Canoe Announces Tokyo 2020 Qualification Program -- Federation Focus

Also: Final preparations for World Junior Surfing Championships, Artistic Gymnastics World Championships.

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(ATR) The International Canoe Federation has released the qualification program, the progression system and the expected schedule for canoe sprint for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

The biggest change is the opportunity for each National Olympic Committee to enter two boats in each race, with the exception of the K4.

The majority of quotas will be up for grabs at the 2019 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships in Szeged, Hungary.

A second chance to book a place at the Tokyo Games will be the continental championships in 2020.

"The International Olympic Committee has accepted our proposal for Olympic qualifications. It's a program similar to Rio 2016," ICF President Jose Perurena tellsAround the Rings.

For those athletes who for reasons beyond their control fail to qualify otherwise, there will be a third possibility through a World Cup in the run-up to the Tokyo Olympic Games.

"We hope that no athlete of quality misses out," said Perurena.

Gender Equality at World Junior Surfing Championships

The VISSLA ISA World Junior Surfing Championship will be held in Huntington Beach, California from Oct. 27 to Nov. 4.

The 2018 event will be the first to feature gender equality, with the same number of slots available for boys and girls on each team. Each country will be able to field up to three boys and three girls in U-16 and U-18 Divisions with a maximum of 12 athletes per team.

The largest junior Surfing competition in the world, the ISA World Junior Surfing Championship has been held annually since 2003.

Last year’s edition in Hyuga, Japan featured 306 surfers from a record-breaking 41 countries representing every continent. Huntington Beach is hosting a fifth ISA Global Event but the first since the 2006 World Surfing Games.

Qatar Readies for Gymnastics World Championships

The 48th Artistic Gymnastics World Championships are set to begin on Oct. 25 at the Aspire Dome in Doha, Qatar.

"The tournament is very different from the previous ones because 85 countries will take part with an unprecedented number of athletes, but we are ready for this challenge," said tournament Executive Director and Qatar Gymnastics Federation President Ali Ahmed Al Hitmi.

The Aspire Dome, which has the capacity to host 13 different sporting events at once, "will be completely ready by October 19" according to the local organizing committee.

Qatar is the first Arab nation to host the event, which will run through Nov. 3. Only two other Asian countries in Japan and China have hosted previously, and the tournament has never been held in Africa or South America.

The world championships in Doha are the first gymnastics qualification event for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.

Canada Debut for IJF Grand Prix

(ATR) Montreal plays host for the first time on the International Judo Federation Grand Prix circuit for 2019.

IJF President Marius L. Vizer and Judo Canada President Mike Tamura signed the one-year agreement while attending the IJF Junior World Championships in the Bahamas.

"We are looking forward to taking the IJF World Judo Tour to Canada for the inaugural Montreal Grand Prix. This is a tremendous opportunity to further develop judo in Canada and the Pan American region," Vizer says.

The Montreal Grand Prix is a qualifier for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.

Written by Miguel Hernandez andGerard Farek

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