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The world wrestling governing body, United World Wrestling (UWW) on Wednesday (28 September) announced the updated qualification process for the 2024 Paris Olympics. To qualify for the Paris Games, wrestlers will get three events– the 2023 World Championships, the continental qualifiers in 2024, and the 2024 World Olympics Qualifiers, the last chance for wrestlers to earn a spot.
Overall, 288 quotas will be awarded for the '24 Olympics. While 90 will come from World Championships, 144 will come through continental qualifiers (Asian, African, Pan-American, and European). The rest of the 54 quotas will be awarded through the World Olympic Qualifiers.
UWW also announced that the 2023 World Wrestling Championship will offer five quota places for the 2024 Olympics in each of the 18 weight categories instead of six. This means that now only 90 quotas will be awarded at the World Championships instead of 108.
Meanwhile, World Olympic Qualifiers will offer three quotas in each Olympic weight class instead of the two it offered previously, meaning a total of 54 wrestlers can qualify for the tournament.
At the 2023 World Championships, all four medalists (gold, silver, and two bronze) will secure the quota for their nation. The fifth spot will be decided with a bout between the wrestlers who lost their bronze medal matches. The winner of this wrestle-off gets a quota for the '24 Games.
In the second phase, 144 wrestlers will qualify for the Paris Games through the continental quotas. The top two wrestlers in each Olympic weight class will get one spot each for their NOCs.
Notably, athletes who earned a quota at the '23 Worlds will not be eligible to participate in the continental qualifiers unless they participate in a different style.
The final phase will see quotas coming through Olympic Qualifiers. Apart from the 36 finalists across three styles, the bronze medal winners will also have a chance to get a quota for their country. An additional wrestle-off will be held between the two bronze medal winners and the wrestler who wins the quota wrestle-off will take the trip to Paris.
UWW also notified that if there are any unused quotas due to withdrawal, doping offence, or non-participation, the quota will be transferred to the next best wrestler of that weight category of the tournament.
Notably, The qualifying period begins September 16, 2023, and ends May 12, 2024. The eight-month period will see six qualifying tournaments. The deadline for the Paris Olympic entries is July 8, 2024, with wrestling scheduled to take place in Paris from August 4-11, 2024.
