The USA has earned a place in the equestrian dressage team event at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, after taking gold at the Pan-American Games in Toronto. The Americans finished ahead of Canada and Brazil to win their fifth consecutive title.

The US team – consisting of Sabine Schut-Kery, who rode Sanceo, Kimberly Herslow (on Rosmarin), Laura Graves (on Verdades) and Steffen Peters (on Legolas) – topped the podium at the weekend and their place in Rio was confirmed by the International Equestrian Federation (FEI) on Wednesday (15 July).

USA Chef d’Equipe Robert Dover said: “Having earned qualification for the Olympic Games, it allows us to now focus and put our energy into preparing for Rio.”

The USA join Germany, Great Britain, the Netherlands and Australia, who qualified for the Rio 2016 equestrian dressage team event at last year's World Equestrian Games in France. Brazil also has a place guaranteed as host nation. The next qualfiying event will be the European championship on 11 August in Aachen, Germany

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.