LAUSANNE, Switzerland, June 09 2010 – The International Gymnastics Federation recently approved a second qualifying event for the 2012 Olympic Games. Artistic, rhythmic and trampoline gymnasts will get a chance to qualify, as usual, at the respective World Championships the year preceding the Olympic Games, as well as at the Olympic test events from Jan. 10-18, 2012.
Men’s and women’s artistic gymnastics
Olympic team qualification really begins in 2010 because only the top 24 six-gymnast teams from the 2010 World Championships, Oct. 17-24, in Rotterdam, Netherlands, will qualify for the team competition at the 2011 World Championships in Tokyo, Japan.
In October 2011, those 24 men’s and women’s teams will vie for a top-eight team ranking at the World Championships to immediately qualify for the 2012 Olympic Games. Individual medalists in the individual event finals will also qualify for London.
In January 2012, the pre-Olympic test event (Jan. 10-13) serves as the second qualifying opportunity and will determine which countries and gymnasts will earn the remaining Olympic spots. Teams that were ranked 9-16 in the team competition at the 2011 World Championships will compete for the final four team berths to complete the 12-team Olympic roster. The Olympic test event is also the only qualifying event for individual gymnasts who are not a member of a qualified team or an individual event medalists from the 2011 World Championships.
The field for artistic gymnastics is 98 male and 98 female gymnasts, and includes consideration of the IOC-established criteria and quota for host country rights, universality and the Tripartite Commission.
Rhythmic gymnastics
The 2011 World Championships in Montpellier, France, will set the groundwork for the first Olympic qualifying phase. The top 15 individual rhythmic gymnasts from the all-around competition (with a maximum of two per federation) will qualify in Montpellier for the Olympics. The five remaining places will be allocated in January 2012 at the Olympic test event (Jan. 16-18).
For group rhythmic gymnastics, groups must place among the top 24 at the 2010 World Championships in Moscow, Russia, to participate in the 2011 World Championships in Montpellier, where six groups will qualify for the Games. Four more groups will qualify at the Olympic test event.
A total of 84 rhythmic gymnasts will compete in London, 24 individual and 10 six-person groups, taking into consideration the criteria and quota set by the IOC, host country rights, universality and the Tripartite Commission.
Trampoline
The 2012 Olympic Games will have 16 male and 16 female gymnasts competing in trampoline. Based on results at the 2011 World Championships in Birmingham, England, the top eight will qualify for the Olympics. In January, the Olympic test event (Jan. 12-13) will advance five more athletes, and the remaining three places will be allocated in accordance with IOC regulations.
Information courtesy of the FIG