The starting pistol for the race to the Rio 2016 Games will be fired this year. In the coming months, the first Olympic and Paralympic athletes will earn places at the first editions of the Games to be staged in South America. Throughout 2014, athletes from at least 10 Olympic sports – including basketball, equestrian and sailing – and 12 Paralympic sports – including goalball, 7-a-side football and sitting volleyball – will earn qualification spots for the greatest sporting event on the planet.

“This year we will see the first athletes book their places in Rio and that is a very exciting step not only for them, but also for us at the organising committee,” said Melina Xanthopoulou, Rio 2016’s Sport Entries Manager. “When the Games begin, the huge efforts of the athletes will be rewarded with the chance to compete on the world’s biggest stage.”

More than 10,000 athletes will compete at the first Olympic Games in South America, in  August 2016, and the following month 4,350 Paralympic athletes will have their moment in Rio.

Each sport’s International Federation (IF) determines the qualification system adopted, together with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and International Paralympic Committee (IPC). There are two types of qualification: ‘nominal’ – when athletes win spots for themselves (e.g. table tennis, wrestling); and ‘slot’ – when athletes win places for their National Olympic and Paralympic Committees (NOCs/NPCs) who then decide, with the National Federation, if they will use the quota and which athletes to send (e.g. rowing, football, volleyball).

Each sport ensures there is fair gender and continental representation through quotas. This can lead to exceptions in the nominal system – when an NOC/NPC has more athletes qualified than the quota allows for, the NOC/NPC makes the final decision (e.g. athletics, swimming, judo).  

Qualification can be achieved according to world rankings, through the major international competitions, or via specific qualifying tournaments. Often, two or more of these methods are combined. All federations have finalised their systems for Rio 2016, although some are still pending IOC approval.

Six sitting volleyball teams will qualify for the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games this year (photo: Getty Images/Dan Kitwood)

Using the world rankings method, major international and continental competitions held within an established period are graded according to their degree of importance. At the end of the period, the athletes or teams with the most points win the available places. Judo, tennis and beach volleyball are among the sports that use this criterion.

Several IFs, such as those governing basketball and volleyball, use international and continental competitions as a means of access to the Games, rewarding the champions and sometimes the best-placed runners-up in the same way that qualifying tournaments do. Individual sports usually require athletes to reach set qualification standards.

Highlights among Rio 2016 qualification events this year will be the men’s and women’s basketball world cups (in August-September and September-October, respectively), the sailing and shooting world championships (both in September) and the World Equestrian Games (August-September). At the Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea (September-October) the winners of the men’s and women’s hockey competitions will secure their spots, while rugby and golf, which are both returning to the Olympic programme in 2016, will also begin their qualifying processes for Rio this year.

For Paralympic sports, the pace will be even faster. June and July will see four world championships decide places at Rio 2016 and dreams will continue to be realised – and hearts broken- until the end of the year, when 70 para-cyclists will qualify through the world ranking system.

The race to Rio is well and truly on.

The tables below show in detail how different Olympic and Paralympic sports will begin qualification for Rio 2016 this year.

Sport		Qualification method	Dates	Rio 2016 places
	Triathlon	World ranking points	starts 15 May	88
	Mountain Bike	World ranking points	starts 25 May	66
	Judo	World ranking points	starts 30 May	352
	BMX cycling	World ranking points	starts 31 May	43
	Weightlifting	World ranking points	starts 19 June	175 teams/15 individ
	Golf	World ranking points	starts 14 July	118
	Road cycling	World ranking points	starts 15 July	189
	Football	Women's Copa America	Aug	TBC
	Equestrian dressage	World Equestrian Games	24-29 Aug	3 teams
	Equestrian eventing	World Equestrian Games	27-31 Aug	6 teams
	Esquestrian jumping	World Equestrian Games	31 Aug-7 Sept	5 teams
	Basketball	Men's world cup	30 Aug-14 Sept	1 team
	Shooting	World championship	6-20 Sept	64
	Sailing	World championship	8-21 Sept	138
	Hockey	Asian Games	18 Sept-4 Oct	2 teams
	Basketball	Women's world cup	27 Sept-5 Oct	1 team
	Rugby sevens	World Sevens Series	starts 1 Oct	8 teams
	Shooting	Americas qualification tournament	11-20 Oct	11
	Boxing	World ranking points	starts Nov	17
	Handball	European qualification tournament	7-21 Dec	1 team

Sport		Qualification method	Dates	Rio 2016 places
	Boccia	World ranking points	starts 1 Jan	68
	Shooting	Qualifying standard	starts 1 Jan	TBC
	Equestrian	Qualifying standard	starts 1 Jan	TBC
	Wheelchair tennis	World ranking points	starts 1 Jan	56
	Para-cycling	World ranking points	starts 1 Jan	70
	Powerlifting	Qualifying standard	12 April	140
	Sitting volleyball	World championship	15-21 June	4 teams
	Goalball	World championship	26 June-6 July	6 teams
	Shooting	World championship	17-26 July	63
	7-a-side football	European championship	20 July-4 Aug	1 or 2 teams
	Wheelchair rugby	World championship	1-10 Aug	1 team
	Sailing	World championship	16-25 Aug	39
	Equestrian	World Equestrian Games	24-29 Aug	12
	Wheelchair fencing	World ranking points	starts 1 Sept	40
	Judo	World championship	1-7 Sept	13
	Table tennis	World ranking points	starts 1 Oct	140
	Swimming	Qualifying standard	starts 15 Oct	360
	Athletics	Qualifying standard	starts 15 Oct	167
	7-a-side football	Asian Para Games	18-24 Oct	1 or 2 teams
	Sitting volleyball	Asian Para Games	18-24 Oct	2 teams
	Wheelchair tennis	Asian Para Games	18-24 Oct	2
	Equestrian	World ranking points	starts 1 Nov	54
	5-a-side football	World ranking points	13-25 Nov	1 team
	Para-cycling	World ranking points	ends 31 Dec	70