May 17/12 12:13 pm - Canada Set for Two Olympic Spots Each for Men & Women in MTB

Posted by Editoress on 05/17/12
 

The UCI has published updated standings for nation rankings to include last weekend's World Cup in Nove Mesto na Morave, Czech Republic. While the official qualification period does not end until after this weekend's World Cup, the nation rankings are unlikely to change in any meaningful way - meaning how many Olympic spots each nation receives. We should also caution that none of the following is official until the UCI and IOC publish the 'official' standings in a few weeks.

The ranking is based on a combination of the combined points for the top-three riders of each nation for the periods May 23, 2010 to May 22, 2011 PLUS for the period May 23, 2011 to May 22, 2012. The UCI has just published updated rankings as of May 15, 2012 for the current qualifying period.

For the women, the top eight nations get two spots, and 9 through 18 get one spot. For the men, the top five get three spots each, 9 to 13 ranked get two spots and 14 to 24 each get one spot. Of course, this does not include positions that are qualified through winning Continental Championships (more on that below).

The table below provides the full breakdown, but Canada is ranked number one in women, and is 280 points ahead of second place Switzerland, so they are not going to lose any positions, no matter what the outcome of the races this weekend. The U.S. will also be sending two athletes, despite the loss of points-getting machine Willow Koerber / Rockwell after she retired, because all of her points from 2010-2011 still count. Similarly, the last of the top-8 - Norway - has 358 points on Russia, so they are safe. In the last qualifying spot is Denmark, with a comfortable buffer of 118 points over 19th place Hungary.

Now, as mentioned above, this does not include Continental Championship results, which shuffle things a bit. For example, New Zealand won the Oceania Championship, but they already have qualified through nation rankings, so that spot goes to the next nation in the Continental Championships, which was Australia (who didn't qualify anyone through nations ranking).

On the men's side it is similar, with the top-five - led by powerhouse Switzerland - all getting three spots on the start line. Fifith place Germany has over 1000 points on sixth Italy, so they are all safe. Six through 13 in the rankings get two spots, and that includes both the U.S. (8th) and Canada (11th). Belgium is the final nation to get two spots, and 14th place Olympic host Great Britain is 443 points in arrears to them, so the Brits won't be making that up. In the final one spot group, Cyprus gets the last opening under nation ranking, and they are 118 points ahead of Portugal, so they are also pretty safe.

As with the women, the Continental Championships will add some missing nations, such as New Zealand, who didn't qualify through nation ranking, but were the second nation in the Oceania Championships, behind already qualified Australia. In the Americas, Todd Wells won, but the U.S. is already qualified, so it goes to Argentina, who had a rider finish second at the Pan Am Championships (and are not qualified through nation ranking.

Clear? Well, it still isn't done, because some nations may turn down some of their spots, for example, if they receive two spots and only one rider meets their national criteria. In that case, the UCI/IOC will re-allocate any such spots to nations next on the list, under a complicated formula.