How Team Canada can qualify for LA 2028: Part 3 (Sports S to W)

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.

The Olympic cauldron is lit at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum ahead of the launch for ticket registration to the 2028 Summer Olympic Games Tuesday, Jan.13, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

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)

Sailing

Men’s Events	Women’s Events	Mixed Events
Windsurfing (iQFOiL) Kite (IKA – Formula Kite) Dinghy (ILCA 7) Skiff (49er)	Windsurfing (iQFOiL) Kite (IKA – Formula Kite) Dinghy (ILCA 6) Skiff (49erFX)	Dinghy (470) Multihull (Nacra 17)

Total Athletes: 330 (165 men, 165 women)
Maximum Athletes per NOC: 14 (7 men, 7 women)

Quota spots are allocated to the NOC. An NOC can qualify a maximum of one boat per event.

World Sailing Olympic Qualification System

2027 World Sailing Championships	January 20-22, 2027 in Fortaleza, Brazil	Men’s and Women’s Windsurfing	Top 10 NOCs per gender
		Men’s and Women’s Kite	Top 8 NOCs per gender
		Men’s and Women’s Dinghy	Top 16 NOCs per gender
2027 World Sailing Championships	July 16, 2027 in Gdynia, Poland	Men’s and Women’s Skiff, Mixed Dinghy, Mixed Multihill	Top 8 NOCs per gender/per event
North America and Caribbean Continental Qualification Event	Date and location TBD	Men’s and Women’s Windsurfing, Kite, Skiff Mixed Dinghy, Multihull	Top ranked NOC per event/per gender not yet qualified
		Men’s and Women’s Dinghy	Top 3 NOCs per gender not yet qualified
2028 Last Chance Regatta	Date and location TBD	Men’s and Women’s Windsurfing	Top 6 NOCs per gender not yet qualified
		Men’s and Women’s Kite, Dinghy, Skiff	Top 5 NOCs per gender/per event not yet qualified
		Mixed Dinghy	Top 4 NOCs not yet qualified
		Mixed Multihull	Top 3 NOCs not yet qualified

Shooting

Men’s Events	Women’s Events	Mixed Events
10m Air Rifle 50m Rifle 3 Positions 10m Air Pistol 25m Rapid Fire Pistol Trap Skeet	10m Air Rifle 50m Rifle 3 Positions 10m Air Pistol 25m Pistol Trap Skeet	10m Air Rifle Mixed Team 10m Air Pistol Mixed Team Trap Mixed Team

Total Athletes: 340 (170 men, 170 women)
Maximum Athletes per NOC: 24 (12 men, 12 women)

Quota spots are allocated to the NOC, except for those obtained through the Olympic Ranking which are to the athletes by name. An NOC can enter a maximum of two athletes in each individual event and a maximum of two mixed teams in each of the mixed team events. Teams will be composed of athletes qualified to compete in their respective individual events.

ISSF Shooting Olympic Qualification System

2026 ISSF World Championships	November 1-15, 2026 In Doha, Qatar	3 spots available in each individual event
2027 ISSF World Championship Rifle/Pistol	October 28-November 9, 2027 in Daegu, South Korea	3 spots available in each individual rifle and pistol event
2027 ISSF World Championship Shotgun	September 23-October 2, 2027 in Cairo, Egypt	3 spots available in each individual trap and skeet event
2027 ISSF World Cup Rifle/Pistol/Shotgun	April 21-30, 2027 in New Delhi, India	1 spot available in each individual event
2027 ISSF World Cup Rifle/Pistol	July 15-23, 2027 in Baku, Azerbaijan	1 spot available in each individual rifle and pistol event
2027 ISSF World Cup Rifle/Pistol	May 22-29, 2027 in Munich, Germany	1 spot available in each individual rifle and pistol event
2027 ISSF World Cup Rifle/Pistol	October 5-14, 2027 in Rome, Italy	1 spot available in each individual rifle and pistol event
2027 ISSF World Cup Shotgun	March 11-20, 2027 in Acapulco, Mexico	1 spot available in each individual trap and skeet event
2027 ISSF World Cup Shotgun	September 3-12, 2027 in Hangzhou, China	1 spot available in each individual trap and skeet event
2027 ISSF World Cup Shotgun	June 3-13, 2027 in Lonato, Italy	1 spot available in each individual trap and skeet event
Americas Continental Qualification Event	Date and location TBD	3 spots available in 10m air rifle, 50m rifle 3 positions, 10m air pistol per gender 4 spots available in 25m pistol, trap, skeet per gender
Olympic Ranking	On May 1, 2028	1 spot available in each individual event

Skateboarding

Men’s Events	Women’s Events
Park Street	Park Street

Total Athletes: 88 (44 men, 44 women)
Maximum Athletes per NOC: 12 (6 men, 6 women)

Quota spots are allocated to the athletes by name. There is a maximum of three athletes per NOC per event.

