Courtesy: LEN Media
The FINA Executive confirmed that in case the European champion had already qualified to Tokyo at the World Championships in Gwangju, the next highest ranked diver from the European Diving Championships should also get an Olympic quota. It means that three more Olympic berths are confirmed for European divers and their respective NOCs: for Great Britain in the men’s 3m, and for Russia in the women’s 3m and men’s 10m.
Upon the request of LEN President Paolo Barelli, the Tokyo 2020 FINA Diving Qualification System was put on the agenda of the FINA Executive meeting held in Lausanne on 24 September 2019. The objective was to clarify its proper interpretation and the impact on the Continents’ quota places for Tokyo 2020.
At the meeting, the FINA Executive decided that in case the winner of the Continental Championships (e. g. 2019 European Championships) had already qualified for Tokyo 2020 from the Gwangju FINA World Championships, the next highest ranked – and not yet qualified – diver would obtain a quota place for his/her NOC.
Based on that decision of the FINA Executive, also confirmed by the FINA Executive Director Corner Marculescu, three more divers from the European Championships also earned a quota for their respective NOCs.
These athletes and the NOCs are: James Heatly in the men’s 3m springboard for Great Britain, Kristina Ilinykh in the women’s 3m springboard and Ruslan Ternovoi in the men’s 10m platform, both for the Russian Federation.
The remaining quotas are to be allocated at the Diving World Cup in Tokyo on April 21-26, 2020.