How to qualify for track cycling at Paris 2024. The Olympics qualification system explained

Blink and you could miss it!

Track cycling is considered one of the fastest Olympic sports and titles may be decided in some events by mere seconds.

A total of 12 track cycling events will feature at Paris 2024 (six for men and six for women) - the exact same number ass Tokyo 2020. There will also be the same number of male and female athletes in Paris, with 95 per gender.

Track cycling will feature three endurance and three sprint events, with three individual events and three team events.

Speed, balance, tactics and thrilling competition will all come into play at Paris 2024. However one big unknown is the names of those who will compete at the National Velodrome as the cyclists first have to qualify for the Games between 9 July 2022 to 14 April 2024.

Find out the answers to the most asked questions about the qualification system of track cycling for Paris 2024.

How many track cyclists will compete at Paris 2024?

A total of 190 track cyclists will compete at Paris 2024, with an equal number of men and women (95 per gender).

There will be no host country quota places or universality places, meaning every single cyclist has to follow the same pathway in order to compete at the Games.

In the case of track cycling, quotas are allocated to the NOCs. After the qualification period, the NOCs or National Federations pick the athletes who will compete at the Games.

In principle, the maximum number of quotas per NOC is 14 (seven per gender), distributed as follows:

• 2 athletes per gender in sprint and keirin
• 1 athlete per gender in omnium
• 1 team (formed by 4 athletes) per gender in team pursuit
• 1 team (formed by 3 athletes) per gender in team sprint
• 1 team (formed by 2 athletes) per gender in madison

There may also be exceptions in which some NOCs have 16 athletes competing in track cycling. A maximum of one athlete per gender (two in total) per NOC may be added to the list if this/these athlete(s) have entered in a different cycling discipline.

An athlete coming from another cycling discipline may compete in track cycling events if his/her NOC has obtained a quota place in that event, if the limits of participation per NOC and per event are not exceeded and providing that the athlete eligibility requirements are met.

Find out more about eligibility requirements here.

What is the track cycling qualification pathway to Paris 2024?

There is just one route for the 190 athletes to qualify for track cycling events: the UCI Track Olympic Ranking 2022-2024. However, a specific UCI Track Olympic ranking by nations 2023-2024 is established for each of the sport's events.

To qualify athletes will need to earn points. These are some of the factors to take into account:

Events

Each UCI Track Olympic Ranking 2022-2024 will compile the points gained in the following events:

• The last two editions of the respective Continental Championships.
• The best two results in the UCI Track Nations Cup in each of the 2023 and 2024 seasons.
• The 2023 UCI Track World Championships.

Points scales

The value of the points obtained in these competitions is not equal. Each UCI Track Olympic Ranking 2022-2024 applies points scales, meaning points will be multiplied by each scale (except for the Nations Cups points, which will remain as they are). For the Continental Championships and the World Championship, the scale is as follows:

• Continental Championships points are multiplied by 0.75
• World Championship points are multiplied by 1.5

Number of athletes/teams

As quotas are for NOCs and not individual athletes, not all of the athletes from the same NOC competing in an event gain points for their NOC. Only the best athlete from a specific NOC in each individual competition and only the best team from a specific NOC in each team competition will score points for his/her NOC for the corresponding ranking.

Points allocation

As one athlete/team per NOC is taken into consideration at each competition, the ranking of any other cyclist will be disregarded. For example: if riders/teams from Great Britain are ranked first and second, the NOC ranked third will be allocated the points of the second British team.

Features of each ranking

Team sprint (24 quotas, 8 teams in total): the eight best ranked NOCs will each qualify a team of 3 athletes.

Sprint and keirin (7 sprint + 7 keirin): the seven highest ranked NOCs for each event, which have no quota in team sprint, will qualify one quota place in the respective event. In the case of sprint, the minimum allocation per continent must be respected (see below in 'Special Provisions')*.
These seven best NOCs in sprint will be given the right to enter one athlete in keirin, and vice versa. In both cases without an additional quota.
NOCs already qualified in team sprint are given the right to enter two athletes in each sprint and keirin events, taking into account that:

• The selected athletes must already be qualified for and entered in another track event or another cycling discipline.
• All quotas per NOC per event must be respected.

If all these points are taken into account, the total number of athletes taking part in sprint and keirin could reach a maximum of 30 athletes.

Team pursuit (40 quotas, 10 teams in total): the 10 best ranked NOCs will each qualify a team of four athletes.

Madison (10 quotas, five teams in total): the five highest ranked NOCs which have not qualified any quota places in team pursuit will each qualify a team formed by two athletes.
NOCs already qualified in team pursuit are given the right to enter one team (two athletes) in madison, taking into account that:

• The selected athletes must already be qualified for and entered in another track event or another cycling discipline.
• All quotas per NOC per event must be respected.

