Explained: How to qualify for 2028 LA Olympics in Badminton?

The Olympic Qualification System (OQS) for badminton at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games has been officially confirmed by the Badminton World Federation (BWF), outlining how players and pairs will qualify for one of the most competitive events on the Olympic programme.

Badminton at LA28 will feature five events – men’s singles, women’s singles, men’s doubles, women’s doubles and mixed doubles.

A total of 172 athletes will compete across all events, with 86 quota places each for men and women, including host nation and universality places.

Under the approved quota distribution, badminton has 83 standard quota places per gender, along with one host country quota place and two universality places per gender, taking the total to 86 men and 86 women.

Each National Olympic Committee (NOC) is permitted to enter a maximum of eight athletes per gender, meaning a maximum of 16 athletes in total across all events for any single country.

Badminton competition at the LA28 Olympic Games will take place during the Games period from 14 to 30 July 2028, with qualification driven primarily by the dedicated LA28 Olympic Ranking.

Qualification pathway for badminton at the LA28 Olympics

Unlike several other sports that rely heavily on continental qualification tournaments, badminton qualification for LA28 is built around the LA28 Olympic Ranking, which will be published on 2 May, 2028 and will be based on results achieved between 3 May, 2027 and 30 April, 2028.

Results from a wide range of BWF-sanctioned events will count towards this ranking, including major team championships such as the Thomas Cup, Uber Cup and Sudirman Cup, the World Championships, BWF World Tour tournaments, Continental Championships and selected continental multi-sport events. This ranking will be the foundation for allocating quota places in all five events.

For singles, a total of 70 quota places will be allocated, with 35 men and 35 women qualifying directly from the LA28 Olympic Ranking.

These places already include the continental representation allocations, which ensure global participation across all five BWF continental confederations.

In each singles event, there must be at least two players from each of the five BWF continental confederations, provided the athletes are ranked within the top 250 of the LA28 Olympic Ranking.

If a continent does not have a qualified player through the normal ranking cut, the highest-ranked eligible player from that continent will receive a continental representation place.

Importantly, athletes receiving either a host country place or a universality place do not count towards fulfilling these minimum continental representation requirements.

For the doubles events, a total of 48 pairs will qualify – 16 men’s doubles pairs, 16 women’s doubles pairs and 16 mixed doubles pairs. These places will be allocated to the highest-ranked pairs in each event on the LA28 Olympic Ranking of 2 May 2028.

Each doubles event must include at least one pair from each BWF continental confederation, provided the pair is ranked within the top 50 of the LA28 Olympic Ranking.

As with singles, continental representation is built into the ranking allocation system rather than being decided through separate continental tournaments.

Across all events, strict limits apply to prevent excessive concentration of quota places within a single nation.

Through the continental representation mechanism, an NOC cannot qualify athletes or pairs in more than two events.

If a country has eligible athletes or pairs in more than two events through this system, it must choose which events to prioritise, with the declined places being offered to the next eligible athletes or pairs. That choice is final.

If an athlete qualifies in more than one event, the resulting unused athlete quota place is reallocated to the next highest-ranked eligible athlete in the relevant singles event, provided the athlete competing in multiple events is confirmed and entered by their NOC.

Eligibility rules and key dates

All athletes must comply with the Olympic Charter and BWF regulations. In addition, athletes must have competed in at least three tournaments in their respective event during the Olympic qualification period, and they must be listed on the LA28 Olympic Ranking as of 2 May 2028.

These requirements apply to athletes seeking quota places through rankings, continental representation and universality routes, but not to host country places.

The host country must confirm the use of its host places by 8 May 2028, while NOCs will be informed of their allocated quota places by 10 May 2028 and must confirm their entries shortly after.

All reallocation of unused quota places must be completed by 23 June 2028, and the final sport entries deadline for badminton at LA28 is 26 June 2028.