World Skate Skateboarding Olympic Qualification System

There will be 20 quota spots allocated for each event based on the World Skateboarding Ranking on June 11, 2028, which counts results dating back to June 11, 2026. This includes World Championships and World Cup events for park and street. It also includes the Olympic Q-Series for park and an equivalent tier of events for street.

Soccer

Men’s Events	Women’s Events
Soccer	Soccer

Total Teams: 12 men (216 athletes), 16 women (288 athletes)
Maximum Athletes per NOC: 18 men, 18 women

FIFA Olympic Qualification System is not yet released.

Softball

Women’s Events
Softball

Total Teams: 6 women (90 athletes)
Maximum Athletes per NOC: 15 women

Quota spots are allocated to the NOC. An NOC can qualify one team.

WBSC Softball Olympic Qualification System

2027 Women’s Softball World Cup Finals		Top ranked NOC
2027 Pan American Qualification Event	Date TBD in Surrey, British Columbia	Top ranked NOC
Final Qualification Event	Date and location TBD	Top ranked NOC

*Note that Canada has no remaining qualification opportunities for men’s baseball

Squash

Men’s Events	Women’s Events
Singles	Singles

Total Athletes: 32 (16 men, 16 women)
Maximum Athletes per NOC: 4 (2 men, 2 women)

Quota spots are allocated to the athletes by name.

WSF Squash Olympic Qualification System

2027 Pan American Games	July 23-August 8, 2027 in Lima, Peru	Winners of the men’s and women’s singles events (athletes must be ranked in top 50 of PSA World Rankings on May 22, 2028)
PSA World Rankings	On May 22, 2028	8 spots per gender to be allocated The 2 NOCs per gender with the highest ranked eligible second athletes will each earn 2 spots, and then the remaining spots will be allocated according to the rankings
Final World Qualifying Tournament	June 6-10, 2028 in location TBD	Winners of the men’s and women’s singles events

Surfing

Men’s Events	Women’s Events
Shortboard	Shortboard

Total Athletes: 48 (24 men, 24 women)
Maximum Athletes per NOC: 6 (3 men, 3 women)

Quota spots are allocated to the athletes by name, except for spots earned by teams at the 2026 and 2027 ISA World Surfing Games, which are allocated to the NOC.

ISA Surfing Olympic Qualification System

World Surf League Championship Tour Ranking	January 2028-June 15, 2028	Top 5 athletes per gender (maximum one per NOC per gender, must be ranked in top 34)
2028 ISA World Surfing Games	Date and location TBD	Top 10 athletes per gender not yet qualified (maximum one per NOC per gender)
2027 Pan American Games	July 23-August 8, 2027 in Lima, Peru	Top ranked athlete per gender not yet qualified
2026 ISA World Surfing Games	Date and location TBD	1 quota spot to top-ranked NOC of each gender
2027 ISA World Surfing Games	Date TBD in El Salvador	1 quota spot to top-ranked NOC of each gender

Swimming

Men’s Events	Women’s Events	Mixed Events
50m Freestyle 100m Freestyle 200m Freestyle 400m Freestyle 800m Freestyle 1500m Freestyle 50m Backstroke 100m Backstroke 200m Backstroke 50m Breaststroke 100m Breaststroke 200m Breaststroke 50m Butterfly 100m Butterfly 200m Butterfly 200m Individual Medley 400m Individual Medley 4x100m Freestyle Relay 4x200m Freestyle Relay 4x100m Medley Relay	50m Freestyle 100m Freestyle 200m Freestyle 400m Freestyle 800m Freestyle 1500m Freestyle 50m Backstroke 100m Backstroke 200m Backstroke 50m Breaststroke 100m Breaststroke 200m Breaststroke 50m Butterfly 100m Butterfly 200m Butterfly 200m Individual Medley 400m Individual Medley 4x100m Freestyle Relay 4x200m Freestyle Relay 4x100m Medley Relay	4x100m Medley Relay

Total Athletes: 830
Maximum Athletes per NOC: 52 (26 men, 26 women)

An NOC can enter a maximum of two athletes per individual event and one team per relay event.

