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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

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.

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

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

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

The South American qualifier for Women's Football, the 2022 Copa América Femenina, has seen the conclusion of the group stage. The ten countries in the South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL) were split into two groups for a competition based in Colombia in which the winner will have the right to call themselves the South American champion, in addition to the two Olympic quota spots, three Pan American Games spots (the teams coming in third, fourth, and fifth make that competition) and three spots in the FIFA Women's World Cup (as well as two play-off spots). The top two teams in each group would go to semi-finals, with third in each group going to a fifth-placed play-off. Chile, having already qualified for the Pan American Games as host, were not considered in qualifying for that competition.
 
In Group A, with most games held at the Estadio Olimpico Pascual Guerrero in Cali, on the opening day a double-header kicked off with Bolivia facing Ecuador. A corner from Ecuador was not fully dealt with and Nayely Bolaños was there to score the tournament's opener. Danna Pesántez made it two for La Tricolor after having an open goal due to a smart cutback. Marthina Aguierre was next to benefit from a cutback and made it three before half time. Things got worse for Bolivia when Kimberly López was sent off for denial of a clear goalscoring opportunity, but La Verde did have at least one positive when Érika Salvatierra headed home a rebound after a free-kick was pushed on to the woodwork. But that was only a brief respite for the Bolivians, as Giannina Lattanzio put in an open goal before a corner was converted acrobatically by Joselyn Espinales and a ball over the top gave Bolaños her second goal in injury time to wrap up a 6-1 win.
 
Colombia kicked off their campaign against Paraguay, and the hosts found the lead through a rebound from Daniela Montoya. But Paraguay fought back, with an amazing free kick from at least thirty metres out by Jessica Martínez finding the net. Colombia regained their lead before the break after Mayra Ramírez headed home a cross, before Montoya got her third after taking advantage of a goalkeeping fumble. Another header from a cross, this time Manuela Vanegas confirmed the victory for Las Chicas Superpoderosas but Paraguay did get a consolatory goal from another amazing free kick, this time from Fany Gauto, to complete a 4-2 loss.
 
The next matchday was another double-header, with Paraguay looking to get back to winning ways against Chile. And they got off to a perfect start, with Rebeca Fernández reacting to a looping ball over the top quickest, before Martínez took advantage of suspect goalkeeping to double Paraguay's lead. But Chile fought back when Daniela Pardo headed home a free kick crossed into the box before half-time. In the second half Paraguay regained their two-goal cushion through a Fabiola Sandoval strike from outside the box, and though Yenny Acuña fired home in injury time, there was not enough time for an equaliser and the game finished a 3-2 win for Paraguay.
 
The second game of the day saw Bolivia take on Colombia. The hosts were hitting their stride as Leicy Santos fired a long shot in and although they missed a penalty, Colombia had no problems wrapping up the game, as Ericka Morales poked it past her own goalie and Daniela Arias headed in a corner to get a 3-0 win.
 
Day three and another double header in Cali, starting with Paraguay's match against Bolivia. Paraguay extended their winning run thanks to a 2-0 victory, with a tap-in by Ramona Martínez and a similar goal by Rebeca Fernández earning the three points. In the second game, Chile took on Ecuador, and Chile took the lead just before half time when Camila Sáez got the last touch from a corner. In the second half, the lead was doubled when Acuña put home a cross, and although Ecuador quickly got one back thanks to a smart finish by Aguirre, they couldn't find an equaliser and Chile took a 2-1 win.
 
The fourth and final double-header started with Chile facing Bolivia, and La Roja Femenina were in no mood to hang about against the group's whipping girls. Three early goals: a smart strike from Francisca Lara, an own goal from a corner from Salvatierra and a well hit effort from Paloma López. Lara nodded in her second in injury time, and in the second half there was still one more goal to be scored as Mary Valencia headed home number five. In the other game, Ecuador took on Colombia. The hosts took the lead when Ramírez pounced on a through ball but they were soon pegged back by Nicole Charcopa after losing possession in their own final third. But it would be Colombia who would win the game through Linda Caicedo's goal as she took advantage on a lovely back-heeled assist on the stroke of half time and the second period would be goalless.
 
