The coming weeks sees our top athletes head back to the northern hemisphere in their continued quest for a spot at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
In artistic, we have four men and five women who have two more chances to qualify quota spots.
- Finish in the top 2 places on an apparatus at the end of the upcoming four world cup events in Cairo, Cottbus, Baku, and Doha. The athletes with the most points using their best three finishes (not taking into account those athletes already qualified in a team or AA position) will earn a nominative quota spot.
- The athlete who wins the Oceania Championships to be held at the end of May in Auckland will earn a nominative quota spot. For men this position will go to either NZ or Australia, whoever wins. For women, Australia has already qualified a team so the nominative quota spot will go to the highest-ranked NZ athlete.
The athletes currently on the qualification pathway are
Men’s artistic
- Daniel Stoddart – Tri Star Gymnastics
- Ethan Dick – Tri Star Gymnastics
- Sam Dick – Tri Star Gymnastics
- William Fu Allen – Tri Star Gymnastics
Women’s artistic
- Ava Fitzgerald – Tri Star Gymnastics
- Georgia-Rose Brown – Tri Star Gymnastics / Melbourne Gymnastics Centre
- Isabella Brett – Christchurch School of Gymnastics
- Madeleine Marshall – NHG Gymnastics / Tolworth Gymnastics
- Reece Cobb – Impact Gymsport Academy
For rhythmic we now only have one athlete in contention for the Olympic Games, Havana Hopman (Counties Manukau Gymnastics). Her final chance to qualify a quota spot is at the Oceania Championships to be held in Budapest at the European Championships in May. Havana must be the highest-ranked athlete out of NZ and Australia to secure this spot.
In trampoline, we have Dylan Schmidt (Icon Trampoline) and Madaline Davidson (Olympia Gymnastic Sports) who both have two more chances to qualify quota spots.
- Place in the top 12 ranking places of the world cup series (after the removal of those who have secured spots from world championships). The two best results (out of the five world cup events) for each athlete will be taken into consideration for rankings.
- If no athlete, male or female from Oceania has qualified there will be an Oceania Championships to determine one place, male or female, not both. The Oceania Championships will not be held if an athlete from Oceania qualifies through the World Cup circuit.
But earning a quota spot is just a part of the process. If a quota spot is secured, athletes must then prove that they have a top 16 capability and meet the NZ Olympic Committee (NZOC) nomination criteria so that Gymnastics NZ can nominate them to the NZOC, for their selectors to consider selection to the NZ Team.
See also the full FIG qualification systems and the sport specific NZOC nomination criteria.
Keep an eye on our social channels as we follow our athletes on their Olympic quests. We wish them all the best with their competitions – we’ll certainly be cheering super big for them from here.