Hungary showed their canoe sprint prowess as they amassed the most qualification spots for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games following their efforts at the 2015 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships in Milan, Italy.
Despite being third on the medal table, trailing Belarus and Germany, the top paddlers from the canoe sprint super power consistently qualified for 'A' finals across the Olympic disciplines, which provided them an impressive tally of nine boats and an athlete quota of 15.
The Russian Federation secured the second position on the qualification roster with eight boats and 13 athletes.
Belarus (3rd) and Serbia (4th) continued their impressive surge towards the top of the sport as they gained the next highest athlete quota places.
Germany will also consider their qualification tally of 10 athletes across six boats a reasonable return.
Rio will provide a premiere appearance for the two Argentinian crews following their success in the K4M 1000m and K4W 500m. They also have a boat in the K1M 200m.
The success of the crew boats in the blue and white stripes of the South American nation also provided them the honour of gaining the highest number of qualifications spots outside of Europe.
Perhaps most disappointed to see the outcome of their efforts will be Canada; as nation that has traditionally been strong across the Olympic disciplines, their tally of just two boats (K1M 200m and K1W500m) won’t live up to their expectation.
Across the board, the five-days of competition in Milan provided 174 athletes in 90 boats a potential ticket for next years Games.
However, winning their nation an athlete quota for Rio does not guarantee each individual a place on the start line, with many now facing fierce internal competition through their own national selection to compete on the Lagoa lagoon in 11 months time.
The next opportunity for nations to add to their tallies will be the five continental qualifiers that will take place over the next nine months.
Download Olympic Qualifiers Details (PDF)
Download Olympic Qualifiers Spreadsheet (XLSX)
| Athlete Quota Places | Boat Quota Places | |
| Hungary | 15 | 9 |
| Russia | 13 | 8 |
| Belarus | 12 | 7 |
| Serbia | 10 | 7 |
| Germany | 10 | 6 |
| Argentina | 9 | 3 |
| France | 9 | 5 |
| Poland | 9 | 7 |
| Australia | 7 | 3 |
| Ukraine | 7 | 3 |
| China | 6 | 4 |
| Czech Republic | 6 | 4 |
| Portugal | 6 | 4 |
| Great Britain | 6 | 3 |
| Romania | 6 | 2 |
| Denmark | 5 | 3 |
| Kazakstan | 5 | 2 |
| New Zealand | 5 | 3 |
| Slovakia | 5 | 3 |
| Spain | 5 | 2 |
| Azerbaijan | 2 | 3 |
| Brazil | 2 | 2 |
| Canada | 2 | 2 |
| Lithuania | 2 | 2 |
| Bulgaria | 1 | 1 |
| Cuba | 1 | 1 |
| Equador | 1 | 1 |
| Moldova | 1 | 1 |
| Slovenia | 1 | 2 |
| South Africa | 1 | 1 |
| Sweden | 1 | 1 |
| Turkey | 1 | 1 |
N.B This is for illustration purposes only and not an official document
