London Qualification Update - Pentathlon, Boxing, Sailing, Volleyball, Triathlon, Canoe

Pentathlon World Champs

Another six pentathletes are qualified for the London Olympics following UIPM’s world championships over the weekend in Rome.

Mhairi Spence of Great Britain took the women’s title and will compete at the Games on home soil along with bronze medalist Samantha Murray. Seventh-place finisher Anastaysia Prokopenko of Belarus took the third and final women’s spot as the rest of the athletes above her had already booked their berths.

On the men’s side, Aleksander Lesun of Russia outran countryman and reigning world champion Andrei Moiseev in the last 500 meters to take gold, and Jinwha Jung finished third.

All third had already qualified for London, however, so the berths will be going to Stefan Kollner of Germany, Nicola Benedetti of Italy and David Svoboda of Czech Republic.

IOC vice president Thomas Bach stopped by the championships over the weekend and took in two changes that will have their Olympic debuts at London 2012.

"The introduction of laser shooting and the combined event has made the sport much more dynamic and excited for the entire sporting world," said Bach, also president of Germany’s NOC.

"I am very pleased that the athletes have now accepted this new innovation as well."

French Hoops Squad

San Antonio Spurs teammates Tony Parker and Boris Diaw headline Team France for the men’s Olympic basketball tournament at London 2012.

NBA players Joakim Noah, Kevin Seraphin, Ronny Turiaf, Rodrigue Beaubois, Nicolas Batum and Ian Mahinmi are also listed on the 18-man roster unveiled last week by the French Federation of Basketball.

The official 12-man lineup as well as six alternates are due to the International Basketball Federation by June 18 with the Olympic competition kicking off July 28.

France is pitted against Argentina, Tunisia and reigning champs USA with the top two finishers from an Olympic qualifying tournament to be played in Venezuela in early July rounding out Group A.

Men’s Boxing Qualification Wraps Up

Qualification is complete for the men’s Olympic boxing tournament at London 2012.

The final 38 berths were doled out over the weekend as AIBA’s continental qualifier for the Americas came to a close at the Maracanazinho, boxing’s venue for Rio 2016.

Ecuador came out on top with seven quota places, USA with six, Puerto Rico five, Brazil four and Dominican Republic three.

Argentina, Canada, Colombia, Mexico and Venezuela booked two berths apiece, and Cuba, Nicaragua as well as Trinidad & Tobago each took one.

Another Four Sail to London

Bermuda, Malaysia, Tunisia as well as Trinidad and Tobago are the latest countries to secure a place in the Olympic sailing regatta at London 2012.

Their berths stem from top finishes at the recent 49er world championships in Zadar, Croatia; Laser world champs in Boltenhagen, Germany; and Star worlds in Hyeres, France.

A total of 54 nations are now guaranteed a spot in Weymouth and Portland with four qualification regattas remaining ahead of the Games.

Table Tennis Update

Top-ranked paddler Ding Ning will replace Guo Yan on Team China for the women’s Olympic table tennis competition at London 2012.

According to the Chinese Olympic Committee, Guo is injured.

As world No. 1, Ding becomes favorite for the gold medal this summer. She and Li Xiaoxia will play singles and, countrywoman Guo Yue will join them for the team event.

Also over the weekend, 10 men and eight women reserved quota places for their countries at the ITTF’s final World Olympic Qualification Tournament in Doha.

Portugal's Tiago Apolonia topped Spain’s Carlos Machado for the men’s singles title with Oleksandr Didukh (Ukraine), Wang Zeng Yi (Poland), Andrej Gacina (Croatia), Bora Vang (Turkey), Allan Bentsen (Denmark), Mihai Bobocica (Italy), Yaroslav Zhmudenko (Ukraine) and Matiss Burgis (Latvia) also booking berths.

And on the women’s side, Matilda Ekholm of Sweden beat Czech Republic’s Dana Hadacova in the finals with Sara Ramirez and Galia Dvorak (Spain) as well as Anna Tikhomirova and Yana Noskova (Russia), Lee Ho Ching (Hong Kong) and Lei Huang Mendes (Portugal) grabbing the last available spots.

Volleyball Stays Busy

Field’s for the Olympic volleyball tournaments at London 2012 are quickly taking shape.

Men’s teams from Argentina, Italy and USA all qualified over the weekend as four out of five Continental Olympic Qualification Tournaments came to a close Sunday. They join Tunisia, Brazil, Poland, Russia and Great Britain with the final four spots to be determined at a trio of World Olympic Qualification Tournaments all slated for early June.

Also on Sunday, the Brazilian women’s team booked a berth by winning South America’s continental qualifier. Asia’s will follow from May 19 to 27 in Tokyo with a separate World Olympic Qualification Tournament also scheduled for May 19 to 27 in Tokyo doling out the remaining three opening for a 12-team Olympic field that already includes Great Britain, Italy, USA, China, Algeria, Dominican Republic and Turkey.

Triathlon Berths Booked

USA triathlete Hunter Kemper is heading to a fourth straight Summer Games.

His fifth-place finish Saturday at the ITU World Triathlon Series season opener in San Diego ensures his participation at every Olympic triathlon so far, dating back to the sport’s debut at Sydney 2000.

Also in San Diego, ninth-place finisher Manuel Huerta booked USA’s other Olympic triathlon berth.

Jonathan Brownlee of Great Britain won the men’s race with countrywoman Helen Jenkins winning the women’s.

Double Duty for Poznan

Poznan, Poland is the setting for this week’s European Olympic Qualifiers, also the opener of the 2012 sprint canoe season.

Paddlers from 35 countries will compete Wednesday and Thursday with only the winner of each final getting to go to the Games.

The 2012 ICF Paracanoe World Championships will run concurrently with the Olympic qualifiers in Poznan.

Written by Matthew Grayson.

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