Team views

The selection for the Tokyo Olympics in team sports is almost complete.

Russia will definitely be represented in four of them: back in 2019, the men's and women's volleyball and basketball teams 3x3 were selected for the tournament, in January 2020 they were joined by water polo players, and in March 2021 - handball players.

The current Olympic champions won the qualifying tournament without any problems, in which it was enough for them to win two victories in three matches with not the strongest rivals.

The men's water polo team also had a chance to get to the Games.

In February, she competed in the three-quota qualifiers and won the group stage sensationally.

However, the water polo players were unlucky in the playoffs - in the semifinals they lost to Greece, and then lost on penalties to Croatia in a dispute over the last ticket.

Russian water polo players have not been selected for the Olympic Games since 2004.

Also, domestic teams in football, basketball, field hockey, baseball and softball, as well as men's rugby-7 and handball teams will not perform in Tokyo.

Russian rugby players have the last chance to qualify in team sports.

On June 19 and 20, two quotas will be drawn at the world tournament.

The favorites of the competition are Russians and French women, and it will be an unpleasant surprise if Andrey Kuzin's wards fail to make their debut at the Olympic Games.

Personal species: selection over

In a number of personal sports, Russian athletes have already fully completed the selection task and received the maximum number of quotas.

In Tokyo, the country will be represented by eight synchronized swimmers, 18 fencers, ten gymnasts and seven representatives of rhythmic gymnastics.

The selection ended in several more forms, but the Russians did not manage to win all the available quotas there.

In equestrian sports, two riders will perform in triathlon and a dressage team of three people - in this discipline the Russians will compete for the first time since 1992.

In the climbing debut at the Olympics, Russia will be represented by three athletes out of four possible.

In road cycling, they managed to win four quotas, and in track cycling, a team of 13 athletes will compete for medals in eight disciplines.

The selection in athletics and weightlifting continues for all countries of the world, but for the Russians it is actually over.

Due to restrictions imposed by international sports federations, no more than ten athletes and two weightlifters will be able to compete at the Olympics.

And this is in the best case - the number of athletes may even decrease if all the selection criteria are not met.

Golf and surfing also remain problematic sports for Russians.

In theory, it is still possible to win quotas in them, but in practice it is no longer possible.

In golf, the gap in the world rankings is too huge, and in surfing, you need to successfully perform at the World Games, where the last time the Russians did not even make the top 50.

Personal Species: Selection Continues

In other Olympic sports, Russian athletes continue to fight for the right to participate in the Games and may receive cherished tickets in the coming months.

The most favorable situation is now in shooting.

At the moment, 18 athletes out of 24 possible have passed the selection.

A few more quotas can be collected at the European qualifying tournament, which will be held from May 23 to June 6.

Wrestlers have also won quite a few Olympic tickets - they will definitely be represented in 13 weight categories out of 18. It will be possible to get the maximum quota at the last qualifying competition, which will take place from 6 to 9 May.

Around the same days, the European selection in taekwondo will take place, where the Russians still have four Olympic quotas out of eight.

In early June, a similar boxing tournament, interrupted a year ago due to the pandemic, will resume.

In this sport, Russia has one guaranteed quota and a chance to win another 11 out of 12. Of the martial arts, Russians are not at all represented in the karate debuting at the Olympics.

To compete for the first medals in the history of this sport, domestic karate fighters will need to win quotas at the June world qualifying tournament.

In the modern pentathlon, the national team is currently represented by two athletes.

The team's roster can be doubled following the results of the June World Championship in Cairo or after the publication of the world ranking, which will also determine the participants of the future Olympics.

The situation is similar in table tennis and trampoline jumping - in them Russia has two quotas, and the maximum possible four must try to win in the qualifying competitions.

In rowing and canoeing, Russia will be represented by at least eight boats out of 16 possible and will be able to form a team of 15 athletes.

Three qualifying competitions will take place in May, where it will be possible to get the remaining tickets.

One of these tournaments will be the World Cup stage in Barnaul.

In sailing, there are five quotas out of ten, and you can earn only one more in the Finn class, since the selection has already ended in the rest.

In rowing, the Russians are still pretty bad - in none of the 14 disciplines the national team has yet been represented.

But we can try to fix this at two qualifying regattas, which will be held in April and May.

The last tickets to the archery tournament will be raffled off in June.

Russian girls have already won the maximum quota of three people, and there is no one in the men's team yet.

If they still cannot prove themselves at the competitions in Antalya and Paris, they will miss the third Olympics in a row.

In diving, the situation with the selection for the Games is now quite confusing.

The World Cup was supposed to be held in Tokyo, where the Russians had a chance to increase their representation from seven athletes to the maximum possible 16. However, these competitions were canceled.

In badminton, judo, tennis, mountain biking and BMX cycling, all Olympic quotas will be allocated according to world rankings fixed on a specific date shortly before the start of the Games.

A similar system will be used in skateboarding, triathlon and beach volleyball, only in them a relatively small number of tickets will still be played out in separate qualifying competitions.

By the way, in beach volleyball, Russia already has one quota thanks to the victory of Oleg Stoyanovsky and Vyacheslav Krasilnikov at the 2019 World Cup.

Swimming deserves special mention.

It is also too early to draw conclusions about the size of the Russian team at the Olympic Games.

To enter the competition, swimmers need to fulfill certain standards in various disciplines until June 27, and only after that the national team will be formed.

But in open water swimming, the selection principles are different and resemble other sports - qualifying competitions are provided for marathon runners, where Russians will fight for at least one quota.