How Team Canada can qualify for LA 2028: Part 1 (Sports A to C)
Before any athlete can compete at the Olympic Games, they need to qualify.
For Los Angeles 2028, the qualification period began more than two years before the Opening Ceremony will take place.
In some sports, quota spots are allocated directly to the athletes who earn them. In other sports, the quota spots go to the National Olympic Committee (NOC), which means there is a separate selection process within the country—such as national trials—to fill those spots.
Some sports have direct qualification events while others have qualification based on a cumulative world ranking list or may use a combination of both pathways.
Read on for a sport-by-sport breakdown of Team Canada’s qualification pathway to LA 2028. Only events in which Canadian athletes are eligible to compete are included.
It’s not always simple, so to see the international qualification systems in full for each sport, click on the provided links. As Team Canada selection policies become available, these will also be included.
As there are a lot of summer Olympic sports, we’ve broken this list into parts, alphabetically by sport.
Part 1 (A-C) | Part 2 (D-R) | Part 3 (S-W)
Archery
| Men’s Events | Women’s Events | Mixed Events |
|---|---|---|
| Recurve Individual Recurve Team | Recurve Individual Recurve Team | Recurve Mixed Team Compound Mixed Team |
Total Athletes: 128 (64 men, 64 women)
Maximum Athletes per NOC: 8 (4 men, 4 women)
Quota spots are allocated to the NOC.
An NOC will be allocated three athletes per gender in the recurve discipline if qualified in the respective team event. Otherwise, the NOC maximum for individual recurve events is one athlete per gender. An NOC can qualify a maximum of one team (consisting of one man and one woman) for the compound mixed team event.
World Archery Olympic Qualification System
| Recurve Team Qualification – Men and Women | 2027 World Archery Championships | August 16-22, 2027 in Medellin, Colombia (TBC) | Top 3 NOCs per gender in recurve team events |
| 2028 Pan American Championships | Date and location TBD | Top NOC per gender in recurve team events | |
| 2028 Final World Recurve Team Qualification Tournament | Date and location TBD | Top NOC per gender in recurve team events | |
| Recurve Team Qualification – Mixed | 2027 Pan American Games | July 23-August 8, 2027 in Lima, Peru | Top NOC in recurve mixed team event |
| Individual Recurve Qualification – Men and Women | 2027 World Archery Championships | August 16-22, 2027 in Medellin, Colombia (TBC) | Top 3 athletes from NOCs not qualified through team competition, maximum one quota spot per NOC per gender |
| 2027 Pan American Games | July 23-August 8, 2027 in Lima, Peru | Top 2 athletes per gender from different NOCs | |
| 2028 Pan American Qualification Tournament | Date and location TBD | Top 2 athletes per gender from different NOCs | |
| 2028 Final World Individual Qualification Tournament | Date and location TBD | Top 2 athletes per gender from different NOCs | |
| Compound Team Qualification – Mixed | 2027 World Archery Championships | August 16-22, 2027 in Medellin, Colombia (TBC) | Top 3 NOCs in compound mixed team event |
| 2027 Pan American Games | July 23-August 8, 2027 in Lima, Peru | Top NOC in compound mixed team event | |
| Compound Mixed Team World Ranking List | Date in 2028 TBD | Top 2 NOCs not yet qualified | |
| 2028 Final World Compound Mixed Team Qualification Tournament | Date and location TBD | Top NOC |
Artistic Swimming
| Events |
|---|
| Duet Team |
Total Athletes: 96
Maximum Athletes per NOC: 8 (up to two men can be entered as part of a team)
Quota spots are allocated to the NOC. An NOC can qualify one team and one duet. The two members of the duet also have to be part of the team of eight athletes.