That means that the total number of teams taking part in madison could reach a maximum of 15.

Omnium (seven quota places): the seven highest ranked NOCs, respecting the minimum allocation per continent (see below in 'Special Provisions')*, and which have not directly qualified any quota places in madison, will each qualify one quota place.
The NOCs qualified in madison are given the right to enter one athlete in omnium taking into account that:

• The selected athletes must already be qualified for and entered in another track event or another cycling discipline.
• All quotas per NOC per event must be respected.

That means that the normal athletes of athletes taking part in omnium could reach a maximum of 22.

Side note: The connections between the events

When the qualification of a first event is connected with a potential qualification for a second event (which happens with team sprint to sprint and keirin; team pursuit to madison; and team pursuit or madison to omnium), the NOC concerned must confirm the participation in the first event in order to benefit from an automatic slot in the second (or third) event.

If the NOC does not confirm its participation in the first event, hey still have the possibility to qualify quota places for the second (or third) event through the normal qualifying process (the specific Olympic ranking for that event).

Special Provisions: continents representatives

Although there are no universality quotas in track cycling, that doesn't mean there will not be NOCs representatives for every continent. To assure that, there are two special provisions to take into account:

• Team sprint, sprint or keirin: in each gender, if a continent is not represented in any of these sprint type events, the highest NOC in the Olympic ranking for sprint of that continent will receive one quota place for the sprint event. Any such allocation will result in the corresponding deduction (max. one per NOC) of places allocated to NOCs through the Olympic ranking for sprint, in the reverse order of the latter.
• Team pursuit, madison or omnium: in each gender, if a continent is not represented in any of these endurance type events, the highest NOC in the Olympic ranking for omnium of that continent will receive one quota place in the omnium event. Any such allocation will result in the corresponding deduction (max. one per NOC) of places allocated to NOCs through the Olympic ranking for omnium, in the reverse order of the latter.

What is the Paris 2024 track cycling competition format and schedule?

There will be 12 track cycling medal events at Paris 2024 - the same as in Tokyo 2020. They are:

• Keirin (men and women)
• Omnium (men and women)
• Sprint (men and women)
• Team pursuit (men and women)
• Team sprint (men and women)
• Madison (men and women)

While keirin, sprint and team sprint are sprint type events, the rest are based on endurance.

The full track cycling competition will take place between the 5 and the 11 August 2024 at the National Velodrome (Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines Velodrome).

READ MORE: The competition schedule for Olympic Games Paris 2024 has been released

Track cyclists to watch at Paris 2024

The Tokyo 2020 track cycling competition saw old favourites from France, Great Britain, Italy and the Netherlands once again dominate the medal table, while Malaysia's Azizulhasni Awang and Japan's Kajihara Yumi brought home historic silvers in the men's keirin and women's omnium, respectively.

In Tokyo, Team GB took home seven medals including three golds, followed by the Netherlands who claimed six medals. As the two teams are also leading the world rankings this year, they will once again be favourites to dominate the podiums in Paris. However, the retirement of seven-time Olympic gold medallist Jason Kenny will be a big loss for Great Britain.

Dutch cyclists swept the titles in the men's individual and team sprint events. At Tokyo 2020, the current world no. 1 Harrie Lavreysen and no. 2 Jeffrey Hoogland not only earned gold and silver in the individual sprint but also guided the Dutch team to gold in the team sprint event. They will aim to defend their titles at Paris 2024.

France’s men are second on the all-time Olympic medal table with 67 medals including 28 golds, but they returned home from Tokyo without winning a single gold. Paris 2024 will offer them an excellent chance to bounce back on home soil.

In the women's event, there is a more diverse list of Tokyo 2020 medallists hailing from four different continents. Kajihara became the first female cyclist representing Japan to win a medal at the Olympics following her silver in front of home fans. She has revealed she will be aiming for gold in Paris.

Germany won one gold and a silver in the team pursuit and team sprint respectively at the Tokyo Games, and, at time of writing (June 2022), remain on top of the world ranking in both events.

New Zealand's Ellesse Andrew was the only female cyclist from Oceania to make the podium in Tokyo, when she won silver in keirin.

Track cycling qualification timeline to Paris 2024

• 9 Jul 2022 – 14 April 2024: Qualification period
• 15 April 2024: Final UCI Track Olympic Ranking 2022-2024
• 22 April 2024: The UCI to confirm in writing to the NOCs the quota places obtained
• 6 May 2024: The NOCs to confirm to the UCI the use of the allocated quota places.
• 13 May 2024: UCI to reallocate all unused quota 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