Josh

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

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

They’ve conquered Africa, next stop the Olympics.
 
Morocco won gold in both the women and men’s categories of the inaugural African breakdancing championships in Rabat on Saturday, securing the country two spots at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
 
The men’s final pitted fellow Moroccans, B-Boys Billy and Tawfiq against each other, with Bilal Mallakhaka going on to win.
"Today I won the African breakdance championship which leads me to represent Africa at the Olympic Games in Paris. I will work hard for a better representation of Africa," said B-Boy Billy.
 
In the women’s section, Fatima Zahra El Mamouny, known as B-Girl Elmamouny, got the better of South African Midian Leah to win the title.
 
"This is an historical moment, a huge milestone for the WDSF Breaking, the first continental championship in Africa,” said World Dance Sport Federation (WDSF) Secretary General, Sergei Nifontov.
 
“This year, because it is a pre-Olympic year and due to our system of qualification, two quarter places will be given to Paris through this qualification," he said.
 
Breakdance is one of the four new disciplines to be included in the Olympic Games in 2024, along with climbing, surfing, and skateboarding.
 
Also known as "breaking", this style of urban dance developed in New York in the 1970s and is now practised globally.
 
Source: africanews.com
 
 Breaking WDSF African Championships 2023 Discussion Thread
 
 Breaking at the Summer Olympic Games Paris 2024 Qualification Tracker

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

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

From May 3-7 2023, eight of Europe’s top wheelchair rugby nations (Great Britain, France, Denmark, Germany, Czech Republic, Israel, Netherlands, Switzerland) will collide at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Wales. Up for grabs is not only the European title, but qualification to the Paris 2024 Paralympics for the finalists. 

Reigning Paralympic Champions Great Britain are the odds on favourite for the title, but you can never count out Reigning European Champions France, and 2022 World Championships fourth place finisher Denmark. 
 
Host-nation France has already secured a Paralympic quota, which leaves seven nations left fighting for two spots. Barring disaster, Great Britain should secure one of those spots. Denmark is also likely to secure a spot, although I wouldn’t count out Germany.  
 
There’ll be a few key names to keep an eye out for as competition gets underway. French captain Jonathan Hivernat (3.0) is an absolute cardio machine. Don’t be surprised to see him play every minute in some of the more crucial matches. Eric Peters (3.5) was a big reason why Denmark qualified for the previous Paralympics in wheelchair rugby for the first time. His speed up and down the court and his strength to maintain possession or win the ball back for the team through brute force is a major advantage for the Danes. Great Britain’s Johnny Coggan, is arguably one of the greatest 0.5 players of all time, and boasts an impressive five Paralympic Games in his resume (2004-2020). Coggan is known to create plenty of headaches for the worlds best attacking players, his ability to defensively positioning himself makes it very difficult for opposition to get through. Also from Great Britain is Aaron Phipps (3.5), who scored an impressive eleven tries against United States in the Tokyo 2020 gold medal match, and will look to be a factor again here.  
 
The Opening Ceremony of the 2023 Wheelchair Rugby European Championships is on May 3, with the first four play matches occurring the very same day. On May 4-5, pool play continues, and on May 6, classification round matches, 7th/8th place matches, and semifinals take place. 5th/6th place matches, bronze medal match, and gold medal match are on May 7. 
 
Josh, Totallympics
 
 Paralympic Sports Qualification to Summer Paralympic Games Paris 2024 Discussion Thread
 
  Wheelchair Rugby Tournament at the Summer Paralympic Games Paris 2024 Qualification Tracker

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.

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

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

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

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.