 2020 Olympics four years ago, also in Baborówko. Equestrian FEI Eventing Group C Olympic Games Qualifier 2023 Discussion Thread Eqeustrian at the Summer Olympic Games Paris 2024 Qualification Tracker
    2 points
  17. Japan’s Kanoa Igarashi and United States’ Kirra Pinkerton were crowned champions today at the World Surfing Games. The event was held at Huntington Beach, United States from September 16th to September 24th 2022. 2020 Olympic silver medalist Igarashi had a perfect competition where he finished first in all eight rounds on route to winning gold. In the final, he finished ahead of Indonesia’s Rio Waida and Australia’s Jackson Baker whom won silver and bronze. Pinkerton had a similar experience, never being relegated to the second chance repechage bracket as she finished either first or second in all of her heats. In the final, her score of 13.63 barely edged out France’s Pauline Ado’s score of 13.00. The bronze medal was won by Australia’s Sally Fitzgibbons. The event doubled as the first opportunity for nations to qualify to the 2024 Olympics. The highest ranked nation from the men’s and women’s team points ranking qualified a spot to the games. Up to three surfers contribute to their nation’s ranking based on the placing they achieved with the winner getting 1000 points, second receiving 860 points, third obtaining 730 points and so on. Buoyed by their individual championship title, the winner of the team points competition was Japan for the men and the United States for the women. The Olympic quota is awarded to the nation and it is up to the respective National Olympic Committee to choose which athlete will compete. As a reminder, despite the 2022 World Surfing Games occurring first, it is actually lower on the quota hierarchy which could have some implications. Should the nations which won a quota today win a third quota from the team points ranking at the 2024 World Surfing Games, the quota won here will be reallocated to the second-place nation, specifically the United States for the men and Australia for the women. The next opportunity for surfers to qualify to the Olympics will be at the 2023 World Surfing Games.
    2 points
  18. Bulgaria will get to defend its Olympic title after winning the Group All-Around title for the first time since 2014 at the World Championships. In terms of Olympic qualification, the top three nations in the group all-around final qualify a team of five athletes to the games. The 2022 Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships are currently being held in Sofia, Bulgaria from September 14th to September 18th 2022. The host nation, performed consistently well in both apparatuses, scoring a 33.800 in the five hoops and a 32.800 in the three ribbons + two balls for an overall score of 66.600. The 3 ribbons + 2 balls performance was the difference maker as they finished two points clear over second place Israel and were the only two nations to finish with a score above 30. Israel finished with a total score of 64.650 while Spain grabbed the third and final quota thanks to a 63.200 performance. The Bulgarian team was made up of an entirely new group from the team which won gold in Tokyo. The team included Sofia Ivanova, Kamelia Petrova, Rachel Stoyanov, Radina Tomova, Zhenina Trashlieva and Margarita Vasileva. Pre-tournament favourites Italy had a relatively poor performance in the 3 ribbons + 2 balls and while they were the best team in the 5 hoops, it was not enough and they finished fourth. Italy and other nations will have other opportunities to qualify to the Olympics, with the next one being the 2023 World Championships.
    2 points
  19. Gymnastics will know its first Olympic qualifiers over the next few days as the 2022 FIG Rhythmic World Championships take place in Sofia, Bulgaria. The Armeets Arena in Sofia is perhaps best known as home to the Bulgarian volleyball team, as well as the ATP Sofia Open tennis tournament, but in the coming week some of the best rhythmic gymnasts in the world will compete. Up for grabs are three places each in the Individual and Group competitions (only women compete in this discipline). It should be noted that there are at most two places in the individual competition per NOC, and hosts France are already guaranteed of one individual and one group place, although they are unlikely to cause too many headaches here. Looking at the individual lists, it's a whole new look for the Israeli team, with Olympic champion Linoy Ashram retiring from the sport earlier this year, and Nicol Zelikman, who finished 7th in Tokyo also calling quits on elite competition. However, blue and white hopes will instead be put on Daria Atamanov, whose European gold earlier this year showed she was worthy of carrying Ashram's torch. Adi Asya Katz, who came 11th in Tel Aviv, is also on the Israeli team. In fact, none of the three medallists will be in Sofia, as Dina Averina (ROC) and Alina Harnasko (Belarus) both come from countries that are banned from competing. Other Tokyo finalists will be there, with home favourite Boryana Kaleyn, who came fifth in Tokyo, considered Atamanov's greatest threat for gold: she was runner-up at the Europeans in Tel Aviv. Considering that the ten finalists in Tokyo were all European, it is hard not to consider that a warm-up for this week's event, and other athletes including bronze medallist Stiliana Nikolova (Bulgaria), Sofia Raffaeli (Italy) and Darja Varfolomeev (Germany) will be hoping for a quota place. Sixty-two countries representing all five continents will be represented in Sofia, all bar Venezuela have at least one individual: in total, eighty-two athletes will enter. In the group competition, Bulgaria won gold in Tokyo and it's of course natural to focus on them first especially considering the venue, but an all-new group will take part this time, comprising of none of the Olympic champions. Bulgaria still came fourth in Tel Aviv, where Israel won gold. There will be a fair heap of pressure of course, especially with a home crowd watching, including the champions. Israel are another big contender, coming sixth in Tokyo. Silver medallists the ROC of course are absent, but Olympic bronze medallists and European runners-up Italy will hope to medal here too. Azerbaijan came tenth in Tokyo, but a bronze in Tel Aviv means they will have to be considered. Moving away from Europe, the Asian trio of Uzbekistan, Japan, and China will be hoping to cause a splash, although a medal may be beyond their reach somewhat. Twenty-nine groups compete in total, with Africa the only continent left out: Angola, Egypt, and South Africa instead focusing on individual competition. The individual qualification begins on September 14, with the final on September 17. The group event is on September 16. Writer, Totallympics News
    2 points
  20. Further information on the process for Sailing and Volleyball qualifying to the Olympic Games in Paris has been confirmed over the last few days. Sailing The main addition to Sailing's procedures is confirmation that the 2024 Last Chance Regatta is now confirmed to take place in Hyeres, France, on 18-27 April 2024. The event will qualify five boats each in the Windsurfing and Kite competitions (for each gender), four in the Mixed Dinghy event, and three in every other event. Furthermore, a few continental qualifiers have been released. The European qualifiers include the 2023 Formula Kite European Championships (Portsmouth, GBR, 16-24 Sep 2023), the 2023 European Championship (Vilamoura, POR, 10-15 Oct 2023) for 49er, FX, and Nacra 17 events, while the 2024 World Championships (Lanzarote, ESP, 26 Jan-3 Feb 2024) will serve as the qualifying for iQFOiL events, where as the 2024 ILCA Senior European Championship and Open European Trophy (Athens, GRE, 16-23 Feb 2024) and the 2024 World Championships (Palma, ESP, 24 Feb-3 Mar 2024) will be the qualifier for the 470 class. Furthermore, the 2023 Pan American Games (Santiago, CHI, 20 Oct-10 Nov 2023) will be the qualifier for both the Central and South American, and North American and Caribbean zones, for all events bar the MX Dinghy, which will have its own qualifier, details of which remain unconfirmed. No details have been released for the Africa, Asia, or Oceania zones. Finally, another qualification event, the 2024 ILCA 7 World Championships has been confirmed to take place in Adelaide, Australia, from 24-31 January 2024, while the 2024 ILCA 6 World Championships has been confirmed to take place in Mar del Plate, Argentina, on a date to be confirmed. Volleyball Volleyball has made a slight alteration to its qualification system. In the Qualification Tournaments, the system used to say that the top 24 out of the ranking of 12 September 2022 for men and 17 October 2022 would participate. However, this has now been updated so that 21 of the 24 teams would come from this set of countries, while the other three would be host federations, instead selected from the rankings of 20 September 2021. Athletics remains the only sport not have its qualification system confirmed. Patrick Green Writer, Totallympics News
    2 points
  21. The 2022 European Championships (Shotgun) in Larnaca have had their final Olympic spots decided with two spots each being earned in the Men's and Women's Skeet. NOCs came into this event knowing that if they qualified one man and one woman they would also guarantee a spot in the mixed team event. Starting with the men's side, 78 athletes entered, although nine of these were "Ranking Points Only" (RPO) entries, which meant they couldn't progress from qualification or earn a spot at the Games. The first round was a qualification round, with eight athletes progressing, and 125 targets to shoot. Leading the way was Eric Delaunay of France with 124 hits, with GB's Ben Llewellin in second with 123. Jesper Hansen of Denmark and Luigi Lodde of Italy were tied for third on 122 hits, sending it to a marathon shoot-off: Lodde finally winning it: twenty hits to nineteen. Also on 122 hits was Georgios Achilleos of Cyprus, but as a Ranking Points Only athlete he did not enter the shoot-off and finished fifth. The next seven athletes all got 121 hits, and apart from another Cypriot RPO, Andreas Chasikos, who finished twelfth, the top four of the remaining six in the shoot-off would qualify. In the first shoot-off, Jakub Tomecek of the Czech Republic qualified in sixth with twelve hits, while Mikola Milchev of Ukraine came seventh with ten, and Tammaro Cassandro of Italy came eighth with nine. But the Czech Republic's Tomas Nydrle, Georgia's Yaroslav Startsev and Dainis Upelniks of Latvia were all tied on just one hit. There would be another shoot-off for ninth and the final spot: but both Nydrle and Startsev managed two, while Upelniks could just get one. So Upelniks was eliminated in eleventh, and a third shoot-off was necessary for Nydrle and Startsev, which the Georgian finally took 4-3. Achilleos aside, the remaining eight of the top nine then progressed to the Ranking Round, in which they would be split into two matches of four. The lowest-placed athlete after twenty hits would be eliminated in both matches, with the remaining three continuing until thirty hits were completed: the top two would go through, while third would also be eliminated. The first match was composted of Cassandro, Delaunay, Lodde, and Tomecek. And after twenty hits it was Delaunay and Lodde that led the way with nineteen hits, while Cassandro and Tomecek were on eighteen: Tomecek survived due to finishing higher in the shoot-off. After that though, the Czech held his nerve while others faltered, hitting a perfect ten out of his last ten to finish on 28. Lodde also finished on 28, but Delaunay missed two of his last ten to be eliminated on 27. In the other Ranking Match; Hansen, Llewellin, Milchev and Startsev were the four to face off. After twenty shots, Hansen led with nineteen, with Llewellin and Startsev on eighteen, Milchev was eliminated with sixteen. All three remaining hit nine of their next ten, so Hansen went through on 28, but Llewellin and Startsev had to shoot-off for 2nd on 27. The Briton took it 4-3 and advanced to the medal match. So it would be Hansen, Llewellin, Lodde and Tomecek in the final: whoever was last after twenty shots would be eliminated in fourth, then of the remaining three whoever was last after thirty would be eliminated and take the bronze medal, finally, whoever was ahead after forty would win gold. Twenty shots in and Lodde and Tomecek had gone without a single miss, while Llewellin was on nineteen, Hansen was eliminated with seventeen. Lodde then hit his next ten to extend his perfect run to thirty, while Tomecek missed just one to bring his total to 29. Llewellin missed two and was eliminated with a bronze medal on 27. In the final ten shots, Tomecek missed just one while Lodde's resolve finally broke and he missed two, meaning they tied on 38 apiece. In a gruelling shoot-off, which seemed to go on forever, Tomecek finally came out the winner 20-19. So gold for the Czech Republic and silver for Italy, and those two countries get a quota place. Over to the women's side and there were 35 entrants, none of which were "RPO"s. Germany's Nadine Messerschmidt topped qualifying with 119 hits, ahead of Danka Bartekova of Slovakia in second with 117. Five athletes were tied for 116, with Diana Bacosi of Italy in third, Konstantia Nikolaou of Cyprus in fourth, Barbora Sumova of the Czech Republic in fifth, Amber Hill of Great Britain in sixth and Lucie Anastassiou of France in seventh after the shoot-offs. More dramatic was the six-way tie for eighth on 114, with Marjut Heinonen of Finland winning the shoot-off to get the last spot, ahead of Martina Bartolomei and Chiara Cainero, both of Italy, Nele Wissmer of Germany, Victoria Larsson of Sweden and Jessica Louise Burgess of Great Britain. The first Ranking Match was made up of Anastassiou, Bacosi, Messerschmidt, and Sumova, and after twenty hits Messerschmidt led with eighteen ahead of Bacosi on seventeen, with Sumova and Anastassiou on fifteen: the Czech survived based on the qualification performance. Bacosi hit all of her next ten to qualify first with 27, and Messerschmidt joined her with 25 despite missing three of her final ten: Sumova missed one to finish on 24. In the other ranking match, which was composed of Bartekova, Heinonen, Hill, and Nikolau, Hill put on a special display, hitting all twenty of her first targets to lead with Bartekova also impressive on nineteen. Nikolau survived on seventeen while Heinonen on sixteen was eliminated. Nikolau had no answer though as both Hill and Bartekova hit their final ten to finish with a perfect thirty and a 29 respectively, while the Cypriot could only hit seven and was eliminated on 24. So off to the final then, which could be composed of Bacosi, Bartekova, Hill, and Messerschmidt and it was ultra-competitive from the start: after twenty shots, Messerschmidt had hit a perfect twenty while Hill, Bartekova, and Bacosi were all on nineteen: the Italian eliminated due to her inferior ranking round score. The next ten were perfect from Hill while Bartekova and Messerschmidt could only manage eight: this meant that Hill now led on 29, Messerschmidt was on 28, and Bartekova was eliminated on 27. In the final round, Hill had hit nine out of ten to finish on 38 while Messerschmidt hit her first nine to bring herself up to 37. She just needed to hit the final target to force a shoot-off, but missed to hand Hill the gold and Great Britain the first quota place. Messerschmidt still earned silver and a quota place of her own to Germany. That is the last of the Olympic qualification events from Larnaca then, on a day where the Czech Republic and Italy won quotas in the men's skeet, and Great Britain and Germany did so in the women's. The 25/50m European Championships are underway in Poland with Olympic qualification events soon to start. The next chance athletes will get in these events is the 2022 World Championships (Shotgun) in Osijek, Croatia.
    2 points
  22. Cuba has a storied history of success in the Olympic Games. Since its Games debut at Paris 1900, its much-vaunted boxers have won 73 medals (second only to the United States), and its fabled baseball program has won three of five golds (and won silver the other two times). Outside of those two signature sports, Cuba has made its mark in other sports, notably track & field, judo, wrestling, and even fencing. The women's volleyball team won three straight golds between 1992 and 2000, with a bronze in 2004. At Barcelona 1992, Cuba hit its high point in the medal count - 31 total, and fifth place in the medal count. Those were the Games of high jumper Javier Sotomayor, boxer Felix Savon, and middle-distance runner Ana Quirot. Boxers, including Savon, won nine of 12 possible medals (including seven gold). Women's volleyball started their three-gold streak. Judo and wrestling saw gold medal wins, too. Cuba won the inaugural baseball tournament. For the next four Games, the island nation experienced a consistent level of high performance: 25 medals at Atlanta 1996, 29 at Sydney 2000, 27 at Athens 2004, and 30 at Beijing 2008. Those years, there was an admirable sense of Cuba being able to 'punch above its weight' in its success. Despite increasing isolation as a lone socialist state burdened by economic sanctions, its athletic programs remained a vibrant, vital area of showcase pride for the nation. But the last two Olympics has seen its star power ebb. Cuba managed only 15 medals at London 2012 and 11 at Rio 2016. As well, after reaching second in the Pan American Games medal table in 2011, Cuba dropped to fourth in 2015 and sixth in 2019. And now, and despite its legendary aura in the sport, Cuba will not qualify for Tokyo 2020's baseball tournament. Given its recent slide - in the WBSC Premier12 event in 2019, Cuba ranked tenth and last alongside Netherlands and Puerto Rico - the result in qualifying isn't too surprising. But the Cuban absence will be noticed given the team's legacy in the sport. For sentiment's sake, one hopes Cuban baseball doesn't follow that lead and can make a comeback in time for Los Angeles 2028. But history is not a promising guide. That women's volleyball team of the mid-to-late 1990s suffered a similar fall. After just missing the podium in fourth place at Beijing 2008, the team has failed to make an Olympics since. They placed 21st and 22nd in the last two World Championships, and came nowhere near Tokyo 2020 qualification after finishing sixth in the 2019 NORCECA Championship, with the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico ahead and taking bragging rights for current Caribbean power. As far as the nation's boxers, they will again be standard bearers, with Tokyo 2020 qualification in each of the eight men's weight classes (but note, no women's). Collectively, the Tokyo-bound team already has six Olympic medals dating from as far back as Beijing 2008 - a sign of longevity, but also of a lack of younger athletes breaking through. Judo, wrestling, and track & Field again promise the best chance for medal support to boxing this summer, but the nation will probably be hard-pressed to significantly improve its results from Rio 2016. Cuba's sport prowess has certainly diminished. Has the difficulty in maintaining a consistently strong sports development feeder system in its closed society finally taken a toll? There's a good opportunity for a socio-economic study in the question. In the meantime, this summer's Games quickly approach. Can Cuba again rise to consistent sporting heights? This opinion was originally published on gamesandrings.com on June 2, 2021.