World Aquatics Artistic Swimming Olympic Qualification System
| Team Qualification | 2027 World Aquatics Championships | June 26-July 18, 2027 in Budapest, Hungary | Top 3 NOCs based on sum of scores achieved in finals of the technical, free, and acrobatic routines |
| 2028 World Aquatics Artistic Swimming World Cup Super Final | Date and location TBD | Number of teams that will qualify to complete the field of 10 teams is TBD pending qualification via world championships and continental championships (Note: Canada cannot qualify via continental championships because the USA as host nation is the Pan American representative) | |
| Duet Qualification | Via Team Qualification | The 10 NOCs qualified for the team event will each qualify a duet | |
| 2027 World Aquatics Championships | June 26-July 18, 2027 in Budapest, Hungary | Top 5 NOCs not yet qualified based on sum of scores achieved in finals of technical and free routines | |
| 2028 World Aquatics Artistic Swimming World Cup Super Final | Date and location TBD | Top 3 NOCs not yet qualified based on sum of scores achieved in finals of technical and free routines |
Athletics
| Men’s Events | Women’s Events | Mixed Event |
|---|---|---|
| 100m 200m 400m 800m 1500m 5000m 10,000m 110m Hurdles 400m Hurdles 3000m Steeplechase 4x100m Relay 4x400m Relay High Jump Pole Vault Long Jump Triple Jump Shot Put Discus Throw Hammer Throw Javelin Throw Decathlon Half-Marathon Race Walk Marathon | 100m 200m 400m 800m 1500m 5000m 10,000m 100m Hurdles 400m Hurdles 3000m Steeplechase 4x100m Relay 4x400m Relay High Jump Pole Vault Long Jump Triple Jump Shot Put Discus Throw Hammer Throw Javelin Throw Decathlon Half-Marathon Race Walk Marathon | 4x100m Relay 4x400m Relay |
Total Athletes: 1810 (905 men, 905 women)
World Athletics Olympic Qualification System is not yet released.
The 2028 Bell Track & Field Trials will take place June 14-18, 2028 in London, Ontario.
Badminton
| Men’s Events | Women’s Events | Mixed Events |
|---|---|---|
| Singles Doubles | Singles Doubles | Doubles |
Total Athletes: 172 (86 men, 86 women)
Maximum Athletes per NOC: 16 (8 men, 8 women)
Quota spots are allocated to the athletes by name. All qualifications will be based on the LA28 Olympic Ranking for each event as of May 2, 2028, which include results from May 3, 2027 to April 30, 2028.
BWF Badminton Olympic Qualification System
In the singles (men’s and women’s) events, if an NOC has multiple athletes ranked 1-16, that NOC can have two entries for the respective event. In the doubles (men’s, women’s, and mixed) events, if an NOC has multiple teams ranked 1-8, that NOC can have two entries for the respective event. Otherwise, the maximum is one entry per event.
There will be 38 athletes qualified in each of the men’s and women’s singles events and 16 pairs qualified for each of the men’s, women’s, and mixed doubles events.
Each singles event must include at least two athletes representing the Pan American region. Each doubles event must include at least one pair representing the Pan American region.
Basketball
| Men’s Events | Women’s Events |
|---|---|
| Basketball | Basketball |
Total Teams: 12 men (144 athletes), 12 women (144 athletes)
Maximum Athletes per NOC: 24 (12 men, 12 women)
Quota spots are allocated to the NOC. An NOC can qualify one team per gender.
FIBA Basketball Olympic Qualification System
| Men’s Qualification | 2027 FIBA Basketball World Cup | August 27-September 12, 2027 in Qatar | Top 2 NOCs from the Americas (excluding the USA which is already qualified as the host nation) |
| 2028 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournaments (FOQT)* | June 26-July 2, 2028 *Must qualify via FIBA World Cup or FIBA Olympic Pre-Qualifying Tournaments (August 14-22, 2027) | Top NOC from each of the four FOQTs | |
| Women’s Qualification | 2026 FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup | September 4-13, 2026 in Germany | Champion NOC |
| FIBA Women’s Olympic Qualifying Tournaments (FWOQT)^ | February 10-13, 2028 ^Must qualify via FIBA Women’s Olympic Pre-Qualifying Tournament (August 17-23, 2026) | 10 NOCs across the four FWOQTs (11 NOCs if USA wins the FIBA Women’s World Cup but is already qualified as host nation) |
3×3 Basketball
| Men’s Events | Women’s Events |
|---|---|
| 3×3 Basketball | 3×3 Basketball |
Total Teams: 12 men (48 athletes), 12 women (48 athletes)
Maximum Athletes per NOC: 8 (4 men, 4 women)
Quota spots are allocated to the NOC. An NOC can qualify one team per gender.
