Photo: Antoine Saito

Any Canadian athlete attending the 2023 Pan American Games in Santiago this fall would love to come home with a medal. Many of them are also striving for another reward: an Olympic qualification.

Thus, in Santiago, Olympic quota places are at stake in no fewer than 21 sports/disciplines.

Here’s an overview of what Canadian athletes need to do at the Pan Am Games to secure their own ticket to Paris 2024 or secure Olympic qualifying spots for Team Canada, which are then allocated to specific athletes.

bofixed

In four of the six women’s categories and in each of the seven men’s categories, the first two athletes qualify themselves for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

Breakeng

The top ranked B-Boy and B-Girl among those who have not yet qualified will receive their own seats for Paris 2024. The Pan American Games will take place after the WDSF World Breaking Championships 2023, where the winners in each of them The events will receive a place in the Olympic Games.

sport climbing

For each gender, the top-ranked athlete in combined bouldering and difficulty and the top-ranked athlete in speed climbing will receive their ticket to the Olympic Games. If one of these athletes qualifies for the IFSC World Championships in August, the place will be awarded to the next-placed athlete of that event.

Artistic gymnastics

Santiago 2023 will be the seventh (and final) opportunity for gymnasts to qualify for Paris 2024. The best-placed athlete in the individual all-around, for both men and women, receives a place. However, this does not apply to NOCs who have qualified a full team, nor to athletes who have already secured their own place, or to NOCs who have already reached the maximum allowed number of three qualifiers.

Rhythmic Gymnastics

The Pan American Games represent the third (and final) opportunity for NOCs to secure Olympic quota places. The best-placed rhythmic gymnasts in the individual all-around qualify alone, provided that the NOK has not already received quota places at the FIG World Championships in 2022 or 2023. The best-placed NOK in the group competition that has not yet qualified will take part. Also secure a group place for Paris 2024.

handball

The winners of the men’s and women’s tournaments each receive an Olympic place for their country.

field hockey

The winners of the men’s and women’s tournaments each receive an Olympic place for their country.

artistic swimming

The best-placed NOK in the team competition will receive Olympic quota places in both the team and duets competition. The best-placed NOK in duet among those who did not qualify for a team will win a duet spot for Paris 2024.

Modern pentathlon

There are five quota spots available at each individual event, each awarded to the athletes who earn them. One of these goes to the top-ranked eligible athlete, regardless of their country of origin in America. Two places go to the top two ranked athletes from the NORCECA zone (North America, Central America and the Caribbean) and two places go to the top two ranked athletes from South America. Athletes who qualified through the UIPM World Championships 2023 are not eligible for additional places.

dive

At each individual event, gold medal winners will receive a quota place for their NOK unless the athletes concerned have already received a quota place at the 2023 World Aquatics Championships in July.

Equestrian sport – eventing

The top two NOCs in team eventing who have not yet qualified will receive a team quota spot at the Olympics for three athletes and their mounts. In the Pan Am region, the United States has already qualified their team for eventing after placing at the 2022 FEI World Championships.

Equestrian sport – dressage

The first two NOCs in the team dressage competition who have not yet qualified will receive a three-athlete team Olympic qualification with their horses. In the Pan-American region, the United States has already qualified their team in dressage after earning a place at the 2022 FEI World Championships.

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

Equestrian sport – show jumping

The top three NOCs in the team show jumping competition will receive a team quota place at the Olympics for three athletes and their mounts. So far, no country in the Pan American region has qualified for Paris 2024 in team show jumping.

NOCs who do not qualify a team in show jumping can still qualify a person. The top three eligible athletes in the individual event will each receive a quota place for their country.

surfing

At each men’s and women’s shortboard competition, the highest-ranked athlete of the non-qualified athletes will receive an Olympic spot.

tennis

The finalists of the men’s and women’s singles competitions qualify for Paris 2024 provided they are in the top 400 of the ATP or WTA rankings and meet their NOC’s overall quota by direct awards (which are based on the ATP and WTA rankings). (WTA singles ranking of June 10, 2024) has not yet been reached.

table tennis

The first two NOCs in mixed doubles each qualify the pairs that competed in the event for the Paris 2024 Games.

shot

Contingent places are available for the individual events. An athlete who has already won a spot for their NOC cannot be awarded another spot. One place each is available for the men’s and women’s 10m air rifle, three-position rifle and 10m air pistol disciplines. Two spots are available in each of the following events: Men’s 25m Rapid Pistol, Women’s 25m Pistol, Men’s and Women’s Pit, and Men’s and Women’s Skeet.

archery

Olympic quota places are available in both the mixed team competition and the individual competitions for men and women. The National Olympic Committee (NOC), which takes first place in the mixed team competition, will receive one place for men and one place for women in view of Paris 2024.

In the individual events, the top two athletes per gender from different NOCs will also receive quota places for their respective countries for Paris 2024.

trampoline

The Pan American Games will serve as a qualifying competition for Paris only if no athlete from the continent achieves a quota place at the 2023 FIG World Championships and the 2024 FIG World Cup Series. In this case, only one male or one female quota place will qualify for their NOC.

sail

At the Pan American Games, quota places for North America and the Caribbean will be allocated separately from quota places reserved for Central America and South America. Each of these two sub-regions has one spot each in the windsurfing (iQFoil), kiting (Formule Kite) and singles sculls (49er and 49er FX) competitions for men and women, as well as the mixed multihull event (Nacra 17). In the single-handed dinghy for men and women (ILCA 7 and ILCA 6), each sub-region is entitled to two places.

A NOC can only qualify one boat per event, which means NOCs that have secured quota places at the 2023 World Sailing Championships in August will not be eligible to earn more at those events.

water polo

In each of the tournaments, both men’s and women’s, the top-placed NOK that has not yet qualified for the 2023 World Aquatics Championships will receive a place at the Olympics.

Don’t forget that you can follow Team Canada’s progress towards qualifying quota spots on our Paris 2024 Team Canada qualification tracker page. You can also learn more about all the ways to qualify for Paris 2024 in each sport.