    2 points
  23. With the start of IBSF Skeleton World Championships this weekend, I thought now would be an appropriate time to tell you about my little venture into the sport of skeleton. Enjoy! Growing up I was solely focused on one thing, to make the NFL. That was it. That was the goal, and I dedicated ten years of every waking moment working towards it. Like most aspiring to make "the league" the dream eventually dies. For me it was at the 2015 NFL Specialist Combine, when after a decent performance my phone didn't ring. However, I was not ready to give up the sport I grew up playing and somewhat loving. I decided to focus on trying out for the Canadian Football League (CFL) and teams in Europe. With some success, this effort ultimately led to an opportunity to represent the United States at the 2017 World Games. (A field goal attempt vs. Poland at the 2017 World Games - photo credit Dawid Szulc) After I returned home from Poland, the emails from American Football coaches began to dry up, I guess no one wanted a bronze medalist punter. I saw the writing on the wall, "this American Football ride was over", but at age twenty-seven I was not ready to stop playing sports. One of the things that my experience at the World Games gave me was a newfound interest in multi-sport games. Something else I learned in Wroclaw was that there was a whole world of other sports out there! I fired up the computer and began to do some research, "what sports could an athlete start later in life?" After a few minutes of research, I stumbled across a website promoting a program called "The Next Olympic Hopeful". This program aimed at finding athletic talent that could be translated into the sports of Weightlifting, Rowing, Track Cycling, and Bobsled. I have perhaps the worst lifting body in the world, so I did not even read about Weightlifting, and I have horrible cardio therefore Rowing and Track Cycling were also out. Now, I've seen Cool Runnings, so I figured that was a good start. I started reading about other American Football athletes who made the seamless transition from American Football to Bobsledding. "Bingo, this was it!" I signed up for the USABS combine in Lake Placid, NY that summer and continued my training. (Once you enter the town of Lake Placid, they won't let you forget they hosted not one by TWO Olympic Winter Games!) Entering the tiny mountain town of Lake Placid, NY is a surreal feeling, especially if you are a multi-sport games nerd like myself. You cannot escape the five rings that are plastered all over the town. When I arrived at the track for testing, I quickly realized that being a bobsledder would not be in my future. The USABS was not looking for drivers, most bobsled drivers are locals who have grown up piloting a sled. They were looking for push athletes, and the ideal push athlete is built like an American Football linebacker with the speed of a 100m sprinter. I do not come close in either category, so I moved over to the skeleton part of the track, totally unaware of what I was about to get into. The USABS combine test is very basic. Three tests, a 60m sprint, a standing broad jump, and a shot toss. After, you can try pushing a sled at their push track located at the Olympic Training Center. My training as a kicker and punter really helped me with these tests and I finished near the top of my group. At the end of the day, I was pulled aside by then USABS development coach Don Hass, who invited me to a "Skeleton School" later that winter. (Did I ask a fellow athlete to take a picture of me pushing a push track sled? Obviously. Did I post it on Instagram? Of course!) I came home from Lake Placid and continued life like normal, teaching high school, coaching, and tending bar, almost forgetting about skeleton. It was not until February that I received an email from Don inviting me to come back out to Lake Placid for a weeklong skeleton school. I then did what anyone with a work commitment would do - I drove to a Patient First and got a doctor’s note saying that I had the flu, thus a week off from school. With my school thinking I was sick, I packed my car and headed back up to Lake Placid. The aura that Lake Placid had in August was not there when I arrived in a snowstorm. Lake Placid winters are cold, snowy, cold, cold, snowy, and COLD. There were mornings when I woke up and the temperature was -12 F! The veteran sliders just shrugged off the shrill chill and said, "makes for fast ice." When I arrived most of the national team members were over in Europe competing on the World Cup tour. The members that did not make the World Cup or were competing on lower-level tours were all in Lake Placid for training. Being around those other sliders was a great experience, some of these athletes had competed in Europe before and were very knowledgeable, helpful, and kind. (This is the map of the Lake Placid track I was given my first day. Your only job is to study it. I still don't know what turn comes up next!) While most of the athletes were at the top of the track, me and the other "newbies" had to start at the Junior Start which is around turn seven. Lake Placid has nineteen turns, so we started a little above the middle of the track. To be honest, before your first run there is not much instruction. You are taught which end of the sled is up, how to lie on the sled, and where to hold the handles. Nothing about steering, where to position your head, or how to not hit a wall. Once all the senior athletes completed their runs from the top, it was our turn. We would lay down on the sled, lift our feet up, and the coach would just shove us down the track. There are two reactions after your first run. A) That was awesome! Let's do that again! B) That hurt and was scary. To be honest, I had reaction B. On my first run I bounced my way down the track like a pinball. Every time I hit a wall it felt like sharp ice digging into your skin. However, unlike a few other newbies who also had reaction B, I did not call it a day, I went back up for my second run, and even did a third run that night, as the sliding experience began to grow on me. (Some "cool" bruises after Day 1) I arrived at the track the next morning to a much smaller "newbie" group. Seemed like a few who had reaction B decided that this was not for them. (By the way, there is nothing wrong with that!) We grabbed our sleds from the sled shed and hopped in the back of the sled truck. We stopped at the Junior Start, and I was on my way out of the truck when Don stopped me and another athlete. "Were going to the Doubles Start with you two", he said in the most casual tone. The other kid and I just looked at each other a little confused and a little scared. The "Doubles Start" is used by the Doubles Luge team and it is as close as you can get to the top without going off from the top. "It's the same as yesterday, but you go faster." Don said as he shoved me off from turn three. My first run from the Doubles Start was a blur... and painful. The biggest difference from the Junior Start to the Doubles Start was the speed and G Forces. I was going about twenty miles per hour faster than I had the day before. The G Forces would force your head down, making it impossible to see anything. However, just like the day before I went back up to the Doubles Start and slowly learned my way down the track, each time it got a little easier. (A VERY bumpy run from the Doubles start) I slowly began to enjoy my week and time at the track. Everyone in the sliding community from the athletes, to the track workers, to the truck drivers were kind and just good people. I also began to understand just how hard this sport really is. There were athletes who had been sliding for ten plus years who were still trying to break into the World Cup team. Even Don said that it takes on average eight years to become a good slider. By the end of the week, I made it to the top of track, although I was not allowed a running start just yet - but I've been told that takes around a year to master. I left Lake Placid with an invitation to come back the following winter. (Those starts could use some work!) On the drive home I thought about the reality of being a skeleton athlete. I did enjoy sliding, the community, and I was getting decent times compared to the other "newbies" there. However, I thought about the bigger picture of it all. Was I ready to give up my teaching career for this? Move to Lake Placid or Park City and leave my family and friends for this? Was I willing to embrace the struggles of learning a new sport, and understand that there was a good chance no matter how long or hard I tried, I might never make it? By the time I pulled up to my home in Baltimore I decided that those sacrifices were not in the cards for me. Nevertheless, it did give me a greater appreciation for all the sacrifices those Olympic hopefuls do make. It is one of the ugly sides of being an Olympic Hopeful that the public is unaware of. They do not see the athlete standing at the top of the track in -12 F weather, hoping to get this last run in before their shift at Delta Blue, which starts in thirty minutes. Oh, and they have not seen their significant other in six months. Since my skeleton school experience, I have made trips to both Lake Placid and Park City to watch races and further explore my interest in the sport. I continue to follow both bobsled and skeleton extensively and have even stayed in touch with some of the athletes from my week there. (Sara Roderick, who was a first-year slider with me that week, will make her World Championship debut this weekend in Altenberg!) Participating in the skeleton school was one of the best athletic experiences I have had. Even if you are not an athlete, I know that both Lake Placid and Park City offer tourist rides, so if you are ever in those distant parts of the United States go take a slide down that icy hill - you will not regret it!
    2 points
  24. Longest Winter Games ever! For the first time in the history of the Winter Olympic Games, competition will begin two days before the Opening Ceremony. The 2022 Winter Olympic Games would run a total of 19 days, making them the longest in history of the Winter Olympic Games. The 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing will begin with Mixed Doubles event in Curling, two nights before the opening ceremony is scheduled. The first competition session is currently scheduled to take place at 20:05-22:00 (local time) on February 2nd. The Opening Ceremony of the 2022 Winter Olympic Games is scheduled to take place on February 4th, with the Closing Ceremony scheduled for February 20th. Both are scheduled to be held at the iconic Bird’s Nest Stadium in Beijing. There are currently 109 medal events scheduled to be contested across seven sports and fifteen disciplines. The first medals will be handed out in the women's skiathlon in cross-country skiing on February 5th. Below, you can find a breakdown of the schedule by sport/discipline: Alpine skiing The alpine skiing competition is scheduled to be held over eleven competition days. As is tradition, the men's downhill will be the first event held on February 6th, with the mixed team event closing the event roster on February 19th. Biathlon As with alpine skiing, the biathlon events are planned to be held across eleven days. The games will begin with the mixed relay competition on February 6th, and conclude with the women's mass start on February 19th. Bobsleigh The bobsleigh competition introduces a new event, the women's monobob, which is scheduled to be the first bobsleigh event at Beijing 2022. The first two heats of the competition are scheduled for February 13, with the last two heats scheduled for February 14. Meanwhile, the men's four man competition will be the last bobsleigh event to conclude, with heats three and four scheduled for the final day of competition on February 20th. Cross-country skiing The Beijing 2022 cross-country skiing competition will be held over ten competition days, as in PyeongChang 2018. Just like four years ago, the women's skiathlon will start the competition on February 5th, with women also having the last event with the 30km mass start on the final day of competition, February 20th. Curling Curling has the distinction of being the only sport to be contested over all 19 competition days. Due to the expansion of the mixed doubles competition to ten teams, an additional competition day was necessary, hence day -2, which will have one session. The men's tournament will conclude the competition on the final day, February 20th. Figure skating Eleven competition days make up the figure skating competition. The first round of the team event is scheduled to be held on February 4th, with the men's and women's short program, along with the rhythm dance in the ice dancing. The pairs competition will conclude the games, marking a contrast to the last five editions, which had the ladies event conclude the figure skating competition. This could be due to China having the world's leading pairs figure skating combination in Sui Wenjing / Han Cong, which could allow the figure skating competition to end on a high note. The pairs free skating competition is scheduled for February 19th, with the Exhibition Gala scheduled for a day later. Freestyle skiing The freestyle skiing competition will see the addition of three new events: the men's and women's big air and the mixed team aerials. Due to the increase in events, the competition schedule for the discipline has been expanded by two days, to a total of fourteen. Just like four years ago, the moguls qualification for both genders will kick of the competition on February 3rd, with the men's halfpipe being the final event. As for the new events, the qualification for the big air will be on February 7th, with the women's finals on the 8th and the men's finals on the 9th. The next day will see the finals of the aerials mixed team event. Ice hockey The ice hockey competition is scheduled to be two days longer than it was in 2018. This means the first matches will be held before the opening ceremony, with the first four matches scheduled for February 3rd. The increase in competition days can be attributed to the increase in women's teams from eight to ten. As is tradition, the men's gold medal match will be last medal event on February 20th. Luge The luge competition has the same competition order as in 2018, with the men going first, followed by the women, then the doubles and finally the mixed team relay. The competition will start on day one, February 5th and finish on day six, February 10th. Nordic Combined The Nordic Combined will have three competition days, with the first day being February 9th with the men's normal hill. The final event will be the men's team large hill on February 17th. Short track speed skating Short track speed skating will move to a six day competition (previously the events were held over five days). This is being done because of an additional event (the mixed relay) being added to the competition program. Short track competitions will begin on day 1 (February 5th), with the first medals being awarded in the aforementioned mixed relay. The competition will wrap up on February 16th with the women's 1500 meters and men's 5,000 meters relay. Skeleton Just like in PyeongChang, the skeleton competition will be held over three days. The men will start it off on February 10th, with the women's competition concluding on the 12th. Ski jumping Ski jumping is one of four disciplines with new events at Beijing 2022, with the addition of the mixed team event. The competition begins on February 5th with the men's normal qualification and the women's normal hill final. The men's team large hill concludes the competition on February 14th. The new mixed team event is scheduled for February 7th. Snowboarding The snowboarding competition also sees a new event added, with the mixed team snowboard cross the new event added. However, even with an additional medal event, the competition will only be held over ten days (versus the eleven in PyeongChang 2018). The snowboarding competition starts on February 5th with the women's slopestyle qualification and concludes with the men's and women's big air events on February 15th. The new mixed team snowboard cross is scheduled for February 12th. Speed skating Just like in 2018, the speed skating competition will be held over 11 days. The women's 3000 meters will be the first event on February 5th, and the mass starts will conclude the competition on February 19th. Note: The schedule is subject to change.