World Aquatics Swimming Olympic Qualification System

Individual Event Qualification

To be eligible to compete in an individual event, an athlete must achieve an entry time standard in a World Aquatics-approved competition from March 1, 2027 to June 18, 2028.

There are two categories of standard: A Entry Standard and B Entry Standard. The A Entry Standard is the faster of the two. Athletes with the B Entry Standard will only be granted a quota spot if the overall athlete quota has not been reached, but athletes with a B Entry Standard who are already counted for a quota spot in another event (including relays) may compete in the event in which they have the B Entry Standard.

The 2028 Olympic & Paralympic Trials, Presented by Bell will take place June 2-8, 2028 in Toronto.

Men’s A Standard	Men’s B Standard	Event	Women’s A Standard	Women’s B Standard
21.69	21.91	50m Freestyle	24.56	24.81
47.86	48.34	100m Freestyle	53.60	54.14
1:45.83	1:46.89	200m Freestyle	1:56.43	1:57.59
3:45.46	3:47.71	400m Freestyle	4:06.27	4:08.73
7:47.04	7:51.71	800m Freestyle	8:26.71	8:31.78
14:51.62	15:00.54	1500m Freestyle	16:08.65	16:18.34
53.00	53.53	100m Backstroke	59.49	1:00.08
1:56.05	1:57.21	200m Backstroke	2:08.95	2:10.24
59.27	59.86	100m Breaststroke	1:06.10	1:06.76
2:09.35	2:10.64	200m Breaststroke	2:23.49	2:24.92
51.06	51.57	100m Butterfly	57.38	57.95
1:54.69	1:55.84	200m Butterfly	2:08.15	2:09.43
1:57.54	1:58.72	200m Individual Medley	2:09.90	2:11.20
4:11.52	4:14.04	400m Individual Medley	4:37.33	4:40.10

For each of the new Olympic events (50m backstroke, 50m breaststroke, 50m butterfly), six athletes of each gender will receive direct qualification based on results during 2027 World Cup competitions. Additional athletes can only enter one of the new events if they have achieved the Minimum Time Standard for that new event and have qualified for another event at LA 2028.

Men’s Minimum Time Standard	Event	Women’s Minimum Time Standard
25.35	50m Backstroke	28.59
27.71	50m Breaststroke	31.33
23.55	50m Butterfly	26.57

Relay Event Qualification

Qualification for relay events is allocated to the NOC. Each relay event will have 12 directly qualified teams, based on fastest times in the heats of each relay event at the 2027 World Aquatics Championships.

An NOC that does not directly qualify a team for a particular relay event can enter a team if the NOC has enough athletes qualified in individual events to form a relay team.

Swimming – Open Water

Men’s Events	Women’s Events
10km	10km

Total Athletes: 44 (22 men, 22 women)
Maximum Athletes per NOC: 4 (2 men, 2 women)

Quota spots are allocated to the athletes by name.

World Aquatics Open Water Swimming Olympic Qualification System

2027 World Aquatics Championships	June 26-July 18, 2027 in Budapest, Hungary	Top 3 athletes per gender
Open Water Swimming World Ranking	On February 1, 2028	Top ranked athlete per gender not yet qualified
Olympic Games Qualification Event	Date and location TBD	18 spots available per gender: • Highest placed athlete from each of the five continents (maximum one per continent) • Highest finishing athletes to fill remaining quota spots

Table Tennis

Men’s Events	Women’s Events	Mixed Events
Singles Doubles	Singles Doubles	Doubles Team

Total Athletes: 172 (86 men, 86 women)
Maximum Athletes per NOC: 6 (3 men, 3 women)

Quota spots in the singles events are allocated to the athletes by name. Quota spots in the doubles and team events are allocated to the NOC. A mixed team quota entitles the NOC to two singles quota spots per gender.

An NOC can enter a maximum of two athletes in each of the men’s and women’s individual events, a maximum of one pair in each of the men’s and women’s doubles events, a maximum of two pairs in mixed doubles, and a maximum of one team of six athletes in the mixed team event.

