Record number of countries earn spots at London 2012 Olympic Games

by Paula Kim on 05 Jun, 2012 09:39 • Español

After the International Triathlon Union’s (ITU) two-year Olympic qualification period officially ended last week, ITU yesterday began notifying the National Olympic Committees (NOCs) and National Federations (NFs) of the number of spots each has qualified on women’s and men’s start lists at London 2012.

In all, a record number of 39 NOCs had qualified spots at the triathlon competition for London 2012, the highest number ever for triathlon at an Olympic Games. In Beijing 2008, there were 36 NOCs that had qualified positions. Prior to that, there were 33 in Athens 2004 and 34 in Sydney 2000, although in those Olympics, there were 50 women and 50 men on the start lists as opposed to 55 now.

Among the 39 NOCs this year, five have qualified a spot for the first time in the history of triathlon at the Olympic Games, including: Ecuador, Mauritius, Monaco, Republic of Korea, and Slovenia.

“To have a record number of National Olympic Committees from all five continents represented is indicative of the phenomenal growth and development of triathlon worldwide,” said Marisol Casado, ITU President and IOC Member. “With several medal contenders from so many countries, along with the unpredictable nature of the sport, the triathlon competitions at Hyde Park will be one of the marquee events of the entire Olympic Games.”

Only eight NOCs were able to qualify the maximum of three women and those are: United States, Australia, Great Britain, Japan, France, Germany, New Zealand and Spain.

The eight NOCs that have qualified the maximum of three men are: Great Britain, Germany, Russia, New Zealand, France, Spain, Australia, and Canada.

A total of 55 women and 55 men will compete in triathlon at this summer’s Olympic Games with the women’s competition set for 9:00am on Saturday 4 August and the men’s at 11:30am on Tuesday 7 August, both at Hyde Park.

Following the announcement of the Olympic places, the respective NOCs will select which athletes will represent their country at the London 2012 Olympic Games.

The final steps of ITU Olympic qualification are as follows:
22 June 2012 - NOCs to inform ITU of allotted athlete for each qualification place
2 July 2012 - ITU to confirm final allocation of each qualification place
9 July 2012 - Deadline for London 2012 Organising Committee to receive entry forms

Madrid’s 2010 ITU World Championship Series race opened the ITU Olympic qualification period and last weekend it was also Madrid that marked the final chance for athletes to score points for an elusive London 2012 spot.

At that final qualification event in Madrid, reigning European Champion Nicola Spirig of Switzerland neatly wrapped up the Olympic qualification period with another victory after claiming the Madrid title in 2010. In the men’s race, Great Britain’s Jonathan Brownlee continued his devastating form with another masterful performance to record his second straight victory in the 2012 ITU World Triathlon Series.

Click here for ITU’s Olympic website

Click here to view the final Women’s Olympic Simulation
Click here to view the final Men’s Olympic Simulation

Article tags olympic games olympic qualification london 2012

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Related Event: London 2012 Olympic Games

04 - 07 Aug, 2012 • event page • all results

Results: Elite Women
1.	Nicola Spirig	SUI	01:59:48
2.	Lisa Norden	SWE	01:59:48
3.	Erin Densham	AUS	01:59:50
4.	Sarah True	USA	02:00:00
5.	Helen Jenkins	GBR	02:00:19

Results: Elite Men
1.	Alistair Brownlee	GBR	01:46:25
2.	Javier Gomez Noya	ESP	01:46:36
3.	Jonathan Brownlee	GBR	01:46:56
4.	David Hauss	FRA	01:47:14
5.	Laurent Vidal	FRA	01:47:21

London 2012 Olympic Qualification, the final men's picture
Madrid marked the final event within the London 2012 Olympic Qualification period. Therefore, it's time to look at the final men's simulation and see which countries and athletes will be on that Hyde Park pontoon in August.
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London 2012 Olympic Qualification: the final women's picture
ITU's Olympic Qualification for London 2012 has ended with Madrid marking the final race to decide which countries can claim a place on the London start line. Find out who did here
03:57 - 31 May, 2012
Jonathan Brownlee keeps Madrid in the family with crushing 2012 win
Great Britain's Jonathan Brownlee made it two from two to start his 2012 ITU World Triathlon Series, as he put in an incredible all-around performance to beat Alexander Bryukhankov and Dmitry Polyanskiy in Madrid.
02:33 - 27 May, 2012
Nicola Spirig triumphant in Madrid again
Nicola Spirig takes her second Madrid World Triathlon Series title after showing incredible strength in the final metres of the run to beat Ireland's Aileen Morrison for silver and Barbara Riveros Diaz of Chile took bronze
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