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  25. The 2023 European Games will be a major qualification pathway event for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, and it is all covered on Totallympics and Totallympics News. The sports Most Olympic sports contested in Poland (specifically Kraków and the greater Lesser Poland region) will qualify spots for the Olympics. In Artistic Swimming, the European place automatically goes to hosts France. However, qualifying a team automatically qualifies a duet as well. Therefore, France are automatically in the duet, and the host spot reserved for them opens up again. The top duet team, combining technical and free routines (which are separate medal events here) will snag the spot. Non-Olympic qualifying events are the Team technical and free, as well as Mixed duet technical and free, acrobatic routine, and free combination routine. Staying in the aquatics category and Diving will be integrated into the European Diving Championships for the first time. In each of the four Olympic individual events per gender, the champion will get a place, provided that they do not qualify in the 2023 World Championships in Japan (which is higher up on the priority but later this year). While the writing is a little ambiguous, it seems that the spot will not be retrospectively reallocated if the champion has already qualified, instead it will pass on to the 2024 Championships in Qatar. Apart from these four events, there are the usual synchro events (including the mixed ones), the 1m springboard and a mixed team event. In Archery, the top ranked team in the recurve event per gender will qualify a spot, subject to the World Championships in neighbouring Germany (which is higher up on the priority despite being later chronologically). Should a team qualify, they also enter three individual athletes. The top mixed team will also qualify one man and one woman. Having at least one man and one woman will qualify. Finally, the top two athletes (from different countries) in the individual recurve competitions per gender will earn a place. In addition to the five Olympic events, there are three compound events: the men's/women's individual and mixed team. Athletics sees another already existing event integrated in the form of the European Team Athletics Championships. There is no direct qualification here, but ranking points can be earned in the relays. There will be European Games medallists for the first division in the usual events: gendered 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m, 1500m, 5000m, 110m (male)/100m (female) hurdles, 400m hurdles, 3,000m steeplechase, 4x100m, high jump, pole vault, long jump, triple jump, shot put, discus throw, hammer throw, and javelin throw; and a mixed 4x400m relay. Badminton has a purely rankings-based system for which points will be won, which will apply for the men's/women's singles and men's/women's/mixed doubles. 3x3 Basketball has a mostly rankings-based system and countries can win points here, with a men's and women's event. Beach Handball is a non-Olympic sport, with men's and women's competition. Beach Soccer is another non-Olympic sport, which also has one competition per gender. Boxing sees a major European Olympic qualifier. The events match up with the Olympic weights. In most events, the top four will qualify, while in the Men's Flyweight, Heavyweight, and Super Heavyweight; and the Women's Middleweight, only the top two will. In the new sport of Breaking, the winner qualifies a spot in both events (male and female). In Canoe Slalom, the top athlete who hasn't qualified already (the top fifteen in K1 and the top twelve in C1 at the World Championships) will earn a spot. This is applied retrospectively as the Worlds in Great Britain are not until September. There are also Kayak Cross events but these do not qualify for Paris, as well as C1 and K1 team events for both genders. Staying in the boats with Canoe Sprint, for both genders we see K1 and C1 events in 200m and 500m, K2, C2 and K4 events in 500m, and mixed K2 and C2 events at 200m. However, these do not qualify for the Olympics (I suppose they have bended their 'all Olympic sports' rule to count Canoeing as one sport; if counting ranking points didn't bend them enough. From the boats to the bikes, and Cycling BMX Freestyle is here but just like Canoe Sprint, this does not qualify for the Olympics in the men's or women's park categories. Mountain Bike sees continental championships exist, but Europe is not included and so only the ranking points matter in the men's and women's event. Fencing has the usual twelve events, but only the ranking points matter, and only for the team ones (although a team spot is the main way to qualify individual athletes) The integration of the European Mixed Team Judo Championships has in some form or another been present at all European Games and this is no different. Ranking points are on the line. Only one gold medal will be handed out for the winner. Eight Modern Pentathlon places are up for grabs per gender (one per NOC), as long as an athlete didn't grab a place in the earlier World Cup Final (where a non-European won the men's event but Italy's Elena Micheli won the women's) or the World Championships in August in Great Britain. There are also non-Olympic events in the form of gendered team events and a mixed relay. The non-Olympic sport of Muaythai sees five weight categories for Men (Light Welterweight, Welterweight, Light Middleweight, Middleweight, and Heavyweight) and five for Women (Flyweight, Bantamweight, Featherweight, Lightweight, and Light Welterweight). Another non-Olympic sport, Padel, sees Men's, Women's, and Mixed Doubles competitions. In Rugby Sevens, this is the European qualifier with the winner getting a place. Hosts France have already qualified by default, while in the Women's event Ireland are another European team to already confirm a berth (through the World Series). In Shooting, the winner of each individual event (all are being contested) get a spot. These exclude athletes who have already qualified or from countries that have the maximum two spots already: of Europeans, these are: Men's 50m Rifle Three Positions: Jon-Hermann Hegg (Norway), Petr Nymburský (Czech Republic), Serhiy Kulish (Ukraine), Tomasz Bartnik (Poland) Men's 10m Air Rifle: Danilo Sollazzo (Italy), Jiří Přívratský (Czech Republic), Maximilian Ulbrich (Germany), Patrik Jány (Slovakia) Men's 25m Rapid Fire Pistol: Germany (two qualified already), Clément Bessaguet (France) Men's 10m Air Pistol: Pavlo Korostylov (Ukraine), Damir Mikec (Serbia), Ruslan Lunev (Azerbaijan) Men's Trap: Jiří Lipták (Czech Republic), Rickard Levin-Andersson (Sweden), Nathan Hales (Great Britain) Men's Skeet: Luigi Lodde (Italy), Jakub Tomeček (Czech Republic), Stefan Nilsson (Sweden) Women's 50m Rifle Three Positions: Rikke Ibsen (Denmark), Veronika Blažíčková (Czech Republic), Jenny Stene (Norway) Women's 10m Air Rifle: Julia Ewa Piotrowska (Poland), Seonaid McIntosh (Great Britain), Jeanette Hegg Duestad (Norway) Women's 25m Rapid Fire Pistol: Doreen Vennekamp (Germany), Klaudia Breś (Poland), Antoaneta Kostadinova (Bulgaria) Women's 10m Air Pistol: Greece (Two qualified) Zorana Arunović (Serbia), Elmira Karapetyan (Armenia), Camile Jedrzejewski (Poland) Women's Trap: Silvana Stanco (Italy), Lucy Hall (Great Britain), Carole Cornmeier (France), Fátima Gálvez (Spain) Women's Skeet: Amber Hill (Great Britain), Nadine Messerschmidt (Germany), Diana Bacosi (Italy), Vanesa Hocková (Slovakia), Iryna Mavlochiko (Ukraine) There is no direct qualification for the mixed events, but qualifying one man and one woman will earn a space. Currently, Great Britain have a place in the Trap (with Italy, France, and Spain one man away and the Czech Republic and Sweden one woman away), and Italy have one in the Skeet (with Great Britain, Germany, Slovakia and Ukraine one man away; and the Czech Republic and Sweden one woman away). Apart from these, there are also gendered team events for every event, and mixed team events for every other event, which are not on the Olympic programme. Ski Jumping is on the programme but as a Winter Olympic sport does not qualify for Paris. There is a men's, women's and mixed normal hill event and a men's and women's large hill. Sport Climbing is here but does not qualify Olympic places. There are boulder, lead, and speed events for both genders. Table Tennis has the usual Olympic five events but this is only the European qualifying event in Mixed Doubles. The winner gets a spot. Taekwondo will contribute Olympic ranking points. There are double the weights; as well as the Olympic ones there will be Finweight, Bantamweight, Lightweight and Middleweight. The non-Olympic sport of Teqball sees Men's and Women's Singles and Doubles in addition to Mixed Doubles. Finally, Triathlon sees ranking points in both the gendered individual and mixed relay events. There are some non-medal demonstration sports as well: these are Amputee Football, Chess, Motor Racing, Mountaineering, Orienteering, and Sumo, as well as the usual separate but connected E-Sports competition. Totallympics Totallympics will have you covered throughout the Games, which will last from 21 June to 2 July with some prelimiaries on 20 June. Totallympics News will update on the Olympic qualification, while you can check the forums to discuss the Games as a whole, your favourite sport, and every detail from the mascots to the broadcast graphics, as well as find a helpful community for the best links to watch the Games. Finally, you can join your country's national club to talk about the Games with your "teammates" in your own language, those in European countries are: Serbia Germany Croatia Joint Czech Republic-Slovakia Romania Spain Greece Poland Italy Great Britain Hungary Ireland Israel Netherlands France And if yours doesn't exist yet, you can create your own! The Results Database will also be open (and will probably be better than the official one!) Whatever it is you want from the Games, Totallympics has you covered Patrick Green Writer, Totallympics News
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  26. France are the 2023 European champions! The defending champions made it back-to-back titles with a 49-55 win over host nation Great Britain at Principality Stadium in Cardiff. A nervy start to the game saw high pressure defence from Great Britain force France into two timeouts in the first two plays. Finding a way through, the team in blue had their noses in front at the first quarter break with the scores at 13-14. Early into the second period, a fumbled pass from GB was sized upon by France who were able to convert the turnover and extend their lead to two points. Another significant moment came in the second quarter when GB forced two turnovers to take the advantage in the match. With the scores at 39-39 another wayward GB pass gave France the opportunity to go ahead, which they duly took. A huge hit on GB’s Aaron Phipps forced the crowd favourite to be penalised for an infringement and France turned the game on its head in the final seconds of the third quarter. From then on they dominated, not letting Great Britain back into the match and extending their lead to an unassailable six tries. In the bronze medal match Denmark beat Germany 50-53 in a thrilling clash to secure a place on the European championship podium and a ticket to the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games. In an end-to-end encounter, the scores were level until late into the first quarter when a Leon Jorgensen interception was capitalised on by Denmark who went into the first period 11-13 up. Germany gathered momentum in the second quarter, bringing the scores level. Tries were exchanged until 46-46 when Denmark forced two consecutive turnovers to regain the lead with four minutes to go. Denmark held onto their advantage until the final whistle when they celebrated their bronze medal and qualification for Paris 2024. Earlier in the day, Switzerland defeated the 42-46 to claim 5th place at the tournament. Final finishing positions 1. France 2. Great Britain 3. Denmark 4. Germany 5. Switzerland 6. Netherlands 7. Israel 8. Czech Republic Source: wreuro23.com Paralympic Sports Qualification to Summer Paralympic Games Paris 2024 Discussion Thread Wheelchair Rugby Tournament at the Summer Paralympic Games Paris 2024 Qualification Tracker
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  27. On May 7th the excitement begins. After four months of thrilling judo on the IJF Grand Slam and Grand Prix tours, the world's best judokas converge in Qatar for a week of World Championship action. 667 athletes representing 99 nations from all five IJF continental regions will take part in the event staged at the Ali Bin Hamad al-Attiya (ABHA) Arena. France will look to flex their muscles on day one with the possibility of bringing home multiple medals in the lightest weight classes. Blandine Pont is in the mix for Women's -48kg gold and both Luke Mkheidze and Cedric Revol are contenders for podium places in Men's -60kg. Japan, as always, will be a force at the championships. Although they have not been as prominent along the World Tour so far, Japan still brings a star-studded roster to Qatar that includes Natsumi Tsunoda (W48), Uta Abe (W52), Haruka Funakubo (W57), Megumi Horikawa (W63), Saki Niizoe (W70), Shori Hamada (W78), Naohisa Takato (M60), Hifumi Abe (M66), and Sanshiro Murao (M90). Another team to keep an eye on is Canada. Christa Deguchi and Jessica Klimkait will once again battle in the Women's -57kg category while Catherine Beauchemin-Pinard will contest a very competitive -63kg field. On the men's side, names like Francois Gauthier Drapeau, Kyle Reyes, and Shady Elnahas could make a splash. Kazakhstan, Korea, Mongolia, and Uzbekistan have all had good results in the 2023 season and look to pick up some positive results over the week in Doha. European nations with large contingencies include Azerbaijan, Georgia, Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands. Then there is the return of the Russian and Belarusian athletes. The 19 judokas entered under the title "Individual Neutral Athletes" span 11 weight categories. Neither Russia nor Belarus have won medals at a World Tour event in 2023. The fun begins on Monday and will continue all through the week. Are you ready for JuDoha? owenp_23 Totallympics News Judo IJF World Championships 2023 Discussion Thread Judo at the Summer Olympic Games Paris 2024 Qualification Tracker
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  28. Qualifications for Men's Handball EHF European Championship 2024 are over! We knew 16 teams, we learned the remaining eight on Sunday evening. Teams qualified: Group 1: first , second Group 2: first , second Group 3: first , second Group 4: first , second , third Group 5: first , second , third Group 6: first , second , third Group 7: first , second , third Group 8: first ; second They join the directly qualified teams: (hosts), , , (EHF EURO 2022 top 3). Three teams will make their EHF European Championship debut next January: Faroe Islands, Greece and Georgia. Next step is the draw for the preliminary round, scheduled for Wednesday 10 May 2023 in Düsseldorf. The 24 teams listed in the visual will all be eager to find out who they are going to play at the final tournament. The best unqualified team of the Men's Handball EHF European Championship 2024 will qualify for the Paris 2024 Summer Olympic Games, and the best next teams will qualify for the Olympic Games Qualification Tournaments. Men's Handball EHF European Championship 2024 Discussion Thread Men's Handball Tournament at the Summer Olympic Games Paris 2024 Qualification Tracker
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  29. A week of cycling competition concluded in Panama with four Olympic quotas awarded to three nations. The quotas will be in the possession of Argentina, Canada, and the United States for the time being as the Olympic invites earned at Continental Championships are third in order of hierarchy. Quotas earned through the UCI World Ranking and World Championships take precedence. On Saturday morning, Skylar Schneider of the United States led the pack across the finish line in the Women's Elite race and Olympic qualifier. 35-year-old Canadian Alison Jackson finished in the second qualifying position, beating out a group of 25 riders that sprinted across the line in a time of 2:48:08. Schneider and Jackson secured a spot in the Olympic Cycling Road Race for their respective nations, but as things sit right now, there is a strong possibility that Team USA and Canada are able to enter athletes via a different qualifying pathway. If this scenario were to play out, the Panamerican quotas would be reallocated. The Canadian flag flew a little higher on Sunday, as Gaspe, Quebec native, Pier-Andre Cote, came away with the Pan Am championship. Cote and compatriot Charles-Etienne Chretien (third place) were part of a pack of five pedaling towards the line. Squeaking in between the Canadian cyclists was German Tivani of Argentina, earning the South American nation their first quota place for the Summer Games Paris 2024. As mentioned earlier, the possibility of quota reallocation looms in the Men's Road Race as well. Top five finishes for Uruguay's Antonio Fagundez and Ecuador's Bayron Guama could carry importance later on in the qualifying calendar. Road Cycling COPACI American Championships 2023 Discussion Thread Road Cycling at the Summer Olympic Games Paris 2024 Qualification Tracker
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  30. The FEI Nations Cup 2022 has shown some of the best jumpers from each area battle against each other, but now they will fight on the global stage in the final at Barcelona, Spain. With the added initiative of a spot at the Olympics for the winning team (alongside three individual places), there will be much at stake for those competing at the Real Club de Polo de Barcelona (Barcelona Royal Polo Club), a multi-sport club which among other things boasts the 2004 European champions in men's hockey and also hosted this event at the 1992 Olympics. The final would be made up of seven teams from "Europe Division 1", two from North and Central America, South America, the Middle East, and Asia/Africa, with one from Africa and Eurasia, plus hosts Spain. There were six European qualifiers, with nine countries entering: the top seven would earn points. These countries were Belgium, France, Germany, Great Britain, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and Switzerland. Each entered four of the six qualifiers. France lead with 370 points after an impressive win in Hickstead, while the Netherlands were second on 350 with a win on home soil in Rotterdam. In third were the Germans on 330 points after they won in Sopot, while Ireland were in fourth on 310 after a win in the final event in Dublin. Switzerland were close on 305, winning the first event in St Gallen, while a win in Falsterbo gave Belgium sixth with 285 points. Great Britain won the final spot on 265 points, ahead of Norway and Sweden who were on 215 each. The qualifier for the Middle East would be in Abu Dhabi, with the UAE the highest-performing eligible team in second, qualifying alongside Saudi Arabia in fifth and beating out Jordan in sixth, Syria withdrew. However, neither the UAE, Saudi Arabia nor substitutes Jordan accepted the invitation to compete at the final, so Norway and Sweden took their place. In the North/Central American qualifier, the USA's elimination in Coapexpan cost them: Mexico topped the table with 190 points ahead of Canada on 160, the US missed out on sixty. For South America, the qualifier was the 2022 World Championship. Brazil, in ninth place, were the highest performing South American team, while Argentina in 21st beat out Colombia in 22nd for the final spot. For Africa, it would be the highest ranked country in the July world rankings: 34th placed Nayel Nassar of Egypt earned them a place, but they rejected it. The substitutes South Africa (Oliver Lazarus was in joint 218th) and Morocco (with Abdelkabir Ouaddar in joint 626th) also rejected a place, meaning that the total teams dropped to seventeen. For the Asia/Australasia region, the same ranking would be used, with Australia's Rowan Willis in 64th and Japan's Mike Kawai in 205th earning a place. However, both rejected it, as did subs New Zealand (with Sharn Wordley in join 345th) and Chinese Taipei (with Jasmine Shao-Man Chen and Isheau Wong both in joint 2295th), meaning that the total dropped further to fifteen. Finally, the Eurasian qualifier took place with Uzbekistan on 270 points beating Kyrgyzstan on 240 and Kazakhstan on 210, but the Uzbeks also rejected their place. With Spain also taking part, fourteen teams would make the final. France have already qualified for the Games as hosts, while Sweden, the Netherlands, Great Britain, Ireland, and Germany all qualified at the World Championships. As Spain did not qualify outright but only as hosts, they are also ineligible to get a place. Thus, seven teams are eligible: Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, Norway, and Switzerland. Belgium, in seventh, were the highest-performing of these teams at the World Championships in Herning and three of the four team members from that championships return. Switzerland, Brazil, and Canada took the next three places, with Mexico eighteenth, Norway nineteenth, and Argentina 21st. The event takes place from 29 September to 1 October, with the top eight in the first competition making the final. The top team eligible will make the Olympics in Paris.
