How to qualify for boxing at Paris 2024. The Olympic qualification system explained
Boxing is one of the oldest sports on the Olympic programme, with its roots having been traced back to Ancient Egypt in around 3000 BC. Over two millennia later, the sport made its Olympic debut at the Ancient Olympic Games and has been a mainstay of the modern Olympic programme since the 1904 Games in St. Louis.
Women’s boxing was added to the Olympic programme at London 2012 and Paris 2024 will see an equal number of men and women competing for gold.
Find out everything you need to know about the pathway to qualification below.
How many athletes will compete in boxing at Paris 2024?
A total of 248 boxers will compete in boxing at Paris 2024, with 124 women and 124 men taking part. France, as host nation, have secured six automatic quotas for the Games - three for men and three for women, while there will also be nine Universality Places awarded, with five for women and four for men.
In total, each NOC can qualify 13 athletes for Paris 2024, with six women (one per event) and seven men (one per event).
The number of athletes per weight class is as follows.
Women’s weight categories
Flyweight 50kg (22 quota places)
Bantamweight 54kg (22 quota places)
Featherweight 57kg (22 quota places)
Lightweight 60kg (22 quota places)
Welterweight 66kg (20 quota places)
Middleweight 75kg (16 quota places)
Total (124)
Men’s weight categories
Flyweight 51kg (16 quota places)
Featherweight 57kg (18 quota places)
Lightweight 63.5kg (20 quota places)
Welterweight 71kg (20 quota places)
Middleweight 80kg (18 quota places)
Heavyweight 92kg (16 quota places)
Super heavyweight +92kg (16 quota places)
Total (124)
The distribution of quotas for the men’s and women’s boxing competitions will be as follows
Women's quota distribution
Men's quota distribution
What is the qualification pathway for Paris 2024?
Continental qualification tournaments
A total of 139 athletes (75 women and 64 men) will qualify through the continental qualification tournaments. These include:
Europe: European Games - 23 June to 2 July 2023, Krakow, Poland.
Africa: Boxing African Qualifier - 9-15 September 2023, Dakar, Senegal.
Asia: Asian Games - 23 September to 8 October 2023, Hangzhou, People's Republic of China.
Americas: Pan American Games - 20 October to 5 November 2023, Santiago, Chile.
Oceania: Pacific Games - 27 November to 2 December 2023, Honiara, Solomon Islands.
1st World Qualification Tournament
A further 50 athletes will qualify through the 1st World Qualification Tournament, including 22 women and 28 men. This will be held in Busto Arzizio, Italy from 29 February to 12 March 2024.
NOCs who have not qualified an athlete for a specific weight category through their continental qualification tournament will be eligible to enter one athlete per weight category.
2nd World Qualification Tournament
Between 45 and 51 athletes (20-23 women and 25-28 men) will qualify through the 2nd World Qualification Tournament, which is scheduled for the Thai capital Bangkok from 23 May to 3 June 2024.
NOCs who have not qualified an athlete for a specific weight category through their continental qualification tournament or the 1st WQT will be eligible to enter one athlete per weight category.
The total number of available quota place will be defined following the confirmation of Host Country quota places.
Host country and Universality places
France, as hosts of Paris 2024, will be guaranteed a maximum of six quota places (three for women and three for men) provided the athlete eligibility criteria is met. For more information on the process, refer to section D2 in this document.
Nine Universality places (five for women and four for men) will also be made available to eligible NOCs, with NOCs invited to submit their requests between 1 October 2023 and 15 January 2024. Confirmation of Universality places will take place on 7 June 2024.
What is the Paris 2024 boxing competition format and schedule?
The Paris 2024 boxing competition will take between 27 July and 10 August in the Roland-Garros Stadium and the North Paris Arena.
For all weight classes, the boxing competition will follow a knockout format, with preliminary rounds (round of 32 and round of 16) followed by quarter-finals, semi-finals and finals. Finals will decide the winners of the gold and silver medals, while each losing semi-finalist will receive a bronze medal.
