Hello GB Games readers, and sorry for the absence. I decided to take some time off this blog for a couple of reasons, those being a vague busyness, especially with my visit to Qatar for the World Cup, and the fact that there weren’t any Olympic qualifier events anyway, apart from the BMX Freestyle World Championship. Some things have happened in that time, including a few qualification systems being updated.
Athletics
Athletics was the only sport left to release its qualifying system, and now it has done so. With a total of forty-eight events, there’s more spaces in this sport than any other. The events are split into categories. On the track, there is the Men’s 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m, 1500m, 5000m, 10,000m, 110m Hurdles, 400m Hurdles, 3000m Steeplechase, 4x100m Relay and 4x400m Relay, with the same list for women apart from the 100m Hurdles substituted for the 110m Hurdles, as well as a Mixed 4x400m Relay, on the field there is for both men and women the High Jump, Pole Vault, Long Jump, Triple Jump, Shot Put, Discus Throw, Hammer Throw, and Javelin Throw, with combined events being a Men’s Decathlon and a Women’s Heptathlon. On the road there is a 20km Race Walk and Marathon for both genders as well as a Mixed Team 35km Race Walk. This is the same programme as Tokyo 2020, apart from the Men’s 50km Race Walk being replaced by a Mixed Team Race Walk. Overall, there is a reduction in places: in Tokyo, there were 988 men and 912 women: in Paris there will be 905 of each gender. For track events, there will be 56 in the 100m, 48 in the 200-800m, 45 in the 1500m, 42 in the 5000m, 27 in the 10,000m, 40 in the hurdles events, 36 in the steeplechase, and 16 teams in each relay. On the field, there will be 32 in each event, and 24 in both combined events, with 48 in each individual race walk, eighty in both marathons, and 25 teams in the mixed race walk. There are at most three per NOC in individual events, and one team per NOC in relay events, apart from the mixed race walk (at most two per NOC).
For individual events, there is a system where achieving the Entry Standard earns 50% of the places and the other 50% are based on World Rankings. The period to get the standard is from 1 July 2023-30 June 2024, apart from the 10,000m, combined events and race walks, where the period starts on 31 December 2022, and the marathon, where it starts on 1 November. For the marathon, this will only apply to 20% of the criteria, with a special Road to Paris List of 30 January 2024 instead revealing the top 65 places. For relay events, the World Athletics Relays 2024 (in Q2, host tbc) will have the top fourteen teams and the others will qualify based on the World Athletics Performance List, with the same dates as the 10,000, combined events and race walks into consideration. Any NOC still not to qualify also gets a place.
So, this system is basically the same, and the athletics heads can debate the standards, but anyway for all our problems and faults in this area, I think qualification won’t be an issue. I actually think British athletics is in an alright place right now anyway, and we should be fine.
Some other sports have updated their systems:
Boxing
In Boxing, the system has been changed completely, with continental qualifiers now the main qualifying system. For Europe, these are the 2023 European Games (Krakow, POL, 23 Jun-2 Jul 2023), which will earn four spots in every event, apart from the Men’s 51kg, 92kg, and 92+kg, and the Women’s 75kg, where it yields two. Then, a World Qualification Tournament (Q1 of 2024) will yield four in every event, while a Second World Qualification Tournament (Q2 of 2024) will yield four in every men’s event, apart from the 57kg and 80kg (where it yields two) and three in every women’s event apart from the 60kg (two) and the 75kg (four). There are host places in most events (all bar the Men’s 51kg, 92kg and +92kg and Women’s 75kg) which would be reallocated to that second WQT too if not claimed.
Canoe Slalom
In Canoe Slalom, all references to “Extreme Kayak” have been replaced with “Kayak Cross”.
Football
Football announced which events will be European qualifiers for the Olympics: for men, the 2023 European Under-21 Championships (Various cities, GEO/ROU, 21 Jun-8 Jul 2023) and for women, the UEFA Women’s Nations League (further details tbc).
Modern Pentathlon
Modern Pentathlon announced the locations of some events, including the 2023 World Cup Final (Ankara, TUR, 31 May-4 June 2023), the European Games as the European qualifier, and the date of the 2023 World Championships (Bath, GBR, 21-28 Aug 2023).
Road Cycling
They confirmed the deadline for the ranking as 17 October 2023.
Takewondo
Taekwondo revealed the dates for the European qualification tournament (Berlin, GER, 1-2 Mar 2024).
This means that now every qualification system is revealed. Let’s look forward to 2023 then, although there won’t be two many events in the early months.
GB Games 