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  31. Reigning world and Olympic women's basketball champions Team USA showed no sign of slowing down in the 2022 FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup in Sydney, Australia, having no problem in making the group stage. The winner of the World Cup will qualify for the Paris 2024 Olympics. In the group stages, with six teams per group, a win would yield two points with a loss leading to one; the top four teams would qualify for the quarterfinals. In Group A, the US were joined by Belgium, China, South Korea, Puerto Rico, and Bosnia and Herzegovina. The first match took place between the Bosnians and Puerto Rico at the State Sports Centre, with Arella Guirantes impressing with twenty-six points, nine rebounds and eight assists as the Puerto Ricans never let go of an early lead to win 82-58. The Americans would open against Belgium and while the Cats held their own, the world champions never looked like losing as Breanna Stewart and Alyssa Thomas starred in an 87-72 victory at the Sydney SuperDome, the first of a double-header before South Korea faced China. The Chinese were out to put out a statement and did so with a 107-44 victory, with Han Xu earning plaudits for her fifteen rebounds and thirteen points. On Day 2, another double header took place, this time at the State Sports Centre, leading with a clash between Puerto Rico and the United States. Shakira Austin hit double figures in both points and rebounds as the Americans won 106-42. Meanwhile, Belgium bounced back with an 84-61 win over South Korea, before attention moved to the SuperDome where China faced Bosnia and Herzegovina, and put out another big performance winning 98-51, Han once again showing great form. But the Chinese would be brought back to earth on day three in the first game of a triple header at the SuperDome, as they lost 77-63 to the US despite an impressive third quarter showing in which they cut the American lead by ten. The introduction of A'ja Wilson proved effective as the Las Vegas Aces power forward netted twenty points. South Korea got their first win of the tournament as they beat Bosnia and Herzegovina 99-66, with Kang Lee-seul netting a huge thirty-seven points. Finally, a back-and-forth game between Puerto Rico and Belgium was edged 68-65 to the Belgians, as an inspired Kyara Linskens performance took them over the line despite more magic from Guirantes. After a rest day, again all three matches on day four were hosted at the SuperDome, with Belgium starting things off with a professional 85-55 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina in a game that they controlled throughout the match. The United States set a new record for points scored as they smashed South Korea 145-69, with Wilson and Brionna Jones both being particularly impressive. China got back on track with a 95-60 win over Puerto Rico. This meant that with one day to go, the US, China, and Belgium were through, with a crunch match between Puerto Rico and South Korea ahead of the eliminated Bosnia and Herzegovina. This match would take place at the SuperDome, and Puerto Rico were inspired to a 92-73 victory by Mya Hollingshed's twenty-nine points. At the State Sports Centre, China made light work of Belgium with an 81-55 win; China have been a real handful the whole tournament. Back at the SuperDome, and in the final game of the group the US beat Bosnia and Herzegovina 121-59 in a dead rubber. This meant that the US topped the group with ten points, ahead of China (nine), Belgium (eight), and Puerto Rico (seven), while South Korea (six) and Bosnia and Herzegovina (five) missed out on qualification. In Group B, hosts Australia were joined by Canada, France, Japan, Serbia, and Mali. The opening game was held at the State Sports Centre as Canada ground out a tough win over Serbia 67-60, with a late fightback from the Serbs not enough. At the SuperDome, Japan made light work of Mali with an 89-56 win, before Gabby Williams netted twenty-three points in France's impressive 70-57 win over Australia. On the second day, with all matches at the SuperDome, Japan couldn't recover from a fifteen-point deficit in the first quarter as they lost 69-64 to Serbia, while Canada seemed to find their rhythm in a 59-45 victory over France. Australia were back on track with an 118-58 win over Mali. After a rest day, action returned with all matches on day three at the SuperDome. Mali restored some pride but ultimately fell 74-59 to France despite Sika Koné netting eighteen points. Australia's resurgence continued with a 69-54 victory over Serbia, before Bridget Carleton inspired Canada to a 70-56 win over Japan with nineteen points. On the fourth day, the first two games were at the Sports Centre; Saša Čađo netted twenty points to take Serbia over the line against Mali, 81-68, in a match that was overshadowed when, during Čađo's interview, Mali players were seen fighting amongst themselves just a few metres away. Williams was on song again when France beat Japan 67-53 in a big win for qualification in the later match at the Sports Centre, while in the game of the tournament so far Australia squeaked past Canada 75-72 at the SuperDome. Canada lead through the first quarter 23-14, before Australia reversed them to lead 36-33 at the midway point. But the Canadians were 57-46 ahead at the third quarter and looked to be heading to victory, until the Opals came out all guns blazing in the fourth quarter and while Canada tried for one last fightback, it was too little, too late. On the final day, the final match at the Sports Centre would take place as Canada responded with an 88-65 win over Mali, with Carleton netting twenty-seven points. Serbia's strong start took them over the line, 68-62 at the same venue against France, while Australia continued the momentum with a 71-54 win over Japan at the SuperDome. This means that Australia won the group with nine points, ahead of Canada on head-to-head, while Serbia were third on eight points, also ahead of France on head-to-head. Japan (six points) and Mali (five points) were eliminated. A draw was held for the quarter finals, with first and second in each group guaranteed to play third and fourth from the other. On the top half of the draw, Belgium face Australia while China take on France, while on the bottom side, Puerto Rico face Canada and the United States take on Serbia. This is a fascinating draw for many reasons: Belgium are highly rated but have not shown their best form while Australia seem to be hitting their side, China seem a very dangerous team and have avoided the US until the final and a potential semifinal against Australia appears mouthwatering, but France cannot be counted out. On the other side, Canada vs the US is a big favourite for the semifinal, and that is a clash that has an edge to it in any sport, and could we see a China-US rematch in the final? Time will tell, with the quarterfinals on 29 September, the semifinals on 30 September, and the final and third place match on 1 October, all games are at the Sydney SuperDome. Patrick Green Writer, Totallympics News
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  32. Eight more spots at Paris 2024 have been confirmed in the sport of Shooting, as the 2022 European Championships (25m/50m) took place in Wrocław, Poland. The top-two placing athletes in each event, with the stipulation that they can't be from the same NOC, earned a spot for their country in Paris. The four events were the Men's 50m Rifle 3 Positions, the Men's Rapid Fire Pistol, the Women's 50m Rifle 3 Positions, and the Women's 25m Pistol. Starting on the men's side, with the 50m Rifle 3 Positions, and to whittle down a large start list an elimination relay was held: there it was Norway's Simon Claussen (594) and Jon-Hermann Hegg (592) that impressed with a 1-2. With the final 36 athletes known, including three ranking points only (RPO) shooters, qualification was next, and the top eight would qualify with two hundred shots in each of the three positions, for a total of six hundred. In the end it was Lithuania's Karolis Girulis with a 593-38x, just ahead of Petr Nymbursky of the Czech Republic on 593-36x. Croatia's Miran Maricic (591) and Nymbursky's compatriot Jiri Privratsky (590-39x) were next, just ahead of Bulgarian Anton Rizov (590-38x), Slovakian Patrik Jany (590-36x). Hegg (590-34x) and Claussen (589-39x) were the last qualifiers, with five other athletes on 589 just missing out: Serhiy Kulish of Ukraine (35x), Frantisek Smetana of the Czech Republic (33x; he was an "RPO" athlete anyway), Petar Gorsa of Croatia (30x), Christoph Duerr of Switzerland (29x), and Ole Martin Halvorsen of Norway (28x). In the ranking round, with decimal scoring, the quota spots would be decided, as the top two would go to a gold medal match. Two series would be fired in each position, then the bottom two would be eliminated; a third series would be fired in the standing position, and two more would be eliminated, and then one final standing series to determine the final two of the four. Jany was down after the kneeling phase but recovered in the prone and standing section, pulling him away from Girulis (303.8) and Rizov (302.9). In the next stage, Claussen (353.7) had a poor final series to join Maricic (353.4) in being eliminated. With one more series to go, an impressive 50.9 from Hegg made him qualify in first with 408.0, and though Nymbursky faltered somewhat he still had enough to qualify second in 407.7. A good final series wasn't enough for Privratsky (407.0) to close the gap, missing out alongside Jany (404.5). Gold medal matches are held with each athlete shooting, earning two points for a higher score, with the first to sixteen winning; a tie earns one point each, but with this somewhat rare, it is practically a best-of-15 shoot-off. With the score at 12-12, Hegg shot a 10.5 while Nymbursky could only manage a 9.6, putting the Norwegian in pole position. However, in the next shot, Nymbursky hit a 10.6 while Hegg earned a 9.7, leading to one final shoot-off. The pressure got to Hegg, who hit an 8.9, and Nymbursky's 10.8 earned a gold medal for the Czech Republic. It's another quota in shooting for them, while Hegg earns Norway's first in Paris. Moving over to the Rapid Fire Pistol, and 39 athletes, four of whom were RPOs. With the top eight going through, and with a total of 600 shots, Ukraine's Pavlo Korostylov was top in qualifying with 587 hits. Germany's Oliver Geis was next with 586, while France's Clement Bessaguet (20x) and Great Britain's Sam William Gowin (18x) on 585. Florian Peter of Germany (22x), Martin Strnad of the Czech Republic (16x), and Maksym Horodynets of Ukraine (14x) were next on 584, with the final spot going to Italy's Massimo Spinella on 581. Next would be the ranking matches, where there would be four series of five shots each (a total of twenty), and the top two would advance. The first ranking match was comprised of Bessaguet, Horodynets, Korostylov and Peter, and after two series there was a clear pattern, with everyone on seven hits bar Peter on five. Korostylov hit all five in the next series, while Bessaguet and Peter managed four, Horodynets, fatally, only hit three. In the final series, everyone would only hit three, meaning that Korostylov (fifteen) and Bessaguet (fourteen) advanced, while Horodynets (thirteen) and Peter (twelve) were eliminated. Geis, Gowin, Spinella, and Strnad took part in the second match, where consistency was key, Geis (eighteen) and Strnad (fourteen) advancing relatively easily, with Gowin (eleven) and Spinella (ten) in the cold. In the final, the fourth-placed shooter would be eliminated after four series, with a further two to eliminate third-placed, and another two to decide a winner. After three series, Bessaguet and Geis were ahead on eleven, with Korostylov on ten and Strnad on nine. Any chance the Czech had of recovering to medal was lost when he missed four in the fourth series and was eliminated on ten: Geis was in the danger zone on twelve after also missing four, but he hit a perfect ten in his next two series to eliminate Korostylov on 21. After seven series, it was 25-25, with one series left to go between France and Germany for gold, and it was Bessaguet who took all five hits to win 30-29 and become European champion. The quota spots then, go to France and Germany. The fact that a place has gone to hosts France mean their automatic host spot no longer applies; instead, a second spot will be earned based on the qualification ranking. Moving to the women's side, and again starting with the 50m Rifle 3 Positions, it was once more a Norwegian leading the elimination relay, with Jenny Stene setting a Qualification European Record 595 hits. In qualification, with 36 athletes including eight "RPO"s, Stene improved her own record to 596, with Sarina Hitz of Switzerland coming second with 593. Rikke Maeng Ibsen of Denmark was next with a 592, and Jeanette Hegg Deustad of Norway managed 591. The Czech Republic's Veronika Blazickova (33x) and Ukraine's Daria Tykhova (31x) both managed 590, with Germany's Jolyn Beer (589-36x) and Slovenia's Ziva Dvorsak (589-32x) just edging out Austria's Nadine Ungerank (589-26x) for the final spot. The ranking match is unforgiving, and those that are not keeping pace get eliminated, as Dvorsak (304.4) and Beer (302.8) soon found out. Hitz was clearly out and finished 6th on 356.5, but who would go into the final four? It was close between Duestad and Stene, but the Norwegian let herself down with a 49.5 to finish and she was eliminated on 358.0. Duestad was too far adrift to make the top two, finishing fourth on 409.9, and Ibsen was too far in front and finished well ahead on 413.9 even with an underwhelming final series, but after Tykhova faltered in the final series Blazickova could overturn the gap to her. She did with an impressive 50.9, pipping Tykhova 411.7-410.4. In the medal match, Ibsen raced into a lead and wasn't caught, it finished an uneventful 16-6 to the Dane. The quota spots went to Denmark and the Czech Republic. Finally, the women's 25m pistol event, which follows a similar format to the men's rapid fire pistol. 51 athletes, including four RPOs, entered qualifying, and it was Germany's Doreen Vennekamp who led the way on 592. Anna Korakaki of Greece was next on 588, while Antoaneta Kostadinova's 587-20x just pipped Camille Jedrzejewski of France's 587-19x onto 4th. Maria Varricchio of Italy (19x) and Renata Sike of Hungary (18x) both managed 583, while Joana Castelao of Portugal was safely through on 582. Poland's Klaudia Bres was through on 581-18x, pipping Ukraine's Olena Kostevych on 581-17x and Latvian Agate Rasmane on 581-16x. The first ranking match was made up of Castelao, Kostadinova, Varricchio, and Vennekamp. In the end, Vennekamp advanced simply, on seventeen, while Castelao and Varricchio tied for second with thirteen, and Kostadinova was eliminated on eleven. In the shoot-off, the Italian took it 4-2, joining Vennekamp in the final. The other ranking match had Bres, Jedrezjewski, Korakaki, and Sike. After a challenging first series it was close all the way through, but Jedrezejewski and Korakaki never recovered from hitting just one in that initial series. In the end, Bres (thirteen) and Sike (twelve) went through, with Korakaki (eleven) and Jedrezejewski (ten) eliminated. In the final, what seemed inevitable became reality. Sike hit just three from the first two series, but hit a perfect ten in her next two to get her nose in front of Varricchio, who was eliminated on twelve. While Bres and Sike were both on thirteen at this stage, the dominant Vennekamp had already worked her way into a commanding lead with eighteen. It was still a close-run thing for silver, and it went to a single shot, with Sike eliminated on seventeen and Bres surviving on eighteen. It didn't last long: after one more series, Vennekamp lead 29-21, and as victory was mathematically secured, a Golden Hit was declared and the German was European champion; Germany and Poland securing the quota spots. The short version of this article reads that on the men's side, the 50m Rifle 3 Positions spots went to the Czech Republic and Norway, while the Rapid Fire Pistol berths went to France and Germany, while on the women's side, the 50m Rifle 3 Positions places headed to Denmark and the Czechs, while the Germans and Poland earned a place in the 25m pistol event. The next chance shooters in this category will get is the 2022 World Championship (Rifle and Pistol) in Cairo, Egypt. Patrick Green Writer, Totallympics News
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  33. The pathway to Paris 2024 qualification is nearly known completely with only Athletics and the BMX Freestyle discipline of Cycling yet to release its procedures. But although the documents have been released, a lot of the particulars remain ambiguous, such as the precise event quotas will be earned. This is true especially for continental qualifications, often listed as TBC. Breaking Breaking, a new sport at Paris 2024 was one such sport. There are 16 places per gender (including one host and two universality spots). The thirteen qualification spots go to the winner of the 2023 World Championship, the winner of five previously unknown continental champions, and seven from an "Olympic Qualifier Series" (OQS), details of which remain scarce. However, the events for Asia, Europe and the Americas have now been announced. The winners of the Breaking events at the 2022 Asian Games (Hangzhou, CHN, 23 Sep-8 Oct 2023), 2023 European Games (Krakow, POL, 21 Jun-2 Jul 2023) and the 2023 Pan American Games (Santiago, CHI, 20 Oct-5 Nov 2023) will qualify a spot. The new dates of the 2022 Asian Games have been announced following its postponement, allowing the World DanceSport Federation (WDSF) to update the system. Breaking is not present at the 2023 African Games nor the 2023 Pacific Games, and Africa and Oceania's qualifier remains "to be determined". This means that those continents may have to have a separate qualifier not attached to a major Games. Breaking was recently added to the 2023 Pan American Games, the sport's debut at the PanAms. The WDSF seemed delighted and Breaking seems to be solidifying itself as an established sport at major Games, increasing the chances it will survive beyond Paris 2024. The European Games will open the qualification procedure for Breaking. Patrick Green Writer, Totallympics News
