Road to London

Qualification System – Games Of The XXX. Olympiad

International Canoe Federation

Canoe Sprint

A. Events (12)

MEN’S EVENTS (8)		WOMEN’S EVENTS (4)
K-1 200m	K-1 1000m	K-1 200m	K-1 500m
K-2 200m	K-2 1000m		K-2 500m
	K-4 1000m		K-4 500m
C-1 200m	C-1 1000m
	C-2 1000m

B. Quota

	QUALIFICATION	TRIPARTITE COMMISSION PLACES*	HOST COUNTRY PLACES	TOTAL
Men	156	2*	2	158
Women	87		1	88
TOTAL	243	2*	3	248

* Two Tripartite Commission Places are available in Canoe Sport (Canoe Slalom/Canoe Sprint). They can be attributed to any discipline; however the numbers are shown in the Canoe Sprint Qualification System.

	QUOTA PER NOC
Men Kayak	8
Men Canoe	4
Women Kayak	6
TOTAL	18 (maximum one boat per event per NOC)

C. Athlete Eligibility

Only those athletes who have complied with the Olympic Charter (at all times) may participate in the Olympic Games. For the sake of clarity, all athletes must comply with the provisions of the Olympic Charter in force during the qualification period for the Olympic Games up until the end of the period of the Olympic Games. All NOCs (including those who receive Tripartite Commission Places) must participate in at least one event at the 2011 Canoe Sprint World Championships to be eligible for an Athlete Quota Place in the canoeing events at the Olympic Games.

D. Qualification System

i) Athlete quota places will be allocated to the respective NOC and not to Competitor(s) that achieved the place in the qualification event.

ii) An athlete can qualify and compete in one or more events; however the athlete can only acquire one athlete place for its NOC regardless of how many places or boats that athlete qualifies in other events.

(For example, Athlete A qualifies in K1 and K2 with athlete B from the same NOC. This would result in two athlete quota places and two boats being eligible for the Olympic Games. The quotas would be attributed to the largest boat category qualified, in this example it would be K2. The third athlete quota would be reallocated according to the unused athlete quota places process in the K1 category).

The number of Athlete and Boat Quota Places allocated in the Qualification Competitions for Canoe Sprint will be as follows:

EVENTS	ATHLETE QUOTA	BOAT QUOTA
	PLACES	PLACES
Men
K1 1000m	14	14
K1 200m	14	14
K2 1000m	20	10
K2 200m	20	10
K4 1000m	40	10
C1 1000m	13	13
C1 200m	13	13
C2 1000m	24	12
TOTAL Men	158	96
Women
K1 500m	14	14
K1 200m	14	14
K2 500m	20	10
K4 500m	40	10
TOTAL Women	88	48
TOTAL (Men+Women)	246	144

1. World Championships and Continental Qualification

i) An NOC will be able to obtain athlete quota places from the 2011 Canoe Sprint World Championships. The best ranked athletes will achieve quota places in that specific event for their NOC.

ii) Only an NOC that has not obtained an athlete quota place in an event at the 2011 Canoe Sprint World Championships can participate in the respective Continental Qualification in order to obtain a quota place in the same event.

The number of athletes qualified at the 2011 Canoe Sprint World Championships and Continental Qualification Events are defined in the table below:

EVENTS	WORLD CHAMPS 2011	EUROPE	AMERICA	ASIA	AFRICA	OCEANIA	CONTINENTAL QUALIFICATION TOTAL	TOTAL
Men
K1 1000m	8*	2	1	1	1	1	6	14
K1 200m	8	2	1	1	1	1	6	14
K2 1000m	12	2	6 quotas places available				8	20
K2 200m	12	2	6 quotas places available				8	20
K4 1000m	40	-	-	-	-	-	-	40
C1 1000m	7*	2	1	1	1	1	6	13
C1 200m	7	2	1	1	1	1	6	13
C2 1000m	14	2	2	2	2	2	10	24
Total Men	108						50	158
Women
K1 500m	8*	2	1	1	1	1	6	14
K1 200m	8	2	1	1	1	1	6	14
K2 500m	12	2	6 quotas places available				8	20
K4 500m	40	-	-	-	-	-	-	40
Total Women	68						20	88
Total Men & Women	176						70	246

* The athlete quota includes the host nation place in K1 men, C1 men and K1 women. The process for Host Country Representation is outlined below.

2. K1 and C1 events (Men and Women)

Athletes will have two opportunities to obtain an athlete quota place, the 2011 Canoe Sprint World Championships and also the Continental Qualifying Events, where athlete quota places can be won by NOCs that have not obtained any quota place at the 2011 World Championships.

3. K4 events (Men and Women)

i) All the places will be allocated from the 2011 Canoe Sprint World Championships.

ii) The 10 best ranked NOCs from the 2011 Canoe Sprint World Championships will receive four (4) athlete quota places each.

iii) There must be at least three continents represented in the 10 best ranked NOCs.

iv) In the case that there are less than three continents represented then the tenth (10th) and, if necessary, the ninth (9th) NOC quota places are awarded to the best ranked NOC at the World Championships from a continent without any K4 athlete quota places.

4. K2 events (Men and Women)

i) The six best ranked NOCs from the 2011 Canoe Sprint World Championships in all K2 Men’s and Women’s events will receive two (2) athlete quota places each.

ii) Two (2) athlete quota places will be contested at the European Continental Qualification Event for the K2 Men 200m and 1000m as well as the Women’s K2 500m.

iii) The next three best ranked NOCs from three different continents (excluding Europe) at the World Championships in the K2 events will earn that Continent two (2) athlete quota places that can be won at the respective Continental Qualification Event by NOCs from that continent.