On the final day, Ecuador took on Paraguay in Cali and Colombia faced Chile at the Estadio Centenario in Armenia. When play started, Colombia led the group on nine points, both Paraguay and Chile had six (with Paraguay ahead on head-to-head) and Ecuador had three, with Bolivia out on zero points. The hosts were in no mood to be charitable, with María Catalina Usme putting them ahead early on from about fifteen metres out, before Arias dinked in number two after a goalkeeping fumble. Chile's defenders were unable to cope and that was made clear by the third goal, a through-ball splitting the back line to find Manuela Vanegas who provided the finish. There was still time for one more goal before the break with Liana Salazar heading home a freekick to confirm top spot and a 4-0 win. In the other game, Jessica Martínez gave Paraguay the lead from a header before Kerlly Real smashed home an equaliser after a goalmouth scramble. With the game at 1-1, Lice Chamorro's injury time header gave Paraguay a win and sent them through to the semifinals.
 
In the end, Colombia won Group A and will play the second-placed team in Group B in the semifinals, while Paraguay came second and will face the winners of Group B. Chile, in third, will play the third-placed team in group B in the fifth-placed play-off, while Ecuador and Bolivia headed out.
 
Group B was mostly played in Armenia, with a double-header on the first day kicking off with Uruguay taking on Venezuela. It was Venezuela that took a 1-0 win thanks to Deyna Castellanos' free kick that went in off the bar. In the later game, Brazil took on Argentina and found life relatively easy. First, Adriana had a tap-in, before Ruth Bravo lazily brought down Tainara in the box and Bia Zaneratto put home the penalty. In the second half, Adriana rounded the goalie to get her second before Debhina did the same to wrap up a 4-0 win for Brazil.
 
On the second day, Uruguay took on Brazil in the first game and it was Brazil that got the lead through a familiar source, Adriana tapping in at the far post after a low cross eluded everyone. The Seleção added to their advantage when Debinha was slipped through in injury time before getting another soon into the second half as Adriana again converted at the far post for a 3-0 win. In the other game, Argentina played Peru, and La Albiceleste soon put the Brazil defeat behind them as Yamila Rodríguez opened the scoring from a tap-in, while in the second half the floodgates opened. A cross converted by Flor Bonsegundo, a daisycutter from Eliana Stabile and a goal in-off the post from Érica Lonigro gave Argentina a 4-0 win.
 
On day three the first game was between Argentina and Uruguay, and Argentina had found their rhythm. It took them until the stroke of half time to get ahead when Estefanía Banini trapped a long ball over the top and found the net. In the second half it was the Rodríguez show, as she scored the second from close range before latching onto a through ball to score number three and then finishing her hat-trick from another through-ball: Uruguay were clearly ill-equipped to deal with this tactic. Another close-range effort, this time from Stabile in injury time, wrapped up a 5-0 win for Argentina. In the late game it was Peru against Venezuela and it was Castellanos that got the opening goal again for La Vinotinto, pouncing on a sloppy back pass. Oriana Altuve's rebound into an empty net wrapped up a 2-0 win for the Venezuelans.
 
Day four saw the two top sides in the group so far, Venezuela and Brazil, face off. Zaneratto gave Brazil an early lead and they never looked back, with goals in the second half coming from a smart Ary Borges strike, a Debinha header, and a powerful finish also by Debinha. In the second game, Peru took on Uruguay. In a game that saw no goals in the first half, Uruguay found their feet in the second period: firstly, Pamela González headed home a corner before Belen Aquino tucked home a crossed free-kick. A header from Esperanza Pizarro was next, and then came a driven effort from Ximena Velasco. There was still time for two more goals: González finding her second of the night with a low finish and Pizarro doing the same from a corner to earn a 6-0 win.
 