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  34. The group stage of the 2022 CONCACAF W Championship is over, and with it the Olympic dream of four countries. Group A kicked off with a double-header at Estadio Universitario in San Nicolás de los Garza. Firstly, the US took on Haiti, and it was the Americans that took the lead with a deft touch from Alex Morgan to convert a touch. And the two-time Olympic medallist headed home another cross not long after to double the lead. Haiti had a chance to come back but missed a penalty just before half-time, and in the second half time ticked away with the US extending their lead late on as a cross wasn't cleared fully by Haiti and Margaret Purce converted to make it 3-0, which was how it finished. In the other game, hosts Mexico took on Jamaica. It was the visitors who took the lead through a Khadija Shaw header and never let it go, the score finishing 1-0 despite Jamaica missing a penalty. On the second day, there was another double-header, this time in Estadio BBVA in Guadalupe. Jamaica took on the US but there would be no repeat of the Reggae Girlz' heroics as they were taught a lesson by the reigning world champions. An absolutely fantastic goal from Sophia Smith early on put the Stars and Stripes ahead and the Portland Thorns forward soon added second to double the lead. In the second half, Rose Lavelle forced home a cross that eluded everyone else before Purce was bundled down by Paige Bailey-Gayle in the box and Kristie Mewis converted the spotkick. There was still a bit more time left and Trinity Rodman put in a cross to round up a resounding 5-0 win. That was followed by a clash between Haiti and Mexico. And La Tri's awful tournament went from bad to worse when Stephany Mayor brought down Batcheba Louis in the box and Roselord Boreglla put Haiti one up. And Haiti pushed, having a goal disallowed before Nérilia Monsédir was through on goal in a second half and was bundled down while through on goal by keeper Emily Alvarado before picking herself up and dispatching the penalty. Melchie Durmonay was brought down by last player Greta Espinoza who was shown red after a video assistant referee (VAR) check completing a desperate few days for Mexico, whose humiliation wasn't quite over: Sherly Jeudy converted the free-kick to complete a 3-0 win. On the final day, the two games were concurrent, with the US taking on Mexico in San Nicolás de los Garza and Jamaica facing Haiti in Guadelupe. In the derby that defines CONCACAF football on the men's side but is incredibly one-sided on the women's side, the previously hapless Mexico showed some pride against the world champions, taking the game late before making their task harder as Jacqueline Ovalle got shown a straight red for an awful challenge on Lavelle. Even then, La Tri took the US to the very end with an 89th minute rebound from Kristie Mewis earning them the win. This meant that the US would go through as group winners, while Mexico finished bottom and their Olympic and World Cup dream is over for another cycle: as they last qualified for Canada 2015 that will mean more than a decade without playing in either of those competitions, while it will be at least a 24 year gap in between Olympic qualifications, last reaching the Games in Athens 2004. This meant that Jamaica vs Haiti was a straight shootout for the second spot in the group, but the game was one-sided. Trudi Carter put Jamaica ahead in the first half before a long shot from Shaw found its way in. Things got worse for Les Grenadières when Claire Constant handled the ball in the box and Shaw converted the penalty, before a comprehensive performance was wrapped up when Drew Spence headed home number four. To be fair, 4-0 was quite a deceptive scoreline in a end-to-end game but it featured suspect goalkeeping and defending for Haiti. Jamaica will play the Group B winners in the semifinal, while Haiti miss out on the Olympics but will go to the World Cup play-offs in New Zealand. In Group B a double-header in Guadelupe got us underway with Costa Rica facing Panama in the first game. Costa Rica took an early lead as Raquel Rodríguez headed home a corner and things only got better for Las Ticas as a fine effort from María Paula Salas doubled their lead before VAR picked up Katherine Castillo's foul on Rodríguez in the box and Katherine Alvarado stepped up to convert the penalty for a 3-0 win. Later on, Canada took on Trinidad and Tobago and it was Catherine Sinclair that headed home a cross to open the scoring for the Olympic champions. They would miss a penalty but then extend this lead with a second half blitz: Julia Grosso with a smart finish to double the lead before the same player forced home a near-post effort. Then a cutback found Jessie Fleming who had an easy finish for four, before a lovely through ball found Janine Beckie who made it five. There was time for one more when Jordyn Huitema was found in space and scored in injury time to make it end 6-0. The second double-header was in San Nicolás de los Garza and Trinidad and Tobago faced Costa Rica. The Soca Princesses were already having a hard time and the last thing they needed was bad luck, but went behind when Cristin Granados' long range effort from a corner deflected in. The game seemed beyond all doubt early on when Kedie Johnson earned a second yellow card for taking out María Paula Coto trying to recover a heavy touch. And things did indeed get worse for the Caribbean side when Lauryn Hutchinson managed to put a corner into her own net. Just before half time, another deflection gave Granados her second goal and in the second half an early thunderbolt from Alvarado added some gloss to the scoreline, wrapping up a 4-0 win. In the later game, Panama faced Canada and the latter had to labour to victory, with Grosso finding the ball in the box and showing patience to score the game's only goal. The final day saw Panama and Trinidad and Tobago, who were both already out, battle for the World Cup play-off spot in San Nicolás de los Garza. Marta Cox scored the only goal of the game to give Panama the win. It seemed that Trinidad and Tobago were never really at the races in this tournament, while Panama also struggled but at least join Haiti in New Zealand. In the other game, held at the same time in Guadalupe, Canada and Costa Rica faced off for top spot. An early goal from Fleming on the break before a nice effort from Sophie Schmidt went in off the post to give Canada the 2-0 win. This means that in the semi-finals, the US will face Costa Rica before Jamaica take on Canada at a double header in San Nicolás de los Garza. All four teams have now qualified for the FIFA 2023 Women's World Cup. The winner of the competition will qualify directly for the Olympics (and also for the 2024 CONCACAF W Gold Cup), while the runners-up and third-placed team will face off in an "Olympic play-in" in 2023. The fourth-placed team will see their Olympic dreams die, alongside Haiti, Mexico, Panama, and Trinidad and Tobago, who are eliminated from competition. Patrick Green Writer, Totallympics News
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  35. With the US and the Dominican Republic qualifying for the men's football event at the Paris 2024 Olympics, it is now the turn of North America's women's footballers to do the same. While the men's football is an underage event and had the stars of tomorrow, established names at the very top of world football are entering the 2022 CONCACAF W Championship. Eight teams enter the event. The top two teams; the US and Canada automatically qualified, while the other CONCACAF nations that entered (nine nations declined to do so) were in qualifying: with six groups of five teams, only the winner would progress. Mexico came through a group containing Puerto Rico, Suriname, Antigua and Barbuda, and Anguilla; Costa Rica overcame Saint Kitts and Nevis, Guatemala, Curaçao, and the US Virgin Islands; Jamaica got past the Dominican Republic, Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, and Grenada; Panama won a group also containing El Salvador, Belize, Barbados, and Aruba; Haiti got past Cuba, Honduras, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and the British Virgin Islands; and Trinidad and Tobago won a group featuring Guyana, Nicaragua, Dominica, and the Turks and Caicos Islands. The qualifying process was littered with huge scorelines, but the final eight are now set. The event will take place in Mexico, with Guadalupe's Estadio BBVA, home of five-time North American men's champions CF Monterrey, as well as San Nicolás de los Garza's Estadio Universitario, home of seven-time men's Mexican champions Tigres UNAL providing impressive venues: both nearby in the Monterrey metropolitan area. Group A consists of the US, Mexico, Jamaica and Haiti; Group B contains Canada, Costa Rica, Panama, and Trinidad and Tobago. In the past, this was the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF)'s sole women's football competition: the winners could call themselves queens of North America; in effect making it the equivalent of the Gold Cup for men. Indeed, it carried the name "CONCACAF Women's Gold Cup" from 2000 to 2006. However, now CONCACAF have introduce a separate competition called the "CONCACAF W Gold Cup", meaning this event, renamed the "CONCACAF W Championship", is secondary and is more notable as a way in to other competitions: it qualifies places not just for the Olympics, but also the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup in Australia and New Zealand as well as the first edition of the W Gold Cup in 2024. In terms of the competition itself, the top two teams in each group will advance to the semifinals, and there will be a final, as well as a third-placed play-off. The winner automatically qualifies for the W Gold Cup in 2024, as well as the Olympics. The second Olympic spot will be decided in an "Olympic play-in" between the losing finalist and the winner of the third-placed play-off, which will take place in September 2023. This seems to be to avoid a situation where if the world champion Americans and Olympic champion Canadians faced each other in a semifinal then one of them would have to be eliminated, meaning CONCACAF will have weaker representation. In terms of the FIFA World Cup, all four semifinalists will qualify, while the third-placed team in each group qualifies for the intercontinental play-offs, in which ten teams from six confederations will fight for the final three spots at the World Cup. There is plenty of talent on display, but the short version of the tournament is: one team will secure an Olympic place, two teams will have to wait for a play-off next year, and the remaining five will see their Olympic dream die. Patrick Green Writer, Totallympics News
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  36. The CONCACAF Under-20 Championship is in full swing now and the Round of 16 is over. With the two finalists qualifying for the Olympics, this is the sole Paris 2024 qualifying competition in men's football for North Americans. Costa Rica faced Trinidad and Tobago at Estadio Yankel Rosenthal. A handball by Jahiem Joseph in the box gave Costa Rica the chance to make the perfect start and Josimar Alcócer stepped up to do exactly that. Costa Rica were the dominant side and added to their lead in the second half with a tap-in from Shawn Johnson. A rebound from Dorian Rodríguez made it three, before the same player latched onto a through ball for 4-0. Trinidad and Tobago were heading out but had time for one positive moment, with Molik Khan putting in the consolation. Still, an impressive performance by Costa Rica and they are through to the quarter-finals. Cuba met Panama at the Estadio Nacional. Both teams had chances in the first half but it remained a somewhat tetchy affair. And the only goal fit the contest: a scrappy goal forced in by Carlos Rivera to give Panama the win. It was a disappointment for Cuba who had been impressive in the tournament up to this point but will play no further part. Later at the Yankel Rosenthal, hosts Honduras took on Curaçao. And it didn't take long for the home side to take the lead, with Marco Aceituno latching onto a sloppy backpass. But Curaçao fought back, with Rayvian Job latching onto a "route one" ball over the top and equalising in prolific fashion. That was as good as it got for the qualifiers though, with Honduras' Geremy Rodas heading home a corner in first-half injury time and Odin Ramos heading home a cross after the break. There was time for one more Honduras goal when Nigel Marengo fouled Jefryn Macías in the box and Miguel Carrasco fired it into the top corner for a 4-1 victory. Honduras have looked impressive all tournament and will be relishing a quarterfinal against Panama. The final game of the day took place at the Estadio Nacional with the US taking on Nicaragua. The Stars and Stripes were dominant the whole game but Nicaragua's dominance was providing a large amount of frustration. It took until first half injury time for Quinn Sullivan to head them in front, but then it became much simpler. Kurt Thomas dragged Sullivan down in the box and Diego Luna scored the penalty before Sullivan tucked in a low cross for his second and the USA's third. A cross was deflected by Dylan Pineda into his own goal before Jalen Neal tucked in a rebound to give the US a 5-0 win. The Americans have looked brilliant this tournament but Costa Rica will be a tough challenge in the quarters. On the second day of competition Guatemala faced Canada in the first game at the Estadio Nacional. But nothing could separate the two sides after ninety minutes, with both teams missing a penalty in the first half but having precious little in terms of other chances. In extra-time, Canada did draw first blood, with Jeshua Urizar handling it in the box and Kamron Habibullah firing it into the bottom corner. In the 119th minute, Figo Montaro headed home, and although it was initially disallowed, VAR showed that it was onside and the game headed to penalties. With the first set of penalties converted by Gabriel Pellegrino and Carlos Santos, Kwasi Poku skied his penalty to give Guatemala the initiative, and Urizar did just that. Keesean Ferdinand levelled for Canada but Johnathan Franco put Guatemala back in front. Justin Smith's panenka then hit the bar to give Jefrey Bantes the chance to put Guatemala through, but he rolled it wide. Habibullah had to score to keep Canada in it, and did just that, so it was down to Omar Villagrán to avoid a sudden death. And he smashed it in to send Guatemala through to the quarterfinals. At the Estadio Olímpico, Haiti took on Jamaica in a bizarre game. Jahmari Clarke gave Jamaica the lead early on taking advantage of some eccentric goalkeeping and things got worse for Haiti when Fernando Ciceron's bizarre high-footed challenge on Chad James earned him a red card. A header from Steevenson Jeudy gave Haiti an equaliser and a lifeline, but when Duckens Pierre fouled Tyler Roberts that was enough for his second yellow card and Haiti were down to nine men. It was only a matter of time before Jamaica got the winner at that point and more unconvincing goalkeeping was to blame with Tarick Ximines poking home an open goal from a corner to secure a 2-1 win for the young Reggae Boyz. A fascinating encounter between El Salvador and the Dominican Republic took place at the Estadio Nacional. The qualifiers took an early lead when Israel Boatwrighit's cross went over the goalkeeper and found its way in, but El Salvador soon equalised when Mayer Gil converted a cross. However, Anyelo Gomez soon scored a rebound to put the Dominicans ahead again. El Salvador were struggling to get back into the game but when Keffler Martes brought down Jonathan Esquivel in the box Gil converted the VAR-awarded penalty to equalise, before Ronald Arévalo tapped home just before half-time to give El Salvador the lead for the first time. But just after half time, Ángel Montes De Oca managed to squeeze home a goal and it was 3-3. Boatwrighit went from hero to zero by handling a cross in the box and Esquivel converted the penalty to put El Salvador back in front, but Montes De Oca soon came forward and fired in an equaliser. And the nerves began to show when El Salvador's Alexander Romero brought down the rushing Edison Azcona in the box and Azcona got up and fired in the winner, and despite their best efforts and a disallowed goal, El Salvador had no response. The remarkable result: El Salvador 4-5 Dominican Republic, and the winners play Jamaica in the quarterfinal. In the final game at the Olímpico Mexico took on Puerto Rico in a one-sided affair. A lovely solo run from Fidel Ambriz gave El Tri a lead they would never relinquish, and Christian Torres fired off the post for two. Esteban Lozano made it three after half-time with a header, before another header from Salvador Mariscal made it four. The ball then broke kindly for Isaías Violante in the box and he took full advantage, before Jesús Hernández rounded out a 6-0 win with another headed effort. They play Guatemala in the quarters. The quarterfinals will take place on Tuesday at Estadio Morazán with the US against Costa Rica and Panama playing Honduras, and on Wednesday at Estadio Olímpico Metropolitano with the Dominican Republic taking on Jamaica and Guatemala facing Mexico. The winners will qualify for next years FIFA U-20 World Cup in Indonesia, and will be one game away from the Olympics, with the losers having no recourse for the Paris Games. Patrick Green Writer, Totallympics News
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  37. Image: World Triathlon A stunning performance from Georgia Taylor-Brown in the 2022 World Triathlon Mixed Relay Championships has yielded Great Britain the first non-host quota of the Paris 2024 Olympic cycle. The winner of the event were to win two quota spots for each gender, automatically entering the winner into the Mixed Relay event in Paris. France, the hosts of the Games, already had these quotas, so if they were to win the race the places would instead go to the runner-up. With at most three athletes per gender qualifying for the individual events per NOC, all NOCs with at least two per gender will automatically enter the mixed relay. There are also eleven specific mixed relay spots, that will automatically qualify two men and two women for the Olympics, and the second of these (after the host spot) was up for grabs in Montreal, Canada on Sunday. With Belgium non-starters, sixteen teams entered the race. In the first leg, the whole field was together after the cycling portion but New Zealand's Hayden Wilde and Great Britain's Alex Yee left the field behind them during the run, just like the individual race, and were ahead going into the second leg. During the swim, Brazil, France and Australia caught up to make it a five-woman race, putting them twenty-five seconds ahead of the US in sixth. But the charge from the chasing pack was enough to slowly claw away at the leading five, and going into the final race there was a big pack. But they slowly broke away with France's Emma Lombardi being subject of a surprise challenge from Denmark's Alberte Kjaer Pedersen. But France were happy to cooperate, as they had Vincent Luis on the penultimate leg and as Denmark fell away Luis pulled twenty seconds clear at the end of his swim. With New Zealand's Tayler Reid and the American Kevin McDowell cooperating while fighting for second, Luis was still nineteen seconds clear after the cycle despite riding solo. There was a second pack of chasers: GB, Canada, Switzerland, and Denmark, but they were a further sixteen seconds back and couldn't make any inroads despite GB's newcomer Samuel Dickinson attempting a charge. Furthermore, Dickinson had a missed box ten-second penalty. Going into the final leg France were miles in front and all Cassandre Beaugrand had to do was take it home, and in fact all she did was extend her lead. But while there was no doubt who the winner would be, it was looking a tight battle for second. Summer Rappaport of the US was now eight seconds ahead of the Kiwis' Nicole Van Der Kaay, with Taylor-Brown nearly half a minute off that silver place. But a brilliant cycle let her catch them two up somehow, but that wasn't enough: she would have to find more than seconds to contend with the penalty. Van Der Kaay tried to stay with her but ran out of steam and Taylor-Brown took a clear lead. But Rappaport, who had stayed back, was a problem. It was unclear whether Taylor-Brown was clearly ahead: she had to slow down and speed up again while serving the penalty, so the penalty is in actuality more than ten seconds. But as Beaugrand crossed the line for gold, Taylor-Brown emerged just ahead of Rappaport and powered over the line for silver while the Americans got a bronze. It means that two British men and two British women will compete at the Olympics in Paris in the triathlon, which makes a mixed relay team. The British team were delighted with the performance despite being pre-race favourites. Alex Yee said he was "absolutely over the moon", while Sophie Coldwell says she was "really proud of everyone". Samuel Dickinson whose penalty nearly cost the team said that he would "buy [Taylor-Brown] some sunglasses or something" to make up for it, while Taylor-Brown joked: But Olympic qualification aside today was France's day, and they are worthy world champions. Pierre Le Corre, Emma Lombardi, Vincent Luis and Cassandre Beaugrand are a very good team and they will be relishing an Olympics in front of their home fans. The next chance for teams to qualify will be at the 2023 World event in Hamburg, Germany. The winner of that event (or more precisely, the highest-ranked finisher except for France and Great Britain) will qualify two men and two women, similar to this event. Top five times: 1. France 1:27.14 2. Great Britain 1:27.34 3. United States 1:27.44 4. New Zealand 1:27.53 5. Canada 1:29.06 Patrick Green Writer, Totallympics News
