Explained: How do athletes qualify for the Olympics?

In just under a month, the much anticipated quadrennial extravaganza will be upon us. And as athletes from the world over congregate at Paris, medals will be up for grabs and more importantly, immortality beckons.

With the National Olympic Committees (NOC) of each participating country confirming the final list of participants that will represent their countries at the summer showdown, one question pops up - how do athletes qualify to the Olympic Games?

The answer to that is nuanced, given that there are different ways by which one can qualify for these games. 

With numerous events playing out at the Olympics and over 10,000 athletes from over 200 nations taking part, qualifying for the Olympics is no ordinary feat.

Athletes are handpicked by the NOCs of their respective countries after the International Olympic Committee (IOC) sends out invites to all NOCs one-year before the Opening Ceremony.

The NOCs then submit entries which are then reviewed by the IOC. 

It is important to understand that there is no single criteria for a sport, and the IOC and NOCs have multiple options to hand athletes the coveted Olympic ticket.

Quota places

For some sports, such as shooting, there are quota places that a given country's NOC will select based on the performances of the athletes. 

These athletes will be shortlisted and eventually finalized based on how they perform in continental and world events in the year leading up to the Games and/or their world ranking, which is again dependent on their performance. 

The quotas are fixed by the IOC to maximize global participation, and there are caps on the number of participants from any one country in each event.

It is important to note that even if an athlete wins a quota, it is still subject to approval from the NOC which, based on the domestic criteria, could very well go with another choice if they feel that a certain athlete has a better shot at podium at the main event. 

World ranking quota

For sports such as badminton and tennis, should an athlete be ranked inside the ranking cut-off during the window specified by the IOC, he/she earns a spot in the Olympic Games. 

In tennis' singles category, the top-56 players in the world rankings on 10 June 2024 of the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) and Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) tours will qualify for the Olympics, respecting the four-player limit per NOC and gender.

For the men's and women's doubles, 32-places will be up for grabs for the highest ranked teams.

Ten of them, in particular, are reserved for players in the top-ten of the doubles rankings, who would then be able to select their partner on the basis of a singles or doubles ranking.

It was through the latter process that Rohan Bopanna chose Sriram Balaji as his doubles partner for the Paris Olympics. 

Qualification mark

This criteria is precisely how track and field athletes gain passage to the Games. If an athlete can surpass the required qualification mark in a national/international event, a spot in the Olympics is assured.

For instance, during the ongoing 63rd Inter-State Championship Athletics Meet, the Olympic qualification time for women's 400m was 50.95s and Kiran Pahal ran her 400m in 50.92s during the semi-finals, thereby bettering the mark to book her Paris-berth. 

Qualifying competitions

This is largely applicable to team sports wherein strong performances in either the World Championships, continental competitions or global qualifiers can earn a squad an Olympic spot.

Th Indian men's hockey team, for example, secured its Olympic berth when they won the 2023 Asian Cup at Hangzhou, China. Given that this was a continental championships, a victory there ensured that the Indian men were on their way to Paris well in advance.

Universality quota

The universality quotas are designed to increase the diversity of participating nations across the sports, especially when there is an underrepresentation of athletes in a given sport.

These quotas are allocated to eligible National Olympic Committees by the Olympic Games Tripartite Commission.

Indian swimmers Dhinidhi Desinghu and Srihari Natraj were handed their Paris tickets thanks to the universality quota. 

With close to 100 athletes having qualified from India for the Olympics, the expectations are sky-high and it is certain that these athletes will do everything they can to bring back laurels for our country.