ITTF Table Tennis Olympic Qualification System

Mixed Team Qualification	2027 Pan American Qualification Event	Date and location TBD (June 1-October 31, 2027)	Top ranked NOC
	2027 Mixed Team World Cup	Date and location TBD (November 15-December 20, 2027)	Top 6 NOCs not yet qualified
	World Ranking	January 2028	Top 2 NOCs not yet qualified
			2 NOCs with the maximum number of players already qualified in either singles, doubles, or mixed doubles
Mixed Doubles Qualification	2028 Pan American Qualification Event	Date and location TBD (June 1, 2027-February 28, 2028)	Top ranked NOC
	2028 World Qualification Event	Date and location TBD (March 15-May 7, 2028)	Top 4 NOCs
	World Ranking	On March 13, 2028	Top 2 NOCs not yet qualified NOCs that have 2 pairs in the top 8 of the world ranking will receive a second quota spot when all 4 athletes are among the 6 quota spots per gender; if not, then the spot goes to the next highest ranked mixed doubles pair
Men’s and Women’s Doubles Qualification	2028 Pan American Qualification Event	Date and location TBD (June 1, 2027-February 28, 2028)	Top ranked NOC per gender
	2028 World Qualification Event	Date and location TBD (March 15-May 7, 2028)	Top 4 NOCs per gender
	World Rankings	On March 13, 2028	Top 2 NOCs per gender not yet qualified For each gender, 4 additional pairs will qualify from NOCs with two qualified singles player of that gender
Men’s and Women’s Singles Qualification			Each NOC that has qualified through the team qualification pathway will receive two singles quotas per gender
	2028 Pan American Qualification Event	Date and location TBD (January 4-February 28, 2028)	4 quota spots per gender
	Singles World Rankings	On June 5, 2028	Up to 10 athletes, pending number of quota spots available after the allocation of doubles quotas

Taekwondo

Men’s Events	Women’s Events
-58kg -68kg -80kg +80kg	-49kg -57kg -67kg +67kg

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 can qualify a maximum of one athlete per event.

World Taekwondo Olympic Qualification System

An NOC can only earn the maximum number of quota spots via global qualification procedures. An NOC can only qualify up to two athletes per gender via continental qualification procedures.

Twenty quota spots per gender will be allocated to the NOCs of the top five athletes in each weight category in the World Taekwondo Olympic Ranking in January 2028 (following the Grand Prix Final in December 2027).

Four quota spots per gender will be allocated through the Grand Slam Champions Series in December 2027. The top ranked eligible athlete per weight category will earn quota spots for their NOC.

The remaining quota spots will be allocated via Continental Qualification Tournaments. For Pan America, the top two athletes in each weight category will earn quota spots for their NOC.

Tennis

Men’s Events	Women’s Events	Mixed Events
Singles Doubles	Singles Doubles	Doubles

Total Athletes: 172 (86 men, 86 women)
Maximum Athletes per NOC: 12 (6 men, 6 women)

ITF Tennis Olympic Qualification System

Quota spots are allocated to the athletes by name. An NOC can qualify a maximum of four athletes in each of the men’s and women’s singles events, a maximum of two teams in each of the men’s and women’s doubles events, and a maximum of one team in mixed doubles.

Most quota spots will be allocated as Direct Acceptances based on the ATP (men) and WTA (women) rankings on June 12, 2028.

In each of the men’s and women’s 64-player singles tournaments, there will be 56 spots for Direct Acceptances. There can be four quota spots per singles event for continental qualification, including one per event via the 2027 Pan American Games. Two quota spots per event are reserved for Olympic gold medallists or Grand Slam champions who did not qualify via their ATP or WTA singles ranking.

In each the men’s and women’s 32-team doubles tournaments, Direct Acceptances will be given to the top 10 athletes in each of the ATP and WTA Doubles Rankings, provided they have an eligible partner. There will be 14 more spots in each tournament allocated based on team Combined Ranking, which is determined by adding together the best Singles or Doubles Ranking of the two team members. How the remaining spots in the draws are allocated is dependent on whether the overall total athlete quota has been met. Athletes qualified in singles could be considered for doubles.

Entries for the 16-team mixed doubles tournament will be selected from athletes who have already qualified for the men’s and women’s singles or doubles tournaments. There will be 15 Direct Acceptances based on team Combined Ranking.

Triathlon

Men’s Events	Women’s Events	Mixed Events
Individual	Individual	Mixed Relay

Total Athletes: 110 (55 men, 55 women)
Maximum Athletes per NOC: 6 (3 men, 3 women)

Quota spots are allocated to the NOC. An NOC can only qualify three spots for a gender if it has three athletes ranked in the top 30 of the World Triathlon Individual Olympic Qualification Ranking on May 18, 2028. Otherwise, there is a maximum of two athletes per gender. Any NOC with at least two men and two women qualified is eligible to enter the mixed relay.

