Rio 2016 Summer Olympics Cycling Sport Qualified Nations

With the Rio 2016 Summer Olympics to be held in Brazil less than two months away, already 65 nations have booked their slots in the cycling sports and events. Cycling is part of the sports that will feature in these 31st editions of the Summer Olympics Games. These 65 nations have shared 192 slots with European’s nations taking over half of those slots; Europe’s has 32 qualified nations and have taken 98 slots.

2016 Rio Olympics Team Canada has the highest number of slots; they have already qualified for 19 slots in the Men’s Road Race and Time Trials as well as Women Road Race and Time Trials.

How African Nations Qualified for the Rio 2016 Summer Olympics Cycling Events

Nine nations from Africa have qualified for the Rio 2016 Summer Olympics Cycling Events. These nations have managed to secure 17 slots in total. They qualified at the 2015 UCI Africa Tour. 2015 UCI Africa Tour was not one event but a series of cycling competitions that were made of 36 circuits or tours and Championships including the African Continental Championships which features Individual and Team Time Trial as well as Road Race.

Cyclists accumulated points throughout the 2015 UCI Africa Tour and these points were used to determine the 2016 Summer Olympics qualified cyclists.

Below is the table with details of Africa’s 2016 Summer Olympics Cycling qualified nations.

	Continent	Country	2016 Summer Olympics Cycling Slots
1	Africa	Algeria	2
2	Africa	Eritrea	1
3	Africa	Ethiopia	1
4	Africa	Mauritius	1
5	Africa	Morocco	4
6	Africa	Namibia	2
7	Africa	Rwanda	1
8	Africa	South Africa	4
9	Africa	Tunisia	1
Total			17

 

How Asian Nations Qualified for the Rio 2016 Summer Olympics Cycling Events

Like Africa, Asia has 9 nations that have qualified a total of 18 cyclists for the Rio 2016 Summer Olympics cycling sport. Some of the Asian nations qualified during the 2016 UCI Track Cycling World Championships that ware held in London during the month of March. Only one Asian nation that qualified from this cycling event featuring track cycling; China’s cycling individual and team sprint.

The other 8 Asian nations qualified at the 2015 UCI Asia Tour, which is a series of tours and championships’ totaling to 31 and includes Asian Cycling Championships Time Trials and Road Race.

Israel qualified from the 2016 UCI World Rankings.

Below is the table with details of Asia’s 2016 Summer Olympics Cycling qualified nations.

	Continent	Country	2016 Summer Olympics Cycling Slots
1	Asia	China	2
2	Asia	Hong Kong	1
3	Asia	Iran	3
4	Asia	Israel	2
5	Asia	Japan	3
6	Asia	Kazakhstan	2
7	Asia	South Korea	2
8	Asia	Thailand	2
9	Asia	United Arab Emirates	1
Total Slots			18

 

How European Nations Qualified for the Rio 2016 Summer Olympics Cycling Events

As mentioned earlier, Europe has 98 cyclists from 32 nations who have qualified for the Rio 2016 Summer Olympics Cycling Sporting events. Some of the cyclists qualified at the London’s 2016 UCI Track Cycling World Championships held in March, while others qualified from the 2015 UCI World Tour, a series of 28 circuits and championships.

Besides, other cyclists qualified from the UCI Olympic Ranking List.

Below is the table with details of Europe’s 2016 Summer Olympics Cycling qualified nations.

Europe 2016 Summer Olympics Cycling Qualification
	Continent	Country	2016 Summer Olympics Cycling Slots
1	Europe	Austria	2
2	Europe	Azerbaijan	1
3	Europe	Belarus	3
4	Europe	Belgium	6
5	Europe	Bulgaria	1
6	Europe	Croatia	2
7	Europe	Czech Republic	5
8	Europe	Denmark	3
9	Europe	Estonia	2
10	Europe	France	4
11	Europe	Germany	5
12	Europe	Great Britain	5
13	Europe	Greece	3
14	Europe	Ireland	2
15	Europe	Italy	5
16	Europe	Latvia	2
17	Europe	Lithuania	2
18	Europe	Luxembourg	1
19	Europe	Netherlands	5
20	Europe	Norway	4
21	Europe	Poland	4
22	Europe	Portugal	4
23	Europe	Romania	1
24	Europe	Russia	3
25	Europe	Serbia	2
26	Europe	Slovakia	1
26	Europe	Slovenia	4
28	Europe	Spain	5
29	Europe	Sweden	2
30	Europe	Switzerland	4
31	Europe	Turkey	2
32	Europe	Ukraine	3
Total Slots			98

 

How Central and North American Nations Qualified for the Rio 2016 Summer Olympics Cycling Events

A total of six nations from Central and North America nations have qualified 27 cyclists for the Rio Olympics.

19 cyclists are from one nation; Canada. The other five nations have shared the remaining 8 slots. Qualifications for the Central and North American nations were from various cycling championships’ and circuits including 2016 UCI Track Cycling World Championships, where Team USA and Canada managed to qualify for some of the Olympics events.

Other qualification events included the 2015 UCI America Tour which is a series of 31 circuits and championships that brings together nations from both North and South America.

Below is the table with details of Central and North America’s 2016 Summer Olympics Cycling qualified nations.

Central and North America 2016 Summer Olympics Cycling Qualification
	Continent	Country	2016 Summer Olympics Cycling Slots
1	Central and North America	Canada	19
2	Central and North America	Costa Rica	1
3	Central and North America	Dominican Republic	1
4	Central and North America	Mexico	2
5	Central and North America	Puerto Rico	1
6	Central and North America	United States	3
Total Slots			27

 

How Oceania Nations Qualified for the Rio 2016 Summer Olympics Cycling Events

Only 2 nations from Oceania i.e. Australia and New Zealand have managed to qualify for total of 10 slots for the Rio 2016 Olympics Cycling events. So far Australia has 7 slots while the rest goes to New Zealand. Oceania nations qualified from the 2016 UCI Track Cycling World

Championships while the others qualified was from the UCI Olympic Ranking List and the seven circuits and championship 2015 UCI Oceania Tour.

How South American Nations Qualified for the Rio 2016 Summer Olympics Cycling Events

Brazil qualified automatically as host for 8 slots, though they managed to get some qualification that would have seen them through even if they lacked these automatic qualifications. Other nations qualified from the 2015 UCI America Tour and UCI Olympic Ranking.

Below is a combined table with details of Oceania and South America’s 2016 Summer Olympics Cycling qualified nations.

Oceania 2016 Summer Olympics Cycling Qualification
	Continent	Country	2016 Summer Olympics Cycling Slots
1	Oceania	Australia	7
2	Oceania	New Zealand	3
Total Slots			10
South America 2016 Summer Olympics Cycling Qualification
	Continent	Country	2016 Summer Olympics Cycling Slots
1	South America	Argentina	3
2	South America	Brazil	8
3	South America	Chile	1
4	South America	Colombia	6
5	South America	Venezuela	2
6	South America	Ecuador	1
7	South America	Guatemala	1
	Total Slots		22