Taekwondo Awards Rio Slots -- Qualification Roundup

(ATR) Nearly 50 places in the 2016 Olympics were secured by taekwondo athletes.

The World Taekwondo Federation Grand Prix Final in Mexico City on Dec. 5-6 served as a Rio 2016 qualifier for athletes and National Olympic Committees. Two men’s and women’s Olympic weight classes were contested at the event.

The top six athletes in each weight class automatically qualified, while the other 24 spots were given as NOC quotas to fill with their athletes in Rio.

South Korea received five berths from the grand prix, and France received four. Twenty-four other countries received at least one berth for the Rio 2016 Games.

The next chance for taekwondo athletes to qualify for Rio will be at continental qualification tournaments in 2016.

Pakistani Weightlifters to Attempt Rio Qualification

Eight Pakistani weightlifters will compete in 2016 Olympic qualification, the first group to do so since 1976.

"We didn’t compete for a place in the Olympics before because our athletes lacked quality," Muhammad Rashed Malik, Pakistani Weightlifting Federation vice-president, said to local media.

"We’ve been working for the last three years to develop weightlifters who can win us medals at the mega event and now the time has come to send a team."

The athletes will travel to Samarkand, Uzbekistan in April for a regional Olympic qualifier.

Boxers Set for Rio

Sixty boxers have clinched qualification spots for the 2016 Olympics so far.

Results from the International Boxing Association’s World Series of Boxing, Pro Boxing Tournaments, and the 2015 World Championships have qualified for men’s boxing in 2016.

Thirty-four of the 60 boxers qualified will be making their Olympic debuts. A total of 286 boxers will compete at the 2016 Olympic Games.

"I would like congratulate our member federations, the qualified boxers and all those involved," CK Wu, AIBA President, said in a statement.

"I trust that with the support of the Organizing Committee, AIBA will improve on the recent success of the World Championships in Doha to deliver an even greater Boxing Tournament in the upcoming Rio 2016 Olympic Games."

Olympic qualifying tournaments will take place in Argentina, Azerbaijan, Cameroon, and China in 2016, and women boxers will also be able to qualify from positions at the 2016 World Championships in Almaty, Kazakhstan.A full list of boxers qualified can be found here.

Para-Sailing Championships Offer Qualification Spots

Thirteen countries have until Mar. 1 to tell the International Paralympic Committee whether they intend to fill para-sailing qualification slots.

Slots were awarded at the Para-Sailing World Championships on Nov. 28-Dec. 3 in three classes the one, two, and three person keelboats.

If allocated slots are not filled by Mar. 1, the IPC will refill them by Apr. 1.

Written by Aaron Bauer in Rio de Janeiro

Homepage photo: Getty Images

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