Eight countries – Russia, Great Britain, France, Germany, Czech Republic, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia – are leading the way when it comes to qualification for the canoe slalom competition at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

All eight nations won slots in all four Olympic events (C1, C2 and K1 for men; K1 for women) at the ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships, which were contested at Lee Valley, the venue for the London 2012 Olympic Games.

More canoe slalom slots will be up for grabs at four continental championships: Africa (in Sagana, Kenya, 6-11 November 2015); Oceania (in Parinth, Australia, 19-21 February 2016); Asia (in Toyama, Japan, 23-24 April 2016); and Europe (in Liptovsky Mikulas, Slovakia, 12-15 May 2016). The Toronto 2015 Pan-American Games in July counted as the continental Olympic qualification event for the Americas.

Great-Britain's Bradley Forbes-Cryans helped his country earn an Olympic slot (Photo: Harru Hubbard/Getty Images)

And the slots go to...

Men's K1: Czech Republic, Poland, USA, Slovenia, Germany, Italy, France, Azerbaijan, Russia, Great Britain, Japan, Austria, Slovakia, New Zealand, Australia, Brazil (which ratified its host-country quota place). 

The qualification of the USA means that the slot earned at the Pan-American Games is passed to Canada, the bronze medallist in Toronto. Brazil, the silver medallist, had also already qualified.

The Cook Islands qualified via Oceania's continental places.

Women's K1: Czech Republic, Germany, Australia, Spain, Slovakia, Great Britain, New Zealand, China, Brazil, Austria, France, Russia, Slovenia, Poland, Japan, Italy.

The Cook Islands and Canada have achieved Olympic places via continental championships.

Jessica Fox won an Olympic slot for Australia (Photo: Getty images/Harry Hubbard)

Follow up the race to qualify for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games across all sports.

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.