Qatar has become the latest nation to earn a place in the equestrian jumping competition at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. Confirmation was published on the International Equestrian Federation website. The Asian nation won a spot in the first edition of the Games to be staged in South America by winning the second stage of the 2015 FEI Nations Cup, held in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates. The competition brought together 11 countries from Asia, Africa and Europe, but only the six nations from Asia and Africa were competing for an Olympic berth.

“This is the first time the Qatari team has qualified for the Olympic Games,” said Qatar rider Sheikh Ali Bin Khalid Al Thani. “I would like to thank all those who have worked so hard to help us achieve this goal. We are not going to stop here, we will keep moving forward.”

The Qatari team committed just five faults as they overcame last year’s winners Ukraine, who had 19 faults, as well as their rivals for the Olympic place – Egypt, who finished third with 21 faults, plus Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates.

Qatar became the sixth nation to qualify for the Rio 2016 equestrian jumping competition. Netherlands, France, USA, Germany and Sweden booked their spots at last year’s World Equestrian Games, while Brazil already had its place confirmed as the host nation.

Rio2016.com is not an absolute authority on qualification for the Olympic and Paralympic Games, which is an ongoing process. Final places will only be confirmed in July 2016 (for the Olympic Games) and August 2016 (for the Paralympic Games). The qualification systems are defined by each sport’s respective International Federation and the International Olympic Committee or International Paralympic Committee, and are subject to change. When an athlete or team wins a quota place for their nation, the final decision on whether this ‘slot’ is used and which athletes are sent is taken by the respective National Olympic Committee or National Paralympic Committee (NOC or NPC). Even when athletes win a ‘nominal’ place for themselves, NOCs/NPCs may have to decide who to send if the number of qualified athletes from one country exceeds the quota.