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  38. Since our last update last month qualification procedures for five sports in the Paris 2024 Olympics have been revealed. Badminton, Canoe (Slalom and Sprint), Equestrian (Dressage, Eventing, and Jumping), Skateboarding, Sport Climbing (Boulder/Lead and Speed), and Weightlifting. Furthermore, one discipline in the sport of Cycling (Mountain bike) has also been revealed. Badminton Badminton retains its programme from Tokyo 2020, with a singles and doubles event for both genders, as well as a mixed doubles event. In singles, the top 35 athletes in the BWF 'Race to Paris Ranking List' of 30 April 2024 will qualify, with the following permutations: there can only be one athlete per NOC, or at most two if both are in the top 16. There must also be at least two athletes per continent. One place is given to the host country France, and the remaining two places are for universality. In doubles, the same BWF 'Race to Paris Ranking List' of 30 April 2024 is used for 16 pairs per event, with at most one per NOC, or at most two if both are in the top 8. If an athlete qualifies in both singles and doubles, this means that a further place is opened for the ranking list in singles. The lists are based on events between 2023 and 2024. The only change from last year is one universality place has been taken away and added to the ranking list. Canoe Slalom Canoe Slalom has received a boost from 2020 to 2024, with an Extreme Canoe Slalom event joining the Kayak and Canoe Single for both men and women. Someone who qualifies for one event can enter other events for their gender too, but at most one per NOC (two in Extreme Kayak). One athlete per NOC can qualify a place in each event, and each athlete can only qualify one quota place. 15 spots for Kayak and 12 for Canoe Single will be earned at the 2023 ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships (Lee Valley, GBR, 19-24 Sep 2023). In Kayak and Canoe Single, one place for each of the five continents will be earned at Continental Qualification Tournaments (Dates and locations TBC, 2023) while one place in Kayak will go to the host nation. The three places per gender in Extreme Canoe Slalom will be at the Extreme Kayak Global Qualification Tournament (dates and locations TBC, 2024). The addition of Extreme Canoe Slalom notwithstanding, the system is largely the same as Tokyo 2020. Canoe Sprint The IOC giveth and the IOC taketh away: while Canoe Slalom gains two events, Canoe Sprint will lose two. For both genders, the Kayak Single 200m has disappeared. The other Kayak Single event (1,000m for Men and 500m for Women) has returned, as has a Kayak Double event (now 500m for both genders: it used to be 1,000m for Men), a Kayak Four 500m event, a Canoe Single event (1,000m for Men and 200m for Women), and a Canoe Double event (also now 500m for both genders instead of 1,000m for Men and 500m for Women). The quotas have also been reduced somewhat from 123 to 118 per gender. The primary event for qualification will be the 2023 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships (Duisburg, GER, 23-27 Aug 2023). 7 boats in Kayak Single and Canoe Double, 6 in Kayak Double and Canoe Single, and 4 in Kayak Four will be earned here. There will be one host country boat in Kayak Single and Canoe Single. In every event apart from Kayak Four places will be filled at the Continental Qualification Tournaments (dates and locations TBC), with two places per continent in each event, apart from Kayak Single and Canoe Single, where Africa and Oceania will get just one place. Finally, there are two universality places per gender in the entirety of Canoe Sport, these can be allocated by the ICF in either Slalom or Sprint. At most one boat per NOC can qualify per event, although two per NOC can enter an event. The removal of the "World Cup 2" event is the biggest change from 2020. Interestingly, the document is now unavailable to access: it is listed on both the IOC and ICF site, but the file does not show up. Probably a technical gremlin, but there is a small chance this could have some meaning and the document had a mistake of some sort. Equestrian Dressage Dressage's programme is unchanged from 2020, with 60 athletes at open individual and team events. There are fifteen teams that qualify (at most one per NOC). One for the host country (France), the six highest ranked at the 2022 FEI Dressage World Championships (Herning, DEN, 6-10 Aug 2022), and the remaining nine at regional qualification events. For Groups A and B three places are earned at the 2023 FEI European Dressage Championship (Riesenbeck, GER, dates TBC), for Group C there will be a Group C 2023 Designated Olympic Qualification Event (date and location TBC) yielding one place, for Groups D and E two places are earned at the 2023 Pan American Games (Santiago, CHI, 26-29 Oct 2023), while for Group F one place is earned at the 2022 World Championships, and the same is true for Group G. The teams are made up of three athletes, and each of the three also qualify for the individual event. The remaining fifteen places (most one per NOC) will be qualified like so: the two highest-ranked athletes in the FEI Olympic Ranking (date released tbc) in Groups A, B, C, F, and G will take the first ten spots, the top two individuals from Group D or E at the 2023 Pan American Games and the top two individuals from those groups at the FEI Olympic Ranking will take up the next four spots, and finally, the top-ranked athlete irrespective of Group will get the final place. This system is the same from Tokyo 2020. Equestrian Eventing Similar to Dressage, Eventing remains unchanged since 2020 with 65 athletes in open individual and team events. Sixteen teams qualify (at most one per NOC), including the host nation. Seven places are earned at the 2022 FEI Eventing World Championships (Pratoni del Vivaro, ITA, 14-18 Sep 2022). Two teams are earned for Group A and B at the 2023 FEI European Eventing Championships (Pin du Haras, FRA, 9-13 Aug 2023). One place is earned at a Group C 2023 Designated Olympic Qualification Event (date and location TBC), while the Pan American Games (Santiago, CHI, 26-29 Oct 2023) yields two places for Groups D and E. The top two ranked teams at a Group F and G Designated Olympic Qualification Event (date and location TBC), while the final spot is earned at the FEI Eventing Nations Cup 2023 (date and location TBC) Again, the teams are made up of three teams, and each of the three also qualify for the individual event. The remaining seventeen places (at most two per NOC) through the FEI Olympic Ranking: two per group and then the highest three otherwise. This system has one more team than 2020. Equestrian Jumping Like the other Equestrian events, the Jumping programme is unchanged since 2020 with 75 athletes in open individual and team events. 20 teams qualify (at most one per NOC). There are twenty teams, including one for the host nation. Five places are earned at the 2022 FEI Jumping World Championships (Herning, DEN, 10-14 Aug 2022). The highest rated team at the FEI Jumping Nations Cup Final 2022 (Barcelona, ESP, 29 Sep-2 Oct 2022) get the next spot. The top three Group A and Group B teams at the 2023 FEI Jumping European Championship (Milano, ITA, September 2023, exact dates TBC) get spots, as do the top two at a Group C 2023 Designated Olympic Qualification Event (location and date TBC). The top three ranked Group D or E teams at the 2023 Pan American Games (Santiago, CHI, 26-29 Oct 2023) get a place, as do the top two teams at a Group F 2023 Designated Olympic Qualification Event (location and date TBC) and the highest two teams at a Group G 2023 Designated Olympic Qualification Event (location and date TBC). Finally, the highest ranked team at the FEI Jumping Nations Cup Final 2023 (date and location TBC) get a place. The three team members gain a place in the individual event, with the remaining fifteen spots (at most one per NOC) are earned like this: the top two athletes in the FEI Olympic Ranking (publication date TBC) in Groups A, B, C, F, and G get the top ten spots, with the three highest athletes at the Pan American Games getting a spot as well as the highest ranked athlete from Groups D and E. Finally, the highest-ranked athlete irrespective of group yet to qualify gets the final place. The system is similar to that from Tokyo 2020. Mountain Biking Mountain Biking has received a small hit in 2024, with 36 athletes per gender (instead of 38) in the cross-country events. The top eight NOCs in the UCI Mountain Bike Olympic Qualification ranking (published 28 May 2024) will get two spots, and the next ten will get one, for a total of 26. Three spots will be earned at the 2023 Continental Championships (dates and locations TBC) with one spot each for Africa, America, and Asia. Finally, four spots (at most one per NOC) will be earned at the 2023 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships (Glasgow and Scotland, GBR, 3-13 August 2023). Finally, one spot per gender each will be given to the host spot and universality places. The most consequential change is that no country can have three places in an event. Rowing Rowing keeps its fourteen events from 2020 (Single Sculls, Pair, Double Sculls, Four, Quadruple Sculls, Eight, Lightweight Double Sculls in both genders) but there are now 251 instead of 263 places per gender. The primary qualification event will be the 2023 World Rowing Championships (Belgrade, SRB, 3-10 Sep 2023). This will qualify eleven athletes per gender in Pair and Double Sculls, nine per gender in Single Sculls, seven per gender in Four, Quadruple Sculls, and Lightweight Double Sculls, and five per gender in Eight. Places will be available at World Rowing Continental Regattas for the four continents (dates and locations TBC, Asia and Oceania count together). Five places are available for each continent except Europe (for whom three is available) for Single Sculls, and two places for each continent except Africa (for whom one is available) in Lightweight Double Sculls. Finally, two places per event can be earned at the World Rowing Final Olympic Qualification Regatta (Lucerne, SWI, dates TBC) in around May 2024. There is also one host place as well as two universality places per NOC. The changes from Tokyo 2020 are mostly minor, and the rule that each NOC has one boat per event is retained. Skateboarding Skateboarding returns with Park and Street events for both genders, and is upgraded from 40 to 44 athletes in each gender, or 22 per event. There are 3 spots per NOC at most per event. The top 20 athletes in each event, including one per continent, in the Olympic Skateboarding Rankings of 24 June 2024 will win a spot, with the remaining places going to the host and one for universality. This is a change from 2020 where places were earned at the World Championships. Sport Climbing (Boulder/Lead) While in 2020 there was one Sport Climbing event per gender for all three disciplines combined: boulder, lead, and speed, but now speed is its own event with a combined boulder and lead event remaining. Overall, there are now 34 sport climbers per gender, up from 20. There are 20 places in the combined Boulder/Lead event, at most two per NOC. Three athletes per gender (at most one per NOC) can earn a spot at the IFSC Climbing World Championships (Bern, SUI, 1-12 Aug 2023). Five more spots per gender are earned at the IFSC Continental Qualifiers (dates and locations TBC), including the Pan American Games (Santiago, CHI, 20 Oct-5 Nov 2023), with the winner of each continental event that will be held in the last four months of 2023 gaining a spot. Finally, an Olympic Qualifier Series will take place in 2024, yielding ten spots per gender. The final places will be for the host country and the universality place. The system is similar to that from Tokyo 2020. Sport Climbing (Speed) In these events, there are fourteen places per gender (at most two per NOC). 2 spots per gender (at most one per NOC) will be earned at the IFSC Climbing World Championships (Bern, SUI, 1-12 Aug 2023). Five spots are earned per gender at the IFSC Continental Qualifiers (dates and locations TBC), including the Pan American Games (Santiago, CHI, 20 Oct-5 Nov 2023), with the winner of each continental event that will be held in the last four months of 2023 gaining a spot. Finally, an Olympic Qualifier Series will take place in 2024, yielding five spots per gender. There is also one place each for the host country and the universality place. Weightlifting Weightlifting has been downsized significantly from 2020 to 2024, with 98 athletes per gender in seven weight classes now being sixty per gender in five: for men, 61, 73, 89, 102, and +102kg; and for women, 49, 59, 71, 81, and +81kg. This is twelve athletes per event, one per NOC, and at most three athletes per NOC per gender. The top ten athletes in the IWF Olympic Qualification Ranking (OQR) will qualify a place, as will one athlete per event by Continental representation: one athlete per gender in each of the five continents: so an African in one event, an Asian in another and so on. The ranking is published on 28 April 2024. Finally, the remaining place will be either the host country (in two events per gender) or the universality place (in three). This system is similar to that from Tokyo 2020. There are still qualification procedures to be released for Aquatics, Athletics, Football, Sailing, Surfing, Table Tennis, and Tennis, as well as the rest of Cycling: so 8 sports in total. Patrick Green Writer, Totallympics News
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  39. Mkbw50

    Paris 2024 schedule revealed

    On 1 April, the schedule for Paris 2024 has been released, and with just over two years until the Games to go, there has been plenty of time to dissect it and look at some key dates. Remember, all times given are Paris time (UTC +2). The Games takes place over nineteen days. The day of the opening ceremony ("Day 0") is 26 July 2024, with some preliminary action starting in the two days before that, and then events taking place up until Day 16 (11 August), with the closing ceremony taking place once all the sport has finished. In 2020, Softball and Football were the only sports to begin before the day of the Opening Ceremony. Softball is of course not in Paris 2024, but Football retains that status, with two games in every stadium before the games begin: one game on Day -2 and one game on Day -1 for every stadium, except for the Parc des Princes in Paris, where two games will be on Day -2. The finals will be on Day 14 and Day 15 once again, both at the Parc des Princes. Kick-off times vary from 15:00 at the earliest to 21:00 at the latest, with the finals at 18:00 and 18:30 respectively. Another sport to begin before the Opening Ceremony is Rugby Sevens, which has action on both Day -2 and Day -1, with the Finals on Day 1 and Day 4: the final sessions will begin at 14:30.Tthe sport being earlier in the Games is because the sport is sharing the Stade de France with Athletics, which will have consecutive days of action from Day 7 to Day 15, with morning sessions (10:00-13:00) every day from Day 7 to Day 14: all medals will be handed out in the evenings (19:00-22:00). The Marathons, from the Hôtel de Ville to Invalides will be on Day 15 and Day 16, both beginning at 08:00, while the Race Walks on Pont d'Iéna will begin at 07:30 on Day 6 and Day 12: likely meaning the men's and women's events will be on the same day leaving the other one free for the new mixed relay. Handball at the Pierre Mauroy Stadium also begins before the Opening Ceremony and will be the first sport to begin, with action on both Days -2 and -1. It is also the only sport to take place on Day 0, with a session beginning at 09:00. It started after the Ceremony in Tokyo, but Handball does have a packed programme, with four two-hour sessions on some days. The finals are on Days 13 and 14, with the bronze matches from 16:30 and the gold matches from 21:00, a change from Tokyo where the final event was on the final day. Finally, the beginning of the Archery at Invalides is now on Day -1 instead of Day 0. Archery will resume on Day 2, with constant action until Day 9. The finals are on Days 2, 3, and 7 at 14:15 and Days 8 and 9 at 13:00. Beach Volleyball at the Eiffel Tower Stadium will be a constant, beginning at 10:00 on Day 1 and not finishing until Day 15, with action every day in between. The finals are at 21:00 on Day 14 and Day 15. Judo will also begin on Day 1 at the Champs de Mars Arena, with morning sessions mostly starting at 10:00, and the evening sessions were medals are handed out beginning at 16:00. This will last until Day 8, and Wrestling will take over the arena on Day 10, with morning and evening sessions. On Day 11, the medals will be handed out on on sessions beginning at 18:15, with this being the case for every day until Day 16, the day of the opening ceremony, where the session takes place at 11:00. Fencing is another sport to start with medals from Day 1 at the Grand Palais. There will be morning and evening sessions every day until Day 9, with the medals all handed out in the evening: sessions start from 19:00 to 19:30. On Day 12, Taekwondo will start in the same place, with three sessions per day for four days: the medals all handed out in the evening again, in sessions touted to last from 19:30 to 23:00. This is a change from Tokyo, where Taekwondo was in the first four days. In Road Cycling, the Time Trial from Invalides to Pont Alexandre III will be on Day 1, beginning at 14:30. The Road Races from Pont d'Iéna will take place on Day 8 and Day 9 (the 'middle weekend'), with the men's event on Saturday starting at 11:00 and the women's event at 14:00 on the Sunday. It seems there is a lot of emphasis on popular events taking place on these two days, which could explain the switch: in 2020 the road race was before the time trial. Skateboarding street events will take place on the first two days at La Concorde, which is the home of urban sports during the Games, with the early session from 12:00 and the evening one from 17:00 where medals are won. Park events are on Day 11 and Day 12, with all start times thirty minutes earlier than the street counterpart. BMX Freestyle events will also happen here, with a session on Day 4 and the medal session on Day 5 both starting at 14:00. Breaking, an all new sport, will take place on Days 14 and 15, with sessions at 16:00 and 20:00, the latter of which will see medals handed out. Basketball 3x3 is the most packed sport to happen at this venue, with action beginning on Day 4 and going non-stop until Day 10 with medals handed out in the final session beginning at 21:00. Tennis will take place at the famous Roland Garros, with all medals handed out on the P. Chatrier court. It will begin on Day 1 at 12:00, with the first medal handed out on Day 7 in a session starting at 19:00, but most handed out on the middle weekend again, with medals sessions on both days starting at 12:00. Boxing will also take place on the Suzanne Lenglen court, with action starting on Day 1 at 19:30 and preliminary sessions on Days 2 to 9 beginning at 10:30 and 19:30. After a break on Day 10, medals will be handed out on sessions on Days 11 to 15 starting at 20:00. Volleyball will once again be in action every day the flame is lit, starting at South Paris Arena on Day 1. The bronze matches will be on Day 14 at 17:00 and Day 15 at 13:00, with the finals on Day 15 at 17:00 and Day 16 at 13:00. Table Tennis takes place on every day from Day 1 to Day 15 this time, with medals handed out in sessions starting at 13:30 on Days 4, 8, and 9, and sessions starting at 15:00 on Days 14 and 15. Weightlifting has been compressed into the final five days of the Games, with medals being earned in every session: starting at 15:00 and 19:30 on the first three days, at 11:30, 16:00 and 20:30 on Day 15 and just the 11:30 session on Day 16. Artistic Gymnastics preliminaries at the Bercy Arena will take place on Days 1 and 2, with finals from Days 3 to 5 at 17:30, on Day 6 at 18:00, on Day 8 at 15:30, Day 9 at 15:00, and Day 10 at 13:00. The one-day gap is because Trampoline Gymnastics will have both medals on one day, with sessions at 12:00 and 18:00. The other event to take place at the arena will be Basketball. This starts at a location tbc with four preliminary games (the first starting at 11:00) each day from Day 1 to Day 9, with the final phase starting on Day 11. The finals will be on Day 15, with a bronze match at 18:00 and the final at 21:30, and on Day 16, with a bronze match at 10:30 and the final at 14:00. Badminton is the very first sport to start on Day 1 with action from Porte de La Chapelle Arena starting at 08:30. The finals start from 15:00 from Days 7 to 9, with two finals sessions on Day 10 starting at 09:45 and 14:30. Rhythmic Gymnastics also takes place here, starting on Day 13 and with finals sessions being on Day 14 at 14:30 and Day 15 at 14:00: this is a day earlier than 2020. Swimming will begin from Paris La Defense Arena on Day 1 with a uniform schedule from Day 1 to Day 8 with a preliminary session at 11:00 and a final session at 20:30, and then on Day 9 just a final session beginning at 18:30. This means that on Day 7 to Day 9, the Athletics and Swimming finals will clash, which will be disappointing to many. Water Polo will begin at the Aquatics Centre on Day 1 and go on every day there until Day 9, before moving to the Paris La Defense Arena, now vacated of swimmers, on Day 10. The medal matches will take place at 09:00 (bronze) and 14:00 (gold) on the final two days: water polo will therefore once again be the final event to end. Diving will also take place at the Aquatics Centre, with finals slipped in where gaps on the Water Polo schedule exist on Days 1, 3, 5, and 7 at 11:00 (likely the synchronised events) before action properly resumes on Day 10, with finals on Days 11, 13, 14 and 15 beginning at 15:00. Artistic Swimming, the final sport at the Aquatics Centre has sessions beginning at 19:30 every day from Day 10 to Day 15 apart from Day 13, the medals are handed out on Days 12 and 15. Shooting from La Corneuve will likely as per usual have the first medal handed out, with Rifle/Pistol medals handed out each of the first ten days in sessions starting at 09:00 except Days 5 and 10. Shotgun action will start on Day 3, with medals handed out on Days 4, 5, and 8 from 15:30 and Days 9 and 10 at 15:00. Modern Pentathlon will also get underway here with the Fencing Ranking Round on Day 13, before moving to Château de Versailles on Day 14. The laser runs start on Day 15 at 17:00 and Day 16 at 11:00: meaning the programme has been stretched by a day. The Château will mostly be known as the home of Equestrian however, with action beginning on Day 1 and sessions every day up to Day 11, with finals on Days 3, 6, 8 and 9 starting from 10:00-11:00, and on Day 11 starting at 14:00. Rowing started on Day 0 in 2020 but all action will be with a lit flame in 2024, with Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium seeing action every day from Day 1 to Day 8. 