FIBA 3×3 Basketball Olympic Qualification System
| FIBA 3×3 NOC Ranking | On December 1, 2027 (counting results dating back 12 months) | 5 NOCs per gender |
| 2028 FIBA Ranking Olympic Qualifying Tournament | Date and location TBD | 2 NOCs per gender |
| Olympic Q-Series | Date and location TBD | 1 NOC per gender |
| Olympic Q-Series | Date and location TBD | 1 NOC per gender |
Beach Volleyball
| Men’s Events | Women’s Events |
|---|---|
| Beach Volleyball | Beach Volleyball |
Total Athletes: 96 (48 men, 48 women)
Maximum Athletes per NOC: 8 (4 men, 4 women)
Quota spots are allocated to the NOC. An NOC can qualify a maximum of two men’s teams and two women’s teams.
FIVB Beach Volleyball Olympic Qualification System
| 2026 NORCECA Championships | November 4-9, 2026 in Puerto Rico | Top ranked team per gender |
| 2027 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships | August 13-22, 2027 in the Netherlands | Top ranked team per gender |
| Olympic Ranking List | Cut-off date TBD (between February 29 and March 31, 2028) | 14 teams per gender |
| Olympic Q-Series | May/June 2028 in locations TBD | 3 teams per gender |
Boxing
| Men’s Events | Women’s Events |
|---|---|
| 55kg 60kg 65kg 70kg 80kg 90kg +90kg | 51kg 54kg 57kg 60kg 65kg 70kg 75kg |
Total Athletes: 248 (124 men, 124 women)
Maximum Athletes per NOC: 14 (7 men, 7 women)
Quota spots are allocated to the athletes by name. An NOC can qualify a maximum of one athlete per event.
World Boxing Olympic Qualification System
| 2027 World Boxing Championships | April 2027 in Astana, Kazakhstan | Top 4 athletes per event, except women’s 65kg, 70kg, 75kg and men’s 80kg, 90kg, +90kg which will qualify top 2 athletes per event |
| Pan American Qualifier | Date and location TBD | Top 2 athletes per event |
| World Qualifier #1 | Date and location TBD | Top 4 athletes per event, except women’s 51kg, 54kg, 60kg and men’s 55kg, 60kg which will qualify top 2 athletes per event |
| World Qualifier #2 | Date and location TBD | Top 2 or 3 athletes per event (pending host nation quota acceptance), except women’s 65kg which will qualify top 4 athletes, and women’s 70kg, 75kg and men’s 80kg, 90kg, +90kg which will qualify top 2 athletes per event |
Canoe/Kayak – Slalom
| Men’s Events | Women’s Events |
|---|---|
| K-1 (kayak single) C-1 (canoe single) X-1 (kayak cross) | K-1 (kayak single) C-1 (canoe single) X-1 (kayak cross) |
Total Athletes: 82 (41 men, 41 women)
Maximum Athletes per NOC: 6 (3 men, 3 women)
Quota spots are allocated to the NOC. An NOC can qualify a maximum of one spot in each event, but athletes can enter more than one event (up to two athletes per NOC per event).
ICF Canoe/Kayak Slalom Olympic Qualification System
| Olympic Qualification Ranking | On October 3, 2027 (counting results from July 20, 2026) | 19 spots will be allocated per gender: • 6 spots in K-1 • 3 spots in X-1 • 10 spots in C-1 |
| 2028 Pan American Continental Qualification Competition | Date and location TBD | Top 5 NOCs in each event not yet qualified |
| 2028 Global Qualification Competition | Date and location TBD | Top 2 NOCs in each event not yet qualified |
Canoe/Kayak – Sprint
| Men’s Events | Women’s Events |
|---|---|
| K-1 1000m K-2 500m K-4 500m C-1 1000m C-2 500m | K-1 500m K-2 500m K-4 500m C-1 200m C-2 500m |
Total Athletes: 234 (117 men, 117 women)
Maximum Athletes per NOC: 16 (8 men, 8 women)
Quota spots are allocated to the NOC, a maximum of five kayak spots and three canoe spots per gender. An NOC can qualify a maximum of one boat per event but can enter up to two boats per event. Athletes may only compete in the category in which they qualified (ie: men’s canoe, women’s canoe, men’s kayak, women’s kayak).