World Triathlon Olympic Qualification System

Mixed Relay Qualification	2026 World Triathlon Mixed Relay Championships	July 12, 2026 in Hamburg, Germany	Top ranked NOC qualifies 2 spots per gender
	2027 World Triathlon Mixed Relay Championships	Date and location TBD	Top ranked NOC not yet qualified qualifies 2 spots per gender
	World Triathlon Mixed Relay Olympic Qualification Ranking	On May 18, 2028 (counting results back to May 18, 2026)	Highest ranked NOC from each of the five continents qualifies 2 spots per gender (if an NOC from that continent is not yet allocated quota spots and the NOC is ranked in the top 15) Remaining quota spots (2 per gender, up to 8 NOCs total) will be allocated to the highest ranked NOCs not yet qualified
Individual Qualification	World Triathlon Individual Olympic Qualification Ranking	On May 18, 2028 (counting results back to May 18, 2026)	Top 21 eligible athletes per gender earn quotas for their NOC
	2027 Pan American Games	July 23-August 8, 2027 in Lima, Peru	Top ranked NOC per gender not yet qualified
	World Triathlon Ranking	On May 18, 2028	5 spots per gender, allocated to top ranked NOC from each continent not yet qualified

Volleyball

Men’s Events	Women’s Events
Volleyball	Volleyball

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.

FIVB Volleyball Olympic Qualification System

2026 NORCECA Volleyball Championship	Women: August 19-30, 2026 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic Men: September 9-20, 2026 in Moncton, New Brunswick	Champion NOC per gender
2027 FIVB Volleyball World Cup	Women: August 20-September 5, 2027 in Canada and United States Men: September 10-26, 2027 in Poland	Top 3 NOCs per gender
FIVB Volleyball World Ranking	June 2028 (after preliminary phase of Volleyball Nations League)	Top 3 NOCs per gender not yet qualified (with priority to continents without a qualified team)

Water Polo

Men’s Events	Women’s Events
Water Polo	Water Polo

Total Teams: 12 men, 12 women

Quota spots are allocated to the NOC. An NOC can qualify one team per gender.

World Aquatics Water Polo Olympic Qualification System

2027 World Aquatics Water Polo World Cup	February 24-28, 2027 in location TBD	Top ranked NOC per gender
2027 World Aquatics Championships	June 26-July 9, 2027 in Budapest, Hungary	Top 2 NOCs per gender not yet qualified
Pan American Qualification Event	Date and location TBD	Top ranked NOC per gender not yet qualified
2028 World Aquatics World Qualifier	April 3-9, 2028 and April 17-23, 2028 in location TBD	Top 3 NOCs per gender not yet qualified

Weightlifting

Men’s Events	Women’s Events
65kg 75kg 85kg 95kg 110kg +110kg	53kg 61kg 69kg 77kg 86kg +86kg

Total Athletes: 120 (60 men, 60 women)
Maximum Athletes per NOC: 6 (3 men, 3 women)

Quota spots are allocated to the athletes by name. There is a maximum of 10 entries per weight category. An NOC can qualify a maximum of one athlete in a weight category.

The IWF will announce a Best Man Lifter and a Best Woman Lifter of the Qualification Period. If an NOC whose athlete is awarded a Best Lifter title has already reached the maximum quota of three athletes for that gender, the NOC will receive one additional quota spot (allowing the NOC to have up to four quota spots for that gender).

IWF Weightlifting Olympic Qualification System

All quota spots will be allocated based on the IWF Olympic Qualification Ranking (OQR) on May 7, 2028. The Qualification Period dating back to July 27, 2026 will be divided into two sub-periods. An athlete’s three best total results from Period 1 and two best total results from Period 2 will be included in the OQR.

The top 8 athletes in the OQR in each weight category will qualify. To ensure continental representation, the highest ranked athlete in a weight category whose continent is not represented in the top 8 of that event will qualify.

Wrestling

Men’s Events	Women’s Events
Freestyle 57kg Freestyle 65kg Freestyle 74kg Freestyle 86kg Freestyle 97kg Freestyle 125kg Greco-Roman 60kg Greco-Roman 67kg Greco-Roman 77kg Greco-Roman 87kg Greco-Roman 97kg Greco-Roman 130kg	Freestyle 50kg Freestyle 53kg Freestyle 57kg Freestyle 62kg Freestyle 68kg Freestyle 76kg

Total Athletes: 288 (192 men, 96 women)
Maximum Athletes per NOC: 18 (12 men, 6 women)