Olympic qualification for Paris 2024 at Santiago 2023 Pan American Games

Every Canadian athlete competing at the Santiago 2023 Pan American Games this fall would love to come home with a medal. But many will have their sights set on an additional prize: Olympic qualification.

There are 21 sports/disciplines that will have Olympic quota spots up for grabs in Santiago.

Here’s a rundown of what Canadian athletes will need to achieve at the Pan Am Games to either book their own tickets to Paris 2024 or to earn Olympic berths for Team Canada that will have names assigned to them later.

Archery

Olympic quota spots are available in the mixed team event and in the men’s and women’s individual events. The top National Olympic Committee (NOC) in the mixed team event will earn one men’s spot and one women’s spot for Paris 2024.

In the individual events, the top two athletes of each gender from different NOCs will also earn spots for their country for Paris 2024.

Artistic Gymnastics

Santiago 2023 will be the seventh (and last) way by which artistic gymnasts can qualify for Paris 2024. The highest ranked athlete in each of the men’s and women’s individual all-around events will earn a spot for themselves. But this does not apply to NOCs that have qualified a full team or to athletes who already qualified themselves or to an NOC that has already reached the maximum of three individuals qualified.

Artistic Swimming

The top-ranked NOC in the team event will earn Olympic spots in both the team and duet events. The top-ranked NOC in the duet that did not qualify a team will earn a spot in the duet for Paris 2024.

Boxing

In four of the six women’s events and in all seven men’s events, the top two athletes will qualify themselves for Paris 2024. In the women’s 57kg and 60kg events, it will be the top four athletes who will book their Olympic tickets.

Breaking

The top-ranked B-boy and top-ranked B-girl not already qualified will earn their own spots for Paris 2024. The Pan Am Games come after the 2023 WDSF World Championships where the winner of each event receives an Olympic spot.  

Diving

In each of the four individual events, the gold medallist will earn a quota spot for their NOC, provided that those particular athletes did not already earn a quota spot at the 2023 World Aquatics Championships in July.

Equestrian Dressage

The top two NOCs in the team dressage event who not already qualified will earn an Olympic team berth for three athletes and horses. In the Pan Am region, the United States has already locked up team dressage qualification based on their placement at the 2022 FEI World Championships.

NOCs that do not qualify a dressage team can still qualify one individual. The top two eligible athletes in the individual event will each earn one quota spot for their country.

Equestrian Eventing

The top two NOCs in team eventing who are not already qualified will earn an Olympic team berth for three athletes and horses. In the Pan Am region, the United States has already secured team eventing qualification based on their placement at the 2022 FEI World Championships.  

Equestrian Jumping

The top three NOCs in the team jumping event will earn an Olympic team berth for three athletes and horses. No country from the Pan Am region is yet qualified for Paris 2024 in team jumping.

NOCs that do not qualify a jumping team can still qualify one individual. The top three eligible athletes in the individual event will each earn one quota spot for their country.

Field Hockey

The winners of the men’s and women’s tournaments will each earn Olympic berths for their country.

Handball

The winners of the men’s and women’s tournaments will each earn Olympic berths for their country.  

Modern Pentathlon

There are five quota spots available in each individual event, all allocated to the athletes who earn them. One goes to the top-ranked eligible athlete, no matter where they are from in the Americas. Two spots go to the two highest-ranked athletes from the NORCECA region (North America, Central America, Caribbean) and two go to the two highest-ranked athletes from South America. Any athletes who qualified via the 2023 UIPM World Championships are not eligible to earn more spots.

Rhythmic Gymnastics

The Pan Am Games are the third (and last) way by which NOCs can earn Olympic quota spots. The top-ranked rhythmic gymnast in the individual all-around will qualify themselves, provided the NOC has not already earned quota places at the 2022 or 2023 FIG World Championships. The top-ranked NOC in the group event not yet qualified will also earn a group berth for Paris 2024.

Sailing

At the Pan Am Games, quota spots for North America and the Caribbean will be allocated separately from quota spots for Central and South America. For each of those two sub-regions, there is one spot available in each of the men’s and women’s windsurfing (iQFoil), men’s and women’s kite (Formula Kite), men’s and women’s skiff (49er and 49er FX), and mixed multihull (Nacra 17). In the men’s and women’s dinghy (ILCA 7 and ILCA 6), there are two spots available for each sub-region.

An NOC can only qualify one boat per event, so any NOCs that earned quota spots at the 2023 Sailing World Championships in August are not eligible to earn more in those events.

Shooting

There are quota spots available in every individual event. An athlete who has already earned a spot for their NOC cannot earn another one.

There is one spot available in each of men’s and women’s 10m air rifle, men’s and women’s rifle 3 positions, and men’s and women’s 10m air pistol. There are two spots available in each of men’s 25m rapid fire pistol, women’s 25m pistol, men’s and women’s trap, and men’s and women’s skeet.

Sport Climbing

For each gender, the top-ranked athlete in boulder and lead combined, as well as the top-ranked athlete in speed, will earn Olympic tickets for themselves. If any of those athletes are already qualified via the IFSC World Championships in August, the next-ranked athlete in their event will get the spot.

Surfing

In each of the men’s and women’s shortboard events, the top-ranked athlete not yet qualified will earn an Olympic spot for themselves.

Table Tennis

The top two NOCs in the mixed doubles event will both qualify those competing pairs by name for Paris 2024.

Tennis

The finalists of the men’s and women’s singles events will qualify themselves for Paris 2024, provided they are in the top 400 of the ATP or WTA singles rankings and that their NOC’s overall quota has not already been filled by Direct Acceptances (which will be done via the ATP and WTA singles rankings on June 10, 2024).

Trampoline

The Pan Am Games will only end up serving as a qualification competition for Paris 2024 if no athlete from the continent earns a quota spot via the 2023 FIG World Championships or the 2023 and 2024 FIG World Cup Series. In that case, only one man or one woman will qualify a spot for their NOC.

Water Polo

In each of the men’s and women’s tournaments, the top-ranked NOC not already qualified via the 2023 World Aquatics Championships will earn Olympic spots.

Don’t forget, you can keep track of Team Canada’s earned quota spots with our Paris 2024 Qualification Tracker. You can also read up on all of the potential Olympic qualification pathways for every sport.