On the final day, Brazil took on Peru in Cali while Venezuela faced Argentina in Armenia. Brazil were on nine points, Venezuela and Argentina on six (with Argentina ahead on goal difference), Uruguay on three and Peru also out on zero. Brazil took mere seconds to find the lead with Duda putting the finishing touch on an elegant move. Maria Sampaio doubled the lead in a crowded box, before Geyse smashed home number three. Before the break there was still time for another goal when Gretta Martínez brought down Duda Santos in the box, and the Palmeiras midfielder got up and placed the penalty smartly for a 4-0 half-time lead. In the second half, Fernanda head home a corner before the second spot-kick of the game as Liliana Vanegas bought down Sampaio in the box and substitute Adriana scored to earn her fifth goal of the tournament and a 6-0 win that confirmed Brazil would get top spot. But who would join them? This set up a crunch encounter: if Venezuela beat Argentina they would reach the semifinals, if not it would be Argentina. And perhaps nerves showed in a tetchy game decided by one goal, a cutback that Bonsegundo converted.
 
This means that Brazil got top spot and will face Paraguay in the second semifinal, not before Colombia take on runners-up Argentina. In the fifth-placed play-off Chile take on Venezuela, while Uruguay came fourth in the group and Peru fifth. The third- and fifth-placed play-offs will take place in Armenia, while the semifinals and final will be in Estadio Alfonso López in Bucaramanga. The two finalists will make the Olympics and the World Cup, with the third-placed team also making the World Cup. The fourth-placed team and fifth-placed team will make the World Cup play-offs. The losing semi-finalists will join Chile and Peru in the Pan American Games.
 
Patrick Green
Writer, Totallympics News

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

Aquatics, a sport containing five disciplines, has revealed the qualification procedure for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. The reveal of the systems for Artistic Swimming, Diving, Marathon Swimming, Swimming, and Water Polo mean that Athletics is the only sport yet to release any systems, although the BMX Freestyle discipline of Cycling is also yet to reveal its qualification procedure.
 
Artistic Swimming
 
Artistic Swimming is a women's only discipline, with a reduction from 104 to 96 women competing, down from Tokyo 2020,. There are still two events: a teams' event and a duets' event. A duet consists of two athletes, while a team consists of eight. Just like 2020, there will be ten teams, at most one per NOC. The host country will automatically gain a spot, while the winners of Continental Championships (dates and times TBC) gain a spot for each continent apart from Europe (as France automatically take their continental spot). The only continental championship to be revealed is the 2023 Pan American Games (Santiago, CHI, 20 Oct-5 Nov 2023). The other five places will be earned at the 21st FINA World Championships (Doha, QAT, 2-18 Feb 2024). This means that there is no longer a separate qualification event, perhaps due to the shorter cycle between Games.
 
For the duets, there will now be 18 pairings, down from 22. The ten teams will automatically qualify a duet, and the two athletes in the duet must also be part of the team. Again, the winners of Continental Championships including the 2023 Pan American Games will earn a spot. Technically, the European spot should go to France, but as they will have already qualified from the Team competition there will also be a European event. The final three places will be earned at the 21st FINA World Championships. Again, this means the end of the qualification event. In the 2020 cycle, the Worlds were not a designated qualifying event for duets (although it was used for some continental quotas).
 
Diving
 
Diving has Individual and Synchronised 3m Springboard and 10m Platform events for both gender and 68 athletes per gender, this represents no change from 2020. In individual events, there are at most two places per NOC, but each individual athlete can only earn one place. The top twelve athletes at the 2023 FINA World Championships (Fukuoka, JPN, 14-30 Jul 2023) will qualify a place. The winners of Continental Championships (dates and locations TBC) including the 2023 Pan American Games will also qualify a spot. In this event, only the winners will qualify a place; if the winner has already qualified the place will be reallocated to the next qualification system. This is the 21st FINA World Championships, which will qualify twelve places plus any additional places. Extra places may also be added at this event in the case that the total quota of 136 places is for some reason not met. For the team events, there will be eight teams per event (one per NOC). The top three teams at the 2023 FINA World Championships, the top four at the 21st FINA World Championships, and the host country will be the eight teams. With two world championships during the cycle, the FINA World Cup has been replaced, but otherwise the system is mostly similar form 2024.
 