09:30 is the start time on Days 5 to 8, the days where medals will be won. Canoe Slalom will also take place here on all of the first ten days apart from Day 7, with finals starting at 15:30 on Days 2, 3, 5, 6, and 10. Finally, Canoe Sprint begins on Day 11 with action for five days, medals handed out on the last three of those with sessions beginning at 09:30. Yves-du-Manoir Stadium is the home of Hockey, and action starts from Day 1 and goes on for fourteen days. The bronze matches (14:00) and gold matches (19:00) take place on the last two days, similar to 2020. Surfing takes place in Teahupo'o in Tahiti, on the other side of the world. There is action on each of the first four days, beginning at 19:00, which is 07:00 local time. All medals are handed out on Day 4. Sailing from Marseille Marina begins on Day 2 with action every day until Day 13 starting at 11:00, and medal races on Days 6, 7, 11, 12 and 13. This was so that sailers could attend the opening ceremony. The Triathlon events at Pont Alexandre III start at 08:00 on Days 4, 5, and 10. Also taking place there is the Marathon Swimming, beginning on Days 13 and 14 at 07:30. Golf from the Golf National has its events from Day 6 to 9 and Day 12 to 15, starting at 09:00 each day. Sport Climbing from Le Bourget Sport Climbing Venue begins on Day 10, with a medal handed out each day from Day 11 to Day 14 at 17:00. Track Cycling from Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines Velodrome also begins on Day 10, with medals handed out every day afterwards with sessions starting from 17:00-18:00 (apart from Day 16 where the session starts at 11:00): preliminary afternoon sessions also exist on Days 12 and 14. There is a slight overlap with the Athletics finals: the final hour of proceedings will overlap with the first hour of athletics, although for fans of both this should be manageable. This is a lot of sports to pack in, and the full schedule for your favourite sport is in this document, and of course everything is subject to change (and often will, with weather often moving rowing and sailing events in particular). However, here are some points to highlight: Athletics and Swimming to clash The Games' show-piece sports are scheduled around each other, with swimming in the first half of the games and athletics in the second half. However, just like Tokyo 2020, they will clash, with Day 7, 8, and 9 seeing both sports having action simultaneously. In 2020, this problem was worked around by having swimming finals in the morning session, but this doesn't seem to be the case this time. Fans of both sports will be disappointed in having to split attention. Most finals in the evening Swimming's reluctance to have finals in the morning seem part of a broader shift to having more finals in the evening. Perhaps this is due to the lucrative American broadcasters not wanting to have events in the middle of the night, which is understandable. But it does mean that more finals will take place together than in 2020, leaving to more multi-screen viewing for the TV audience. A focus on the 'middle weekend' Days 8 and 9 of the Games, the 'middle weekend', have been singled out for particular attention by organisers. As well as the finals in both Athletics and Swimming, there will also be finals in Tennis and Artistic Gymnastics, as well as the Cycling Road Races. The Games' most illustrious sports and those most popular in France will be very prevalent. Also present are Table Tennis. Team sports "spread out" On the final four days, the long team sports will come to an end, but they have been scheduled not to clash. The finals of volleyball, beach volleyball, hockey, handball, basketball, water polo and football will not clash. This could explain the increase in sports starting before the flame is lit, although another explanation is to make it so athletes can attend the Opening Ceremony, which might not have been the case with an early Day 1 start: a match on Day -2 or Day -1 would make this a bit easier. The schedule has been made so all athletes can attend at least one ceremony. Patrick Green Writer, Totallympics News
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  40. The Cali-Valle 2021 Junior Pan American Games will now take place between November 25 and December 5. The Covid-19 pandemic has claimed yet another victim in the world of international multi-sports games. The 2021 Junior Pan American Games originally scheduled to be held from September 9 to September 19 have been postponed by around two and a half months and will now open in late November. According to Panam Sports, the Pan American region has been one of the most affected by Covid-19. While Panam Sports and local organizers were encouraged by the recent progress in vaccinations around the region, they still felt like there was more work to be done in the fight against Covid-19. Speaking on the decision to postpone, Panam Sports President Neven Ilic, said the following remarks, “After several months of meetings with the Colombian authorities, we have adopted this measure that we believe is the best option to protect the health of our young athletes. We want to give more time for both the organizing country and the participating nations to advance in their vaccination processes. This will allow more delegations and the largest number of people to be inoculated against Covid-19 when the Games begin.” Cali-Valle 2021 Executive Director, Jose Luis Echeverry, also spoke about the decision to postpone. He stated, “The decision we have made is very positive. It will be very beneficial to be able to wait a little longer given the emergency caused by Covid-19 not only in Colombia, but throughout the continent. With this new date, it gives us the possibility of having safer Games for everyone because when the time comes, we will have a higher vaccination rate in the host country.” The first Junior Pan American Games of Cali 2021 will bring together more than 3,800 athletes from 41 countries who will compete in 39 disciplines. The gold medalist(s) in each sport will automatically qualify for the Santiago 2023 Pan American Games. Further information about the Games can be found at www.calivalle2021.com or www.panamsports.org.
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  41. Four men and five women booked their spots to the 2020 Olympics after their performance at the World Singles Qualification Tournament. The event took place in Doha, Qata from March 14th to March 17th 2021. The women were split into four brackets where the winner of each qualified to the Olympics. The first knockout bracket was won by top seed Britt Eerland of the Netherlands who needed all seven sets to defeat Chile’s Paulina Vega and then defeated Spain’s Galia Dvorak 4-0 in the finals. The second bracket was won by Sweden’s Linda Bergstrom whom defeated top seed Margaryta Pesotska of the Ukraine 4-1. Joining her from the third bracket was second seed Polina Mikhailova of Russia as she defeated top seed Suthasini Sawettabut from Thailand 4-2. The final for the fourth bracket went to a seventh set as Monaco’s Xiaoxin Yang won as the top seed over Spain’s Maria Xiao. The losing finalists were then placed into a final bracket to determine the final quota. Xiao booked the first spot to the finals by defeating her compatriot, Dvorak 4-2. She was joined by Sawettabut whom defeated Pesotska 4-1. The fifth and final quota was won by Sawettabut thanks to a 4-1 victory over Xiao. The men were split into three brackets where the winner of each qualified to the Olympics. The winner of the first knockout bracket was won by the Czech Republic’s Lubomir Jancarik whom defeated Ukraine’s Lei Kou in straight sets. Hungary’s Bence Majoros won the second bracket by defeating Romania’s Ovidiu Ionescu 4-3 in the semifinals and Belgium’s Florent Lambiet 4-1 in the finals. The third bracket was won by second seed Yang Wang of Slovakia who won over Greece’s Panagiotis Gionis 4-2. The losing finalists and semi-finalists were all placed into a final bracket to determine the final quota. The final came down to Great Britain’s Liam Pitchford whom needed seven sets to defeat Gionis and Russia’s Kirill Skachkov whom won in straight sets against Lambiet. The final quota was won by Skachkov as he defeated Pitchford 4-1. There are still a couple more opportunities for athletes to qualify in the singles events. Four out of six continental qualifiers remain with the Asian qualifier beginning in Doha tomorrow while all remaining nations can still qualify via the World Rankings. Qualified Nations Men's Singles Czech Republic Hungary Russia Slovakia Women's Singles Monaco Netherlands Russia Sweden Thailand
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  42. The final six men’s handball teams have booked their spot to the 2020 Olympics after their performances at the Olympic Qualification Tournaments. Three tournaments were held concurrently where four teams played a round robin. The top two teams from each tournament qualified to the games. The tournaments were held from March 12th to March 14th 2021. The first tournament was hosted by Podgorica, Montenegro who stepped in after Norway withdrew. The 2019 World Championship silver medalist Norway was still able to win the group as they defeated Brazil (32-20), Chile (38-23) and South Korea (44-31). Brazil recovered from their first day loss to post wins over South Korea (30-24) and Chile (26-24), though the team was down 17-11 against the latter after the first half. South Korea finished third as they won 36-35 over Chile on the first day thanks to building a nine-point lead and preventing a feverous comeback by the Chilean team. This will be Norway’s second appearance in the men’s tournament at the Olympics with the first being back in 1972 while for Brazil this will be their sixth tournament where they last competed in Rio as hosts. The second tournament was hosted by Montpellier, France. The first day began with Portugal securing a 34-27 victory over Tunisia while the second match between France and Croatia saw the latter build up a five-point lead early into the second half, but France persevered and came back at the halfway point only to build their own lead to win 30-26. Croatia had another suspenseful match on the second day where they fell behind by six goals to Portugal early in the second half. They spent the rest of the match catching up to win 25-24 thanks to a goal by Luka Cindric with 20 seconds remaining. France won their match 40-29 against Tunisia. The final set of matches saw another close event involving Croatia as they went even with Tunisia for most of the first half. Croatia was able to take control of the match in the second half and put some distance against Tunisia to win 30-27 and finish with two victories. The final match of the group between France and Portugal saw the former jump up to a six-point lead only for Portugal to close the gap down to a 1 goal French lead at the end of the half. The second half was a close affair though Portugal barely took possession of the lead. Going into the final minutes France held a three-goal lead. Portugal however would pull off a miraculous comeback including scoring the game winning goal during the final two seconds to win the match 29-28. This caused a three-way tie with Croatia, France and Portugal finishing with four points. Going by goal differential between the tied teams, France and Portugal qualified to the Olympics, leaving Croatia as the odd team out. This will be France’s eighth Olympics in a row. They also won three medals over the past three games (gold in 2008 and 2012 and silver in 2016). Portugal on the other hand will be making their handball Olympic debut. The third tournament was hosted by Berlin, Germany. The first match of the tournament between Germany and Sweden was intense. In the first half, Germany was never behind, but Sweden always kept it close with the half ending 14-13 German lead. The second half it was Sweden’s turn to never fully relinquish the lead, but never having full control of the match. A goal in the final two seconds by Germany’s Marcel Schiller allowed the match to end with a draw. In the other match Slovenia won over Algeria 36-28. Germany and Sweden showed they were on another level against their competitors on the second day as they defeated Slovenia (36-27) and Algeria (36-25) respectively. The pair would clinch Olympic qualification on the final day with Germany defeating Algeria 34-26 and Sweden winning over Slovenia 32-25. Sweden finished first overall thanks to a better goal differential. Sweden has won four silvers in its Olympic history with the most recent one being in 2012. Germany has also won four medals and is the current defending bronze medalist. This is the final opportunity for nations to qualify in the men’s handball tournament. The final women’s teams are set to be decided at their own Olympic Qualification Tournament to be held next weekend. Qualified Nations Men's Tournament Brazil France Germany Norway Portugal Sweden
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  43. Two pairs of world champions were crowned today with the conclusion of the 2021 470 World Championships. Additionally, this event doubled as the European qualifier for the 2020 Olympics. The highest ranked eligible boat in the men’s and women’s event qualified to the games. The 470 World Championships were held in Vilamoura, Portugal from March 5th to March 13th 2021. The men’s 470 began with 2019 world silver medalists Jordi Xammar and Nicolas Rodriguez of Spain taking an early lead. Trouble first appeared during the fifth race where the pair finished 19th, making it the dropped score. However, a 20th place finish on the seventh race held on the third day meant the duo had to take on the 19 points from the previous day. This forced them to drop to fourth at the time and allowed for 2019 world bronze medalists Anton Dahlberg and Fredrik Bergstrom of Sweden and Russians Pavel Sozykin and Denis Gribanov to take a joint lead. Dahlberg and Bergstrom took sole possession of the lead by the end of the fourth day and was able to extend their lead to 11 points going into the medal race. The pair sailed a safe final race to win their first world title with a net score of 52 points. The silver medal was won by Portugal’s Diogo and Pedro Costa (73 points) whom also won the Olympic quota for their nation while the bronze medal was won by Xammar and Rodriguez (78 points). The women’s 470 similarly saw 2019 world bronze medalists Camille Lecointre and Aloise Retornaz of France take a first day lead. A relatively poor third and fourth races allowed Spain’s Silvia Mas and Patricia Cantero, 2018 world silver medalists to take the lead by five points. The Spanish pair remained consistent, but were challenged by Afrodite Zegers and two-time Olympic medalist Lobke Berkhout of the Netherlands. Despite being behind by 21 points after the sixth race, the pair made a comeback over the next five races to cut the lead down to three. The medal race saw Mas and Cantero take the shadow strategy where they remained closely behind Zegers and Berkhout to prevent them from finishing two places ahead. This allowed Mas and Cantero to win the gold medal by a single point (75 points) ahead of Zegers and Berkhout. The bronze medal was won by Italy’s Elena Berta and Bianca Caruso (84 points). The Olympic quota was won by Turkey’s Beste Kaynacki and Okyanus Arikan. This completes the 470 class line-up for the Olympics. All that remains is for all nations to accept their quotas. Should a nation decline a quota, the next eligible nation at the 2019 World Championships will then be offered a spot to compete. Qualified Nations Men's 470 Portugal Women's 470 Turkey
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  44. Update March 18th 2021 The second of four rowing continental qualifiers has been completed with the conclusion of the 2021 Americas Olympic Qualification Regatta. In terms of Olympic qualification, five single sculls boats and three lightweight double sculls boats were set to be awarded. An additional rule was implemented for the continental regattas where nations can only qualify one boat (the highest ranked boat) or two if both boats finished first. The Americas Olympic Qualification Regatta was held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil from March 4th to March 6th 2021. The men’s single sculls were won by the host nation’s Lucas Ferreira whom won all three races he participated in including a time of 7:24.86 in the final. This was one second ahead of Chile’s Felipe Cardenas (7:25.90) while the bronze was won by Argentina’s Axel Haack. The Olympic quotas were awarded to Brazil, Peru, Bermuda, Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic. 2019 Pan American Games women’s lightweight single sculls gold medalist Kenia Lechuga of Mexico showed she is just as talented on the regular weight boats by winning the women’s single sculls event with a time of 8:04.62. Lechuga is no stranger at this boat class as she has competed at the 2019 World Championships and at the 2016 Olympics. She finished ahead of Paraguay’s Alejandra Alonso (8:09.82) and 2019 Pan American Games silver medalist Felice Chow of Trinidad and Tobago (8:13.91). The Olympic quotas for this event were awarded to Mexico, Paraguay, Trinidad and Tobago, Cuba and Puerto Rico. The largest upset occurred in the men’s lightweight double sculls where Uruguay’s Bruno Cetraro and Felipe Kluver came back from a defeat by Chile’s Cesar Abaroa and Eber Sanhueza during the heats to win in the final by 0.32 seconds with a time of 6:37.97. The bronze medal was won by Brazil’s Evaldo Morais and Emanuel Borges (6:40.36). The Olympic quotas were awarded to Uruguay, Chile and Venezuela. The women’s lightweight double sculls were won by Argentina’s Milka Kraljev and Evelyn Silvestro whom finished with a time of 7:30.21, more than four seconds ahead of Brazil’s Isabelle Camargos and Vanessa Cozzi (7:34.62). 2019 Pan American Games silver medalists Yoselyn Carcamo and Isidora Niemeyer of Chile won the bronze medal with a time of 7:43.27. The Olympic quotas were awarded to Argentina and Guatemala. However, due to no other eligible nations taking part in this event the quota will be reallocated to the next highest ranked boat at the final qualification regatta. Two more continental qualification regattas remain. Unqualified Pan American nations will have one more opportunity to qualify to the Olympics via the final qualification regatta to be held in the coming months. Qualified Nations Men's Single Sculls Bermuda Brazil Dominican Republic Nicaragua Peru Women's Single Sculls Cuba Mexico Paraguay Puerto Rico Trinidad and Tobago Men's Lightweight Double Sculls Chile Uruguay Venezuela Women's Lightweight Double Sculls Argentina Guatemala Reallocated