5. C2 Men’s Event

i) The seven best ranked NOCs from the 2011 Canoe Sprint World Championships in the C2 Men’s event will receive two (2) athlete quota places each.

ii) Two (2) athlete quota places will be contested at each Continental Qualification Event.

6. Qualification in the same Boat Category over two distances

i) Where the same athlete qualifies an athlete quota place in the same boat category but for two different distances (For Example, K1 Men 1000m and K1 Men 200m) the NOC will be attributed the place in 1000m for men and 500m for women. The unused athlete quota place in the 200m distance will be reattributed to the next best ranked NOC in that event, not yet qualified.

ii) At the Continental Qualification Events an NOC can only qualify one place per boat category regardless of the distance. Should the NOC qualify in both distances in the same boat category then the NOC will be attributed the place in 1000m for men and 500m for women. The unused athlete quota place in the 200m distance will be reattributed to the next best ranked NOC in that event, not yet qualified.

iii) Should an NOC obtain an athlete quota place at the Continental Qualification Events in both C1 and C2 1000m then the NOC will be eligible to compete in both events at the Olympic Games but only with two (2) athlete quota places. The additional quota place will be given to the next best ranked NOC from that continent in the C1 1000m category, not yet qualified.

Host Country Representation

Should the Host NOC not manage to obtain an athlete quota place in the respective events, it will be entitled to receive quota places in the following events:

EVENT	ATHLETE QUOTAS	BOAT QUOTAS
K1 1000m (Men)	1	1
C1 1000m (Men)	1	1
K1 500m (Women)	1	1
TOTAL	3	3

The quota places allocated to the Host NOC would be taken from the lowest ranked NOC(s) in the respective events at the 2011 Canoe Sprint World Championships.

Tripartite Commission Places

Two (2) Tripartite Commission Invitation Places in Canoe Sport (Canoe Slalom/Canoe Sprint) are made available for eligible NOCs.

On 1 November 2011, the International Olympic Committee will contact all those NOCs who are eligible to apply for Tripartite Commission Invitation Places.

The deadline for NOCs to submit their requests for Tripartite Commission Invitation Places is 16 January 2012. In relation to the end of the qualification period, the Tripartite Commission will confirm, in writing, the allocation of invitation places to the respective NOCs by 9 July 2012.

Detailed information on Tripartite Invitation Places is contained in the – Tripartite Commission Invitation Places – Information Paper for NOCs – which is included in the Games of the XXX Olympiad, London 2012 Qualification and Participation Criteria.

As per Section C, athletes granted Tripartite Commission Invitation Places should have competed at the ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships.

E. Confirmation process for quota places

The ICF will inform NOCs/NFs in writing on 1 June 2012 of the athlete quota places they have obtained at the Qualification Events. Eligible NOCs must inform the ICF in writing by 15 June 2012 whether or not they intend to participate at the Olympic Games. By 21 June 2012 the ICF will reallocate all available quota places, as outlined below in Section F.

F. Reallocation of unused quota places

i) Should an NOC return an athlete quota place that has been obtained from the 2011 Canoe Sprint World Championships, the next best ranked NOC in that event, not yet qualified, will be allocated the athlete quota place. This process will be repeated until all places are allocated.

ii) Should an NOC return an athlete quota place from a Continental Qualification Event, the next best ranked NOC in that event at the Continental Championships, not yet qualified, will be allocated the athlete quota place. The process will be repeated until all places are allocated.

iii) In the case where there are no more eligible NOCs that can gain an athlete quota place in the Continental Qualification Event, the next best ranked NOC from that continent in the specific event at the 2011 Canoe Sprint World Championships, not yet qualified, will be allocated the quota place. In the case that no further NOC from the continent can gain a place from the 2011 Canoe Sprint World Championships the athlete quota place will be given to the next best ranked NOC from the 2011 World Championships, not yet qualified, regardless of continental representation.

iv) If an athlete quota place is not filled from the procedures outlined above, the quota places will become Tripartite Commission Places and will be allocated accordingly.

Reallocation Of Unused Host Country Places

See “Host Country Representation” section above

Reallocation Of Unused Tripartite Commission Places

Any unused places within the reserved quota of places will be reallocated by the Tripartite Commission. If the Tripartite Commission is not able to allocate the place(s) they will be reallocated to the next best ranked NOC, according to the 2012 ICF completion rankings (eg. Canoe Slalom Ranking and the Canoe Sprint World Cup Ranking)

G. Qualification timeline

DATE	MILESTONE
17 – 21 August 2011	Canoe Sprint World Championships (Szeged, HUN)
3 – 18 September 2011	All African Games (MOZ)
October 2011	Pan American Games (Guadalajara, MEX)
13 – 17 October 2011	Asian Championships (Tehran, IRI)
1 November 2011	IOC will contact all NOCs who are eligible to apply for Tripartite Commission Invitation Places
16 January 2012	Deadline for NOCs to submit their requests for Tripartite Commission Invitation Places
3 – 5 March 2012	Oceania Championships (Penrith, AUS)
1 May – 9 July 2012	The Tripartite Commission will confirm, in writing, the allocation of Invitation Places to NOCs
May 2012 (Date TBC)	European Qualifier (Location TBC)
1 June 2012	ICF to inform NFs/NOCs of quota places obtained
15 June 2012	Deadline for NOCs to confirm use of quota places
21 June 2012	ICF reallocates all available unused quota places
9 July 2012	Deadline for London 2012 Organising Committee to receive entry forms