The majority of quotas in canoe sprint have been awarded at the 2019 World Canoe Sprint Championships. In total, 166 athlete quotas and initially 78 boat quota places were awarded across the twelve Olympic events. The World Canoe Sprint Championships were held in Szeged, Hungary from August 21st to August 25th 2019.

Initially the top 5 K1 boats, top 6 K2 boats, top 10 K4 boats, top 5 C1 boats and top 8 C2 boats qualified their nation to the Olympics. For the K4 boats, at least four continents must be represented; if not the highest ranked nation from an unrepresented continent replaces the lowest rank nation from the top 10.

An additional rule for qualification is that athletes may only qualify one athlete quota for their nation. This means a lot of athlete quotas were redistributed. The first distribution comes from athletes whom qualified in both K1 events. The athlete quota is awarded to the longer distance while the redistributed quota is awarded to the next best ranked nation in the K1 200m event. This means the athlete quotas won by Denmark’s Emma Jorgensen and New Zealand’s Lisa Carrington in the women’s K1 200m have been replaced by Hungary’s Dora Lucz and Portugal’s Teresa Portela (Serbia’s Milica Starovic has already qualified in the K1 500m).

Athletes whom qualified in multiple boat sizes are officially qualified in the largest boat size. The reallocated quotas are then aggregated by boat type (men’s kayak, women’s kayak, men’s canoe and women’s canoe) and then distributed to the largest boat size, starting with the first unqualified nation. Leftover quotas are then given to the next boat size.

For the men’s kayak only one athlete quota was available for reallocation meaning the next best nation in the men’s K1 1000m (Belarus) was awarded the quota. The women’s kayak saw 10 athlete reallocations allowing Russia and Denmark (+3 net) to qualify in the K4, China in the K2 and Sweden in the K1 500m. The men’s canoe had only one extra quota, but as Martin Fuksa already qualified in the C1, the two quotas were combined to allow the C2 Czech Republic boat to compete (Note: This quota is contested and we are waiting for ICF to confirm). The women’s canoe had one athlete quota available for reallocation where it went to Poland in the C1 200m.

One more reallocation will later occur in the men’s kayak as Spain has qualified over the maximum of six athlete quotas and thus must give up one quota. Nations will have more opportunities to qualify to the Olympics via the World Cup event and their respective continental qualifiers. Athletes chosen to compete at the Olympics will be able to compete in other events with a maximum of two boats per event, provided that they compete in the event the original athlete quota was qualified in.

Update: Spain has declined its excess athlete quota obtained in the men’s K1 200m. Therefore the athlete quota has been reallocated to Sweden. Additionally, ICF has clarified the host quota. As Japan qualified in the men’s K4 500m, the host quota given in the men’s K1 1000m was reallocated to the next best nation in that event, Belarus. The athlete reallocation quota that Belarus was thought to have originally obtained has been won by the next best eligible nation, Argentina.

Qualified Nations

Athlete Quotas

Men’s Kayak
* Australia – 6
* Germany – 6
* Spain – 6
* Belarus – 5
* Portugal – 5
* Russia – 5
* Slovakia – 5
* Canada – 4
* Hungary – 4
* Japan – 4
* France – 3
* Italy – 3
* Czech Republic – 2
* Serbia – 2
* Argentina – 1
* Great Britain – 1
* Sweden – 1

Women’s Kayak
* China – 6
* Hungary – 6
* Poland – 5
* Ukraine – 5
* Australia – 4
* Belarus – 4
* Canada – 4
* Denmark – 4
* France – 4
* Germany – 4
* New Zealand – 4
* Russia – 4
* Belgium – 2
* Slovenia – 2
* Portugal – 1
* Serbia – 1
* Spain – 1
* Sweden – 1

Men’s Canoe
* Germany – 3
* Poland – 3
* Brazil – 2
* China – 2
* Cuba – 2
* Czech Republic – 2
* Romania – 2
* Russia – 2
* Ukraine – 2
* France – 1

Women’s Canoe
* Belarus – 3
* Chile – 2
* China – 2
* Cuba – 2
* Germany – 2
* Hungary – 2
* Ukraine – 2
* Uzbekistan – 2
* Canada – 1
* Poland – 1
* Russia – 1
* United States – 1

Boat Quotas

Men’s K1 200m
* France
* Great Britain
* Italy
* Serbia
* Sweden

Women’s K1 200m
* Denmark
* Hungary
* New Zealand
* Poland
* Portugal
* Serbia
* Spain
* Ukraine

Men’s K1 1000m
* Argentina
* Belarus
* Czech Republic
* France
* Hungary
* Portugal
* Russia
* Slovakia

Women’s K1 500m
* Belarus
* Denmark
* Hungary
* New Zealand
* Serbia
* Sweden

Men’s K2 1000m
* Australia
* Czech Republic
* France
* Germany
* Italy
* Spain

Women’s K2 500m
* Belarus
* Belgium
* China
* France
* Poland
* Slovenia
* Ukraine

Men’s K4 500m
* Australia
* Belarus
* Canada
* Germany
* Hungary
* Japan
* Portugal
* Russia
* Slovakia
* Spain

Women’s K4 500m
* Australia
* Belarus
* Canada
* China
* Denmark
* France
* Germany
* Hungary
* New Zealand
* Poland
* Russia
* Ukraine

Men’s C1 1000m
* Brazil
* Czech Republic
* France
* Germany
* Poland

Women’s C1 200m
* Belarus
* Canada
* Chile
* Poland
* Russia
* United States

Men’s C2 1000m
* Brazil
* China
* Cuba
* Czech Republic
* Germany
* Poland
* Romania
* Russia
* Ukraine

Women’s C2 500m
* Belarus
* Chile
* China
* Cuba
* Germany
* Hungary
* Ukraine
* Uzbekistan