Boxers to look out for at Paris 2024
The most successful nations in Olympic boxing history are the United States (117 medals with 50 golds) and Cuba (78 medals with 41 golds). The latter have included women in their training programme for Paris 2024, so the prospect of an even greater haul of medals at Paris 2024 is strong.
Watch out for the return of the likes of Julio César la Cruz (heavyweight), Roniel Iglesias (welterweight) and Arlen Lopez (light heavyweight), three Cuban Olympic champions who could all make a return for the competition next year in France.
Speaking of France, the hosts of next year’s Games will have their hopes pinned on the likes of Sofiane Oumiha (lightweight) and Estelle Mossely (lightweight) - both of whom won medals at Rio 2016, with Mossely winning gold and Oumiha, who is also the reigning world champion, silver.
Beatriz Ferreira will be a strong contender for Brazil, having won the world championship at lightweight in 2019 and 2023, as well as Olympic silver in Tokyo.
Also watch out for Republic of Korea’s Oh Yeon-Ji, a two-time lightweight world bronze medallist and three-time Asian world champion.
Another name you should follow closely is Italy’s Irma Testa, who won featherweight bronze at Tokyo 2020.
Boxing qualification timeline for Paris 2024
1 May 2023: Olympic qualification period starts
23 June-2 July 2023: European boxing qualification event - European Games, Krakow
5 July 2023: IOC to inform the NOCs of their allocated quota places obtained at the European boxing qualification event
19 July 2023: Deadline for NOCs to confirm to IOC the use of the quota place obtained in the European qualification event
9-15 September 2023: African boxing qualification event - Boxing Africa Qualifier, Dakar, Senegal.
23 September-8 October 2023: Asian boxing qualification event - Asian Games, Hangzhou, People's Republic of China
1 October 2023: IOC to invite all eligible NOCs to submit their requests for Tripartite Commission Universality Places
11 October 2023: IOC to inform the NOCs of their allocated places obtained at the Asian boxing qualification event
20 October-5 November 2023: Americas boxing qualification event - Pan-American Games, Santiago, Chile
8 November 2023: IOC to inform the NOCs of their allocated quota places obtained at the Americas boxing qualification event
22 November 2023: Deadline for NOCs to confirm to the IOC the use of the quota place obtained in Americas qualification event
27 November-2 December 2023: Oceanian boxing qualification event - Pacific Games, Honiara, Solomon Islands
6 December 2023: IOC to inform the NOCs to confirm to IOC the use of the quota place obtained in Oceanian qualification event
15 January 2024: Deadline for eligible NOCs to submit their requests for Tripartitie Commission Universality Places
3 days following the event: IOC to inform the NOCs of their allocated quota places obtained at the African qualification event
29 February-12 March 2024: 1st World Qualification Tournament, Busto Arzizio, Italy.
3 days following the event: IOC to inform the NOCs of their allocated places obtained at the 1st WQT
2 weeks following the allocation: Deadline for NOCs to confirm to IOC the use of the quota place obtained at the 1st WQT
Same deadline as NOC confirmation of quota places obtained at the 1st WQT: Deadline for Host Country quota places to be confirmed
23 May-3 June 2024: 2nd World Qualification Tournament, Bangkok, Thailand.
3 days following the event: IOC to inform the NOCs of their allocated quota places obtained at 2nd WQT
2 weeks following the allocation: Deadline for NOCs to confirm to IOC the use of the quota place obtained ast the 2nd WQT
31 May 2024: Olympic qualification period ends
7 June 2024: Tripartite Commission to confirm NOCs of allocated Universality Places
8 July 2024: Paris 2024 Sport Entries deadline
26 July-11 August 2024: Olympic Games Paris 2024
Find out more about the qualification system for other sports that will feature at Paris 2024.