ICF Canoe/Kayak Sprint Olympic Qualification System
| Olympic Qualification Ranking | On December 31, 2027 (counting results from April 20, 2026) | Men’s K-1 1000m, Women’s K-1 500m | 6 boats per gender |
| Men’s and Women’s K-2 500m | 4 boats per gender | ||
| Men’s and Women’s K-4 500m | 11 boats per gender | ||
| Men’s C-1 1000m, Women’s C-1 200m | 5 boats per gender | ||
| Men’s and Women’s C-2 500m | 8 boats per gender | ||
| 2028 Pan American Continental Qualification Competition | Date and location TBD | Men’s K-1 1000m, Women’s K-1 500m | 2 boats per gender |
| Men’s and Women’s K-2 500m | 1 boat per gender | ||
| Men’s C-1 1000m, Women’s C-1 200m | 2 boats per gender | ||
| Men’s and Women’s C-2 500m | 1 boat per gender |
Climbing
| Men’s Events | Women’s Events |
|---|---|
| Boulder Lead Speed | Boulder Lead Speed |
Boulder Total Athletes: 24 (12 men, 12 women)
Boulder Maximum Athletes per NOC: 4 (2 men, 2 women)
Lead Total Athletes: 24 (12 men, 12 women)
Lead Maximum Athletes per NOC: 4 (2 men, 2 women)
Speed Total Athletes: 28 (14 men, 14 women)
Speed Maximum Athletes per NOC: 4 (2 men, 2 women)
Quota spots are allocated to the athlete by name.
Boulder – World Climbing Olympic Qualification System
Lead – World Climbing Olympic Qualification System
Speed – World Climbing Olympic Qualification System
| Boulder Qualification | 2027 Pan American Games | July 23-August 8, 2027 in Lima, Peru | Top ranked athlete per gender |
| 2027 World Climbing Championships | August 2027 in Brno, Czechia | Top ranked athlete per gender | |
| Olympic Q-Series | May/June 2028 in locations TBD | Top 4 athletes per gender in Q-Series Ranking | |
| Lead Qualification | 2027 Pan American Games | July 23-August 8, 2027 in Lima, Peru | Top ranked athlete per gender |
| 2027 World Climbing Championships | August 2027 in Brno, Czechia | Top ranked athlete per gender | |
| Olympic Q-Series | May/June 2028 in locations TBD | Top 4 athletes per gender in Q-Series Ranking | |
| Speed Qualification | 2027 Pan American Games | July 23-August 8, 2027 in Lima, Peru | Top ranked athlete per gender |
| 2027 World Climbing Championships | August 2027 in Brno, Czechia | Top ranked athlete per gender | |
| Olympic Q-Series | May/June 2028 in locations TBD | Top 6 athletes per gender in Q-Series Ranking |
Cricket
| Men’s Events | Women’s Events |
|---|---|
| Cricket | Cricket |
Total Teams: 6 men (90 athletes), 6 women (90 athletes)
Maximum Athletes per NOC: 30 (15 men, 15 women)
ICC Olympic Qualification System is not yet released.
Cycling – BMX Freestyle
| Men’s Events | Women’s Events |
|---|---|
| Park | Park |
Total Athletes: 24 (12 men, 12 women)
Maximum Athletes per NOC: 4 (2 men, 2 women)
Quota spots allocated via the Olympic Q-Series are to the athlete by name. All other quota spots are allocated to the NOC.
UCI BMX Freestyle Olympic Qualification System
| Olympic Q-Series | May/June 2028 in locations TBD | Top 6 athletes per gender in the Olympic Q-Series Final Ranking |
| 2026 UCI Urban Cycling World Championships | November 3-7, 2026 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia | Top 2 NOCs per gender (with priority to continents not qualified via Olympic Q-Series |
| 2027 UCI Cycling World Championships | August 24-September 5, 2027 in Haute-Savoie, France | Top 3 NOCs per gender (with priority to continents not qualified through the OQS or 2026 World Championships) |
Cycling – BMX Racing
| Men’s Events | Women’s Events |
|---|---|
| Racing | Racing |
Total Athletes: 48 (24 men, 24 women)
Maximum Athletes per NOC: 6 (3 men, 3 women)
Quota spots are allocated to the NOC.
UCI BMX Racing Olympic Qualification System
| UCI BMX Racing Olympic Qualification Ranking | On May 30, 2028 (counting results from August 4, 2026) | For each gender: • NOCs ranked 1-2 will each qualify 3 athletes • NOCs ranked 3-5 will each qualify 2 athletes • NOCs ranked 6-10 will each qualify 1 athlete |
| 2027 Pan American Championships | Date and location TBD | 1 spot per gender for NOCs not qualified via UCI BMX Racing Olympic Qualification Ranking |
| 2027 UCI Cycling World Championships | August 24-September 5, 2027 in Haute-Savoie, France | 1 spot per gender for NOCs not yet qualified |
| 2028 UCI BMX Racing World Championships | May 21-27, 2028 in Houston, USA | 1 spot per gender for NOCs not yet qualified |
Cycling – Mountain Bike
| Men’s Events | Women’s Events |
|---|---|
| Cross-Country | Cross-Country |
Total Athletes: 72 (36 men, 36 women)
Maximum Athletes per NOC: 4 (2 men, 2 women)
Quota spots are allocated to the NOC.
