Olympic and Paralympic Qualification for rowing explained

Ahead of the Americas Continental Olympic and Paralympic Qualification Regatta in Rio de Janeiro, World Rowing provides an update on the qualification for the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Here are the latest Olympic and Paralympic qualification documents, updated after the Africa Continental Olympic and Paralympic Qualification Regatta in Tunis.

As a reminder, for each of the fourteen Olympic, and five Paralympic boat classes, the quota is broken down into three opportunities where qualification for the Games is at stake. The first opportunity was the 2023 World Rowing Championships in Belgrade, Serbia, where the top placed crews according to the qualification quota in each event have qualified the boats for their National Olympic Committee.

Here are the lists of boats qualified after the 2023 World Rowing Championships for the Olympic Games, and the Paralympic Games.

The processed is followed by Continental Qualification Regattas, which provide opportunities for a total of 80 athletes (64 for the Olympics, 16 for the Paralympics) to qualify through four events: Asia/Oceania, Africa, Americas, and Europe. While in principle they are open to all NOCs/NPCs from the respective continent, there are restrictions on who can qualify – please refer to the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic qualification systems.

• The Africa Continental Qualification Regatta was staged in October 2023 in Tunis, Tunisia. All the results of the regatta can be found here.
• The Americas Continental Qualification Regatta will be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil from 14-17 March 2024.
• The Asia/Oceania Continental Qualification Regatta will be held in Chungju, Korea from 19-21 April 2024.
• The Europe Continental Qualification Regatta will be held in Szeged, Hungary, on the occasion of the 2024 European Rowing Championships from 25-28 April 2024.

The World Rowing Final Olympic & Paralympic Qualification Regatta (FOPQR) will take place in Lucerne, Switzerland, on 19 – 21 May 2024. This is the first-time ever that Lucerne will welcome a para-rowing regatta and this will be the last chance for 112 athletes (96 for the Olympics, 16 for the Paralympics) to secure their spot for the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris.

Any NOC/NPC can enter any event in which they have not already qualified. There are no limitations to the number of events an NOC/NPC can qualify for at the Final Olympic & Paralympic Qualification Regatta.

After each of the qualification regattas, World Rowing will confirm to the respective NOCs / NPCs based on the results, that they have obtained a quota place. From this, the NOC/NPC must indicate that they will accept the qualified boats within 14 days. If an NOC/NPC does not accept a qualification place, the place will go to the next highest placed eligible boat in the regatta where the unused qualification was made.