Paris 2024: The quest for Olympic qualification begins
The Olympic Games Paris 2024 may be two years away but many of the world’s best athletes are beginning their campaigns to qualify for the upcoming sporting showpiece. Read on to find out the state of play and what’s coming up over the next year on the pathway to Paris 2024.
From Friday 26 July until Sunday 11 August 2024 the world will gather once again for the Olympic Games Paris 2024. Over 10,000 athletes will descend on host city Paris for a spectacle of sport unlike any other seen before.
However, before getting the chance to compete, athletes will need to qualify for the Games – no easy task in itself.
Tens of thousands of them will attempt to qualify from 32 sports for the 329 events that will be contested at Paris 2024, with a total of 206 NOCs competing in addition to the Refugee Olympic Team. These Olympic Qualifiers are driven by the ambition of supporting, celebrating and elevating athletes on their road to the Olympic Games.
The Olympic Qualifiers season is made up of more than 3,000 competitions across the individual sports that give athletes the opportunity to earn their spot at the Olympic Games. For the first time in history, many of these events are identifiable by the Paris 2024 Qualifier label.
This year marks the beginning of the qualifying period for many sports, with some NOCs having already booked their quotas for the Games.
Find out everything you need to know about the state of play and what to look forward to below.
The Olympic Qualifiers season is made up of more than 3,000 competitions across the individual sports that give athletes the opportunity to earn their spot at the Olympic Games. For the first time in history, many of these events are identifiable by the Paris 2024 Qualifier label.
This year marks the beginning of the qualifying period for many sports, with some NOCs having already booked their quotas for the Games.
Find out everything you need to know about the state of play and what to look forward to below.
Who has already qualified?
On 26 June, the triathlon mixed relay allocated the first quota spots in any sport for Paris 2024. Great Britain were the beneficiaries by virtue of their second-place finish at the Mixed Relay World Championship in Montreal Canada.
While France ran out winners on the day, they have already secured a spot at the Games as the host nation of Paris 2024. That left Britain – anchored home Olympic individual silver medallist and mixed relay gold medallist Georgia Taylor-Brown – to book a quota for their National Olympic Committee for Paris 2024.
In the men’s football competition, both the USA and Dominican Republic have already secured their tickets to Paris after both reached the CONCACAF Under-20 Championship final. It took a comeback of epic proportions for Dominican Republic to qualify, as they came from behind to beat Guatemala on penalties in their semi-final match on 2 July.
It represents the first time ever that Dominican Republic have qualified for the Olympic football tournament and the first time a Caribbean nation will take part since Cuba in 1980.
The USA, who hadn’t qualified for an Olympic men’s football tournament in 16 years, ran out 3-0 winners against Honduras in their semi-final. With both teams qualified for Paris 2024, a jubilant USA went on to win the final 6-0.
The USA women’s football team also qualified by winning the CONCACAF Women’s championship, beating Canada 1-0. Canada will play a playoff against Jamaica, who finished third, in September 2023, to determine the 2nd team to qualify for Paris 2024.
READ MORE: Alex Morgan on target as USA edge Canada in CONCACAF W Championship final to qualify for Paris 2024
In the CONMEBOL Women’s Copa America (8-30 July), Brazil and Colombia have reached the final and qualified for Paris. A goal by Linda Caicedo for Colombia secured victory against Argentina in the first semi-final while la Seleçao beat Paraguay 2-0 in the second semi-final.
READ MORE: Copa America Femenina 2022: Colombia reach final to secure ticket to Paris 2024