UCI Mountain Bike Olympic Qualification System
| UCI Mountain Bike Olympic Qualification Ranking | On May 30, 2028 (counting results from April 27, 2026) | For each gender: • NOCs ranked 1-8 will each qualify 2 athletes • NOCs ranked 9-19 will each qualify 1 athlete |
| 2027 Pan American Championships | Date and location TBD | Top ranked NOC per gender not qualified via Olympic Qualification Ranking |
| 2027 UCI Cycling World Championships | August 24-September 5, 2027 in Haute-Savoie, France | Top 2 NOCs per gender in Elite and top 2 NOCs per gender in U23 not yet qualified each earn 1 quota spot |
Cycling – Road
| Men’s Events | Women’s Events |
|---|---|
| Road Race Individual Time Trial | Road Race Individual Time Trial |
Total Athletes: 180 (90 men, 90 women)
Maximum Athletes per NOC: 8 (4 men, 4 women)
Quota spots are allocated to the NOC. An NOC can enter a maximum of four athletes in each road race but only a maximum of two athletes in each individual time trial. Only NOCs that earn quota spots for the road race can be allocated spots for the respective individual time trial.
UCI Road Cycling Olympic Qualification System
| Men’s and Women’s Road Race Qualification | UCI Road World Ranking by Nations | On October 19, 2027 (counting results from October 20, 2026) | For each gender: • NOCs ranked 1-5 will each qualify 4 athletes • NOCs ranked 6-10 will qualify 3 athletes • NOCs ranked 11-20 will qualify 2 athletes • NOCs ranked 21-45 will qualify 1 athlete A total of 78 spots per gender will be allocated |
| 2027 UCI Cycling World Championships | August 24-September 5, 2027 in Haute-Savoie, France | Top 2 NOCs per gender not qualified via world ranking will each qualify 1 spot | |
| 2027 Pan American Championships | Date and location TBD | Top 2 NOCs per gender not qualified via world ranking or world championships will each qualify 1 spot | |
| Men’s and Women’s Individual Time Trial Qualification | UCI Road World Ranking by Nations | On October 19, 2027 (counting results from October 20, 2026) | Top 25 NOCs per gender will each qualify 1 spot |
| 2027 UCI Cycling World Championships | August 24-September 5, 2027 in Haute-Savoie, France | Top 10 NOCs per gender will each qualify 1 spot |
Cycling – Track
| Men’s Events | Women’s Events |
|---|---|
| Team Sprint Sprint Keirin Team Pursuit Madison Omnium | Team Sprint Sprint Keirin Team Pursuit Madison Omnium |
Total Athletes: 190 (95 men, 95 women)
Maximum Athletes per NOC: 16 (8 men, 8 women)
Quota spots are allocated to the NOC. An NOC can enter a maximum of two athletes in each sprint and keirin event, one athlete in each omnium event, and one team in each team sprint (three athletes per team), team pursuit (four athletes per team), and madison (two athletes per team) event.
UCI Track Cycling Olympic Qualification System
The UCI Track Olympic Qualification Ranking on April 11, 2028 will be used to allocate all quota spots. It takes into account results from October 14, 2026 to April 10, 2028.
| Team Sprint | Top 8 NOCs per gender will qualify a team |
| Sprint + Keirin | NOCs of the top 14 athletes per gender that did not qualify for team sprint will earn 1 spot to enter both the sprint and keirin (an NOC can earn a maximum of 2 spots via this method) NOCs qualified for the team sprint can enter up to two athletes in the sprint and keirin |
| Team Pursuit | Top 8 NOCs of each gender qualify a team |
| Madison | Top 6 NOCs of each gender that did not qualify for team pursuit will each qualify a team NOCs qualified for the team pursuit can enter a team in the madison |
| Omnium | Top 13 NOCs of each gender that did not qualify for the madison will earn 1 spot NOCs qualified for the madison can enter one athlete in the omnium |