Marathon Swimming
 
In Marathon Swimming, there are 10km events for both genders, but there will now be 22 athletes per gender (at most two per NOC), down from 25. The qualification system is the same for both genders, just like Diving. Three athletes per gender will qualify a spot at the 2023 FINA World Championships, while the top thirteen athletes per gender from the 21st FINA World Championships will do the same. Each individual athlete can only earn one place at the Games. Then, the highest athlete left from each continent at those championships will also gain a place. Finally, there is a host country quota. Again, there is no longer a specific qualifier, instead the two world championships both earn places.
 
Swimming
 
Swimming has a total of thirty-five events. For both men and women, there are seventeen events: for Freestyle; 50m, 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m, and 1500m; for all of Backstroke, Breaststroke and Butterfly; 100m and 200m; a 200m and 400m event for Individual Medley, both 4x100m and 4x200m Freestyle Relays and a 4x100m Medley Relay. The thirty-fifth event is a mixed 4x100m Relay. There are 426 athletes per gender, down from 439 in Tokyo. In each indvidual event, there are at most two athletes per NOC, and at most one relay team per NOC. In individual events, hitting the Olympic Qualification Time (OQT) in FINA-approved events (1 Mar 2023-23 Jun 2024) will earn you a pathway in automatically. But there is a complicated medley of alternative ways to qualify. One can qualify by universality invitation (if an NOC qualifies no athlete, they can enter one man or one women as long as they participated in either the Fukuoka or Doha World Championships), or being part of a relay team. If you meet the easier Olympic Consideration Time (OCT). One athlete per event will be invited based on the OCT until there are less than 28 places (or one per event) left. For the remaining 27 (or less) places, who gets the nod will be based on World Ranking.
 
In the Relay, each event will have sixteen teams. Three teams will qualify from the 2023 FINA World Championships and thirteen will qualify from the 21st FINA World Championships. This will allow two additional athletes per relay entered per NOC, at most twelve. This system is a slight modification from the 2020 system, basing the times on WCs only.
 
Water Polo
 
Water Polo maintains its 12-team men's tournament and 10-team women's tournament from 2020. A team consists of eleven members, and there is at most one team per NOC per event. Two teams will qualify from the 2023 FINA World Championships. The hosts will qualify, with five places (one per event) being earned at Continental Championships (dates and locations TBC) including the 2023 Pan American Games. The final four men's spots and the final two women's spots will be earned at the 21st FINA World Championships. The FINA Word League is gone as a qualifier, and like other events the dedicated qualifer is replaced by the extra World Championships.
 
The Paris 2024 qualification system is underway, with host quotas decided and ranking periods underway, with some dedicated qualifiers taking place in Football and Triathlon.

In a move that could have major ramifications for Olympic qualification, the 2022 Asian Games have been delayed by a year. In May this year it was announced that the Games, to be held in Hangzhou, China, from 10-25 September were to be postponed indefinitely due to the COVID-19 pandemic. China is pursuing a "Zero-COVID" policy even now and the Games were thought to be too big a risk.
 
This was a move that put a few sports' Olympic qualifiers into doubt. The Asian Games are the qualifying event for hockey in Asia and Asian Hockey Federation (AHF) President Dato Tayyab Ikram said that if the Games could not be held before September 2023 then the AHF would have to put on a separate qualification event as a "plan B". But new dates for the Games have now been announced with the Games taking place from 23 September to 8 October 2023.
 
The Games consist of all Summer Olympic sports from 2020 and 2024 as well as Cricket, Dragon Boat, Kabbadi, Martial Arts (Ju-jitsu, Karate, and Kurash), "Mind Sports" (Bridge, Chess, Esports, Go, and Xiangqi), Roller skating, Sepak taraw, Squash, and Wushu. Archery and Tennis will also see qualification spots earned at the Games.
 
Patrick Green
Writer, Totallympics News

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