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  45. The roster for the men’s water polo tournament at the 2020 Olympics has been decided with the results of the Men’s Water Polo Olympic Qualification Tournament. The top three teams of the 12-team tournament qualified to the games. The format included a round robin group stage where the top four teams advanced to the quarterfinals. The event was held in Rotterdam, Netherlands from February 14th to February 21st 2021. Group A was reduced to five teams due to Turkey having too many positive COVID-19 cases and were thus disqualified. The two favourites for this group, Greece and Montenegro were undefeated until meeting up on the fourth day of matches. Greece did get a scare on the first day of matches where a third quarter comeback by Georgia and a very defensive fourth quarter meant Greece narrowly won 11-10. In the match between the two top teams, Montenegro jumped up to a 4-1 lead in the first quarter and was able to maintain a lead on route to an 8-4 victory to top the group. Georgia finished third thanks to victories over Canada (14-11) and Brazil (12-8) while Canada also advanced to the quarterfinals as they won 11-7 over Brazil on the first day. Group B was a much more competitive group which saw two draws and six one-goal victories across the 15 matches. The largest upset occurred on the fourth day of matches where 2016 Olympic silver medalist Croatia lost to Russia 14-13. Russia was able to prevent Croatia from scoring during the fourth quarter as they successfully completed their comeback to win by a single point. This victory allowed Russia to win the group with 4 victories and a 9-9 draw against Romania. Croatia finished second while France required a final day victory over Romania (16-7) to finish third. This allowed France to finish equal on points with the Netherlands, but with a better goal differential the former finished ahead while the latter finished fourth. Romania finished fifth thanks to a 12-7 win over Germany. The quarterfinals saw the favourites secure victories. Montenegro began the day against the Netherlands by jumping up to a 4-0 lead after the first quarter on route to winning 13-7. The Greece and France matched turned out to be the most exciting match of the round. Despite starting with the lead, Greece was slowly overtaken by France who held a 12-10 lead going into the final quarter. Greece won the fourth quarter 3-1 to tie the game, forcing it to go to penalties. Greece won the shoot-out 4-1 to advance to the semi-finals. Croatia and Georgia began as a close match, but a strong second quarter by Croatia removed doubt within the match, allowing them to win 15-6. The final nation to advance to the semi-finals was Russia whose lead was never threatened as they went on to win 17-9 over Canada. In the first opportunity to qualify for the Olympics the semi-final match between Montenegro and Croatia had both nations trading leads, finishing with a goal by Montenegro’s Miroslav Perkovic to end the game 10-10 and forcing a penalty shoot-out. Montenegro won the shoot-out 4-2 to become the first nation to qualify. Joining them was Greece who played a close game with Russia, but never gave up the lead to win 13-10. The tournament was won by Montenegro who pulled off a successful fourth quarter comeback after being down 8-6 to win 10-9 over Greece. The third-place match and final Olympic quota was played between Croatia and Russia. In a repeat of Croatia’s semi-final match, Russia tied the game 11-11 with 16 seconds remaining thanks to Dmitrii Kholod. The ensuing penalty shoot-out turned into a marathon as 15 rounds were required before Croatia prevailed 14-13. All three teams are considered mainstays in the men’s water polo tournament. Montenegro continues its streak of qualifying to this event as an independent nation where it will be looking to win their first medal after three consecutive fourth place finishes. Greece will also be looking to win their first medal after finishing sixth in Rio while Croatia will be hoping to win their fourth medal in the event as an independent nation. Qualified Nations Men's Tournament Croatia Greece Montenegro
    1 point
  46. The FIG has announced the cancellation of the Artistic Gymnastics All-Around World Cup Series. Originally, four events were scheduled in 2020, but only the Milwaukee, United States event was held as the others were postponed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, with travel restrictions remaining in place it has become increasingly difficult to schedule at least two more events to validate the results. This has implications for qualification to the 2020 Olympics as the top three nations in the men’s and women’s individual rankings were expected to qualify a quota to compete. Following the reallocation procedure set by the FIG, the quotas have been reallocated to the top three nations during the team all-around qualification round at the 2019 World Championships. Thus, the quotas were awarded to China, Japan and Russia in the men’s individual events while China, Russia and the United States qualified an individual female athlete. This athlete will be allowed to compete in the individual events, but can not participate in the team event. Currently the remaining quotas are set to be decided at the apparatus World Cup Series and the continental qualifiers. Qualified Nations Men’s Artistic Individual Events China Japan Russia Women’s Artistic Individual Events China Russia United States
    1 point
  47. The International Olympic Committee (IOC), the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) and the Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee (Tokyo 2020) today published the first Playbook for Tokyo 2020. According to the IOC, IPC, and Tokyo 2020, the playbook is, “a resource which outlines the personal responsibilities key stakeholders must take to play their role in ensuring safe and successful Olympic and Paralympic Games this summer.” The series of Playbooks will provide a framework of basic principles that each key stakeholder group will follow before they travel to Japan, when they enter Japan, during their time at the Games, and when they leave the Games. Athletes received a preview of their yet to be published playbook during a call with the Global Network of Athletes’ Commissions on Monday. The Playbooks have been developed jointly by Tokyo 2020, the IOC, and the IPC. According to those organizations, the Playbooks, “are based on the extensive work of the All Partners Task Force, which also includes the World Health Organization, the Government of Japan, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, independent experts and organisations from across the world, and the interim report published by the Three-Party Council in December 2020. In addition, the Playbooks also draw upon the lessons learned from the successful measures being implemented in other sectors, including the successful resumption of thousands of international sports events across the world.” The Playbooks also outline the typical journey for each stakeholder group, beginning with measures starting 14 days before arriving in Japan, testing before departure and upon arrival in the country, and the use of smartphone applications to report health and support contact tracing during Games time. Measures will also be in place to identify, isolate, and treat any potential positive cases. The first of the Playbooks was revealed on Monday. According to the IOC, IPC, and Tokyo 2020 the Playbook for International Federations and Technical Officials was released first, “for logistical reasons.” Playbooks for the athletes, media and broadcasters will be published within the coming days. The publication of each Playbook will be accompanied by a series of briefings from the IOC, IPC, and Tokyo 2020 with the stakeholders in question. The Playbooks will also receive updates in the lead up to the Games. Speaking about the publication of the Playbooks, IOC Olympic Games Executive Director Christophe Dubi said, “the health and safety of everyone at the Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020 are our top priority. We each have our part to play. That’s why these Playbooks have been created – with the rules that will make each and every one of us a sound, safe and active contributor to the Games. We know these Olympic Games will be different in a number of ways.” Dubi continued, "for all Games participants, there will be some conditions and constraints that will require flexibility and understanding. We are providing the main directions at this stage, but naturally don’t have all the final details yet; an update will be published in the spring and may change as necessary even closer to the Games. We will make sure all the information needed is shared as quickly as possible to ensure we are fully prepared to protect all those coming to and residing in Japan during the Tokyo 2020 Games.” He further continued, saying, “by committing to following the Playbooks we will be stronger together. In return, the Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020 will be remembered as a historic moment for humanity, the Olympic Movement and all those contributing to their success.” Craig Spence, the IPC’s Chief Brand and Communications Officer, said, “to ensure safe and successful Games this summer, every single stakeholder involved in, or attending the Games has a key role to play. Central to this are the Playbooks that form an integral part of a new and robust masterplan developed over the last 12 months to protect every Games stakeholder and, importantly, the people of Japan during Tokyo 2020.” He continued, “since March 2020’s postponement we know much more about COVID-19, while the thousands of international sports events that have taken place safely over the last year have given us valuable learning experiences. Combining this new knowledge with existing know-how has enabled us to develop these Playbooks, which will be updated with greater detail ahead of the Games.” Tokyo 2020 Games Delivery Officer Nakamura Hidemasa commented, “the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the daily lives of people around the world, and the Olympic and Paralympic Games need to adapt accordingly. Safety and security have become everyone’s top priority, and this summer's Games will be no different. Accordingly, Tokyo 2020, the IOC and the IPC have jointly published individual Playbooks for each stakeholder outlining the rules that need to be followed by all Games participants.” He further explained, "the Playbooks were created from the perspective of the participants themselves, based on the interim summary that was published at the Coordination Meeting for COVID-19 countermeasures last December. They include not only the specific measures that need to be taken, but also details of the rules that need to be observed and the appointment of a single person to oversee COVID-19 countermeasures in each stakeholder group to ensure effectiveness. The purpose of this first edition is to communicate ‘what we know at this time’ to a large number of people in an easy-to-understand manner. The Playbooks will be updated to the second edition this spring as the situation changes.” He continued, “through careful communication we would like to ensure that everyone involved in the Games around the world is aware of our plans. We hope thereby to assure them that, if each and every one of them follows the rules when participating in the Games, they can be held in a safe and secure manner. We hope that daily life can return to normal as soon as possible, and we would like to express our gratitude to the medical professionals, essential workers and everyone else who is working hard to ensure this. In the meantime, we will continue our preparations for ensuring safe and secure Games in the spirit of safety will be the number-one priority for the Olympic and Paralympic Games.” The first Playbook, published for International Federations, can be viewed and downloaded here.
    1 point
  48. The first IOC Executive Board meeting in 2021 was held remotely this Wednesday. The meeting was concentrated on Tokyo 2020 preparations, but also on current topics important for the Olympic Movement. One such case was the autonomy of CONI, the Italian NOC. After a decree was accepted and presented to the IOC Executive Board by the Council of Ministers in Italy, the EB decided to close the case, ensured of the autonomy of the CONI. However, concerns remained around the two international federations, that are still under the microscope of the IOC due to their governance problems. The IOC Executive Board has not seen progress in the AIBA, while the IWF's problems with both governance and the anti-doping code have been noted as worsening. In terms of Tokyo 2020, IOC President Thomas Bach made it clear during his press conference, that the IOC is still on it’s way to organizing the Games in the best possible manner during the times of pandemic. He denied the idea of cancellation, as well as, postponing them to 2032. Instead, he put the incoming playbook for Tokyo 2020 participants as the main source of the decisions prepared by the IOC experts. The upcoming IOC meetings will be held in March, including the 137th IOC Session - this one will be held remotely, although earlier planned to be hosted by Athens. The proposal has been made by the IOC EB to hold the 2025 Session in the capital of Greece instead.
    1 point
  49. Olympian1010

    IFF Launches Fan Survey

    The International Floorball Federation has launched a new fan survey, with the chance for fans to win a prize. The new fan survey centers around the topic of sustainability. The IFF hopes to discern the views of the greater floorball community on environmental sustainability, in order to drive future initiatives related to the sport. The IFF has partnered with the Glion Institute for Higher Education in order to carry out the survey. Students at the school composed the questions for the survey, and will also perform analysis on the results. UNIHOC, a sponsor of the International Floorball Federation, will support the survey by giving participants a chance to win one of their SUPERSKIN sticks. The survey closes on January 28th. You can participate in the survey by clicking here.
    1 point
  50. The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) plans to provide free-to-air (FTA) coverage of the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games in Sub-Saharan Africa as part of their efforts to raise awareness of para sport and para athletes in the region.For the first time across the region, the Opening and Closing Ceremonies will be FTA and broadcast live on 24 August and 5 September 2021. There will also be a 52-minute daily Games highlight show of African centred content in English, French and Portuguese. TV Media Sport (TVMS) is working on behalf of the IPC to secure Sub-Saharan broadcasters. So far, FTA broadcasters have been confirmed in 24 countries: Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cape Verde, Cameroon, Cote D’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eswatini, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mali, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Togo, and Uganda. The IPC will waive the broadcast rights fee for Tokyo 2020 in order to maximise coverage in the region, which has traditionally aired only limited coverage of the Games. The broadcast initiative is a key element of the Para Sport Against Stigma project between the IPC, Loughborough University, and the University of Malawi, Chancellor College, which aims to support social change and overcome stigma and discrimination against persons with disabilities in Africa. Para Sport Against Stigma is part of AT2030, a programme funded by UK Aid and led by the Global Disability Innovation Hub. The 2020 broadcast will be funded by the IPC and UK Aid. The IPC hopes that this initiative will be a catalyst for commercial partners becoming involved in broadcasting Paris 2024 to Sub-Saharan Africa. Andrew Parsons, President of the International Paralympic Committee, said, “The IPC is very excited about the prospect of more people than ever before watching the Paralympic Games in Sub-Saharan Africa. Through sport the IPC wants to normalise and challenge the stigma attached to disability. One of the best ways to achieve this is through people watching the Paralympics and seeing first-hand what persons with disabilities can do. He continued, “Going free-to-air across so many territories will allow us to tell the compelling stories and athletic achievements of Para athletes and raise awareness of the Paralympic Movement. We are confident that we will engage new audiences and make a bigger impact than any previous Paralympics. I truly believe that this could be a turning point for the region: the awareness that Tokyo 2020 will create could lead to more media, people and sponsors getting involved in Para sports, which in turn will create new opportunities for people with disabilities. We are going to show that change can start with sport.” Dr. Emma Pullen, Lecturer in Sport Management at Loughborough University, added: “This project offers a really unique and exciting opportunity to work closely with the IPC and broadcasters to bring the Paralympic Games to Sub-Saharan Africa. The media visibility of Para sport is so important in helping change attitudes toward disability and can be such a powerful platform for raising awareness around disability rights, access, and inclusion.” She continued, “Our aim is work closely with local partners and broadcasters in Sub-Saharan Africa to improve the reach and access of the broadcast as well as localising the content to include narratives of local Para athletes. It’s the start of a journey that will hopefully see the sustained roll out of Para sport across many parts of the Global South.” Vicki Austin, CEO of the Global Disability Innovation Hub, which leads the AT2030 project said: “As Head of Paralympic Legacy in London, I saw first-hand what a massive difference London 2012 made to perceptions of disability.” She explained, “It is why we set up GDI Hub. And with more than a billion people in the world needing access to basic assistive technology - and only 10 per cent currently using AT (assistive technology) - our amazing Para athletes can do so much to overcome the stigma and promote a positive association for the first time for many young women and men with disabilities in Sub-Saharan Africa. This project will change lives, and we are delighted to partner with IPC and Loughborough on this important work and thank UK Aid for their backing.” Hédi Hamel, President of TV Media Sport, said, “We are delighted to partner with the IPC on this important project to create awareness around Para sport all over the African continent. TVMS is committed to introduce in all TV homes the values of inclusion through the performances and stories of African Para athletes at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games.” The Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games are scheduled to begin on August 24, 2020. Olympic Broadcasting Services (OBS) will serve as the host broadcaster of the Games. It is expected that as many as 19 sports will be broadcast live. The IPC expects record viewing figures for the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games.
    1 point
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