Olympic Diving Country Quotas Take Shape after FINA World Cup

The diving lineups for the 2016 Rio Olympic Games are now forming up at the country level after the 2016 FINA Diving World Cup updated each country’s entry quota.

The specific individuals and synchro teams that will compete in each event can still fluctuate, but each nation now knows exactly how many entries it will have into each of the 8 Olympic diving events.

A few major takeaways: Germany came through in the big way, earning berths in three of the four synchro events. The U.S. added 1-meter synchro berths for men and women, plus 5 more quota entries between the four individual events.

We’ll briefly run through the qualifying procedures for each event, then list the entry quotas going to each nation.

The qualifying procedures are based on two competitions: last summer’s 2015 FINA World Championships and the 2016 FINA Diving World Cup, which took place earlier this month in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The full Olympic qualifying procedures are here.

The full results of the 2016 FINA Diving World Cup are here.

Synchronized Events

8 synchronized diving pairs will compete in each event, with each nation allowed a maximum of one pair.

• 3 from 2015 Worlds: The top 3 finishers at the 2015 Worlds earn quota spots for their nation.
• 1 from host country: The host nation is guaranteed a spot in each event if it doesn’t otherwise earn one.
• 4 from 2016 World Cup: The top 4 teams at the 2016 World Cup whose nations aren’t already qualified earn quota spots for their nation.

Men’s Synchro 3-Meter

1. China (Worlds gold)
2. Russia (Worlds silver)
3. Great Britain (Worlds bronze)
4. Brazil (host)
5. Germany (1st at World Cup)
6. Mexico (3rd)
7. Italy (5th)
8. USA (6th)

Men’s Synchro 10-Meter

1. China (Worlds gold)
2. Mexico (Worlds silver)
3. Russia (Worlds bronze)
4. Brazil (host)
5. Germany (2nd at World Cup)
6. Great Britain (3rd)
7. USA (4th)
8. Ukraine (6th)

Women’s Synchro 3-Meter

1. China (Worlds gold)
2. Canada (Worlds silver)
3. Australia (Worlds bronze)
4. Brazil (host)
5. Italy (4th at World Cup)
6. Malaysia (5th)
7. Great Britain (6th)
8. Germany (7th)

Women’s Synchro 10-Meter

1. China (Worlds gold)
2. Canada (Worlds silver)
3. North Korea (Worlds bronze)
4. Brazil (host)
5. Malaysia (2nd at World Cup)
6. Great Britain (3rd)
7. USA (4th)
8. Mexico (5th)

Individual Events

34 individual divers will compete in each event, with each nation allowed a maximum of 2 entries.

• 12 from 2015 Worlds: The top 12 from finals of the World Championships earn quota spots for their nations.
• 5 from Continental Championships: The winner of each designated continental championship earns a quota place for his/her nation.
• Up to 18 from 2016 World Cup: The 18 semi-finalists in each event at the World Cup can earn quota places for their nations.

If those three selection criteria don’t fill the 34 entries, more divers will earn quota places based on their finish at the 2016 World Cup, beginning in 19th place and moving down.

Note: One extra wrinkle is that an athlete can only earn 1 quota place for their nation. So an athlete who wins Worlds for a quota place who then goes on to win the continental championship cannot earn his nation a second quota place for his continental win.

Here’s a chart detailing the quota places so far, through the first three selection criteria. Remaining spots can still be allocated to other nations: