The Netherlands and Andorra are among countries set to compete in the women’s K1 canoe slalom competition at next year’s Olympic Games, as the race for quota positions heats up at the ICF world championships in La Seu, Spain.
Under ICF qualifying rules, the top 18 countries in the kayak events will earn places in Tokyo. Seventeen countries plus Japan on Thursday qualified for the semi-finals of the women’s K1, meaning, subject to ICF ratification, all will be off to the Games.
Some countries have already determined who will fill those quota places. Ricarda Funk will make her Games debut for Germany, Jessica Fox looks set for her third Olympics for Australia, likewise Ana Satila for Brazil, and Steffi Horn from Italy and Luuka Jones from New Zealand are set to go to their second Olympics.
All are subject to official nomination from their national federations, and then need to be ticked off by their national Olympic committees.
Evy Leibfarth, the 15-year-old sensation from the United States who made her senior world cup debut this year, earned her country a quota, while 20-year-old Monica Doria Vilarrubla earned Andorra its first canoe slalom Olympic quota since 2008.
Evy Leibfarth, USA, Canoe Slalom Profile
Also set to return to the women’s competition at the Olympics for the first time in 12 years is the Netherlands, after Lena Teunissen qualified for Saturday’s K1 semi-finals.
Other countries to have made the semi-finals and, in theory, Tokyo, are France, Czech Republic, Ukraine, Austria, Poland, Slovakia, Spain, Slovenia and Great Britain. Japan automatically earn a quota as host nation, but Aki Yazawa made sure of it by qualifying in 30th place for the semis.
The race for men’s quotas for the C1 is still wide open, after 16 nations qualified for Saturday’s semi-finals. The 11 top nations will earn Olympic quotas.
