Road to Paris 2024: Get the latest on the qualification for the Paralympics

The Paris 2024 Paralympic Games are less than 230 days away, and athletes are preparing to put on an exceptional show. The Paris 2024 Paralympics, which will take place from 28 August to 8 September, are expected to see about 4,400 athletes from a record number of National Paralympic Committees (NPCs). 

But before the athletes participate in the Opening Ceremony, they must first qualify. As excitement builds for the first summer Paralympics in France, get to know the major qualification events taking place before the Games, and learn how the qualification process works in the 22 sports on the programme. 

Para archery 

A total of 140 athletes will compete across nine medal events at Paris 2024. The 2023 Para Archery World Championships, which took place in Pilsen, Czech Republic, in July, served as the largest qualification event in the sport. Continental Qualification Tournaments were also held in Asia, the Americas and Europe last year. 

Qualification continues this year, with the 2024 Africa/Oceania qualifier and the final world qualification tournament taking place before the Paralympics. 

Para athletics 

The Paris 2024 Paralympics will feature 164 medal events and 1,069 athletes in Para athletics.  

The 2023 World Para Athletics Championships, which took place between 8 and 17 July, served as the largest qualification event on the calendar last year. The top four ranked athletes in each of the individual medal events on the Paris 2024 Games programme, excluding the marathon events, obtained one qualification slot for their respective NPCs.

There are more qualification slots available in 2024, at the World Championships in Kobe, Japan, held just three months prior to the Paralympics. The top two ranked athletes in individual medal events can earn slots for their NPCs. However, athletes who have obtained a qualification slot at Paris 2023 cannot obtain an additional slot for their NPCs in Kobe.

Para badminton 

Para badminton players from around the world are preparing to take the spotlight in Paris, after the sport made its Paralympic debut at Tokyo 2020. Players can qualify for the Paralympics via three different pathways; by placing highly in singles and doubles in the Race to Paris ranking list (taking into account NPC quotas) and through biparte invitations.

The Race to Paris Paralympic ranking lists will be published on 2 April 2024. The ranking lists are based on the results between 1 January 2023 and 31 March 2024. The highest ranked pairs in the men’s, women’s and mixed doubles rankings will earn qualification slots along with the best players from the singles ranking list.

Blind football 

Concluding with Santiago 2023, which took place in November last year, all qualification tournaments in blind football for Paris 2024 were completed. Tokyo 2020 gold medallists Brazil, silver medallists Argentina and bronze medallists Morocco have earned slots, along with hosts France, China, Japan, Colombia and Turkiye.

Boccia 

Four regional qualification tournaments were held in 2023. Thirteen countries, including Paris 2024 hosts France, qualified for the 14 slots already awarded through those competitions.

The World Boccia Teams and Pairs World Ranking List, which closed on 31 December 2023, will be used to award 13 slots to NPCs not already qualified.  A total of 16 individual slots (eight females and eight males) will be awarded through the World Boccia Individual Ranking List - these spaces will be allocated to athletes whose NPC did not qualify a team or pair. The athletes are expected to be announced in the beginning of June.

A final qualification tournament will take place in late March in Portugal to award another three slots per team, pair BC3 and pair BC4 classification. The remainder of the 124 slots will be awarded via the bipartite application.

Para canoe 

Sixty slots – 30 for men and 30 for women – for Paris 2024 were decided last year at the 2023 ICF Paracanoe World Championships in Duisburg, Germany, in August. Twenty-three NPCs have earned at least one slot for the Paralympic Games, where 10 gold medals in the sport will be up for grabs. Algeria has secured its first-ever quota, after Brahim Guendouz captured bronze in the men’s KL3 race in Duisburg.

Qualification will continue this year at the 2024 ICF Paracanoe World Championships in Szeged, Hungary, in May.

Para cycling 

A total of 75 slots have already been allocated to NPCs based on the UCI Para-cycling Nations Ranking Lists, which closed on 31 December 2022.

In 2023 and 2024, a male and female ranking including all UCI Para-cycling World Championships and UCI Para-cycling Road World Cups is currently in progress with 135 slots available. Three (3) Road world cups and the UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships in Rio de Janeiro are four key events still to count for the ranking in 2024.

The remaining slots, except for five male and five female biparte slots, will be awarded based on the 2024 UCI Paralympic Ranking, which will close on 30 June 2024. The ranking will cover results from competitions including the 2023 UCI Para-cycling Road World Championships, as well as the 2023 and 2024 UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships.

Para equestrian 

The FEI Para Dressage World Championship 2022 in Herning, Denmark, was the largest qualification event and saw each of the top seven teams earn four slots for their respective NPCs. The Netherlands, Denmark, USA, Great Britain, Belgium, Germany and Italy secured their places for Paris 2024 for a total of 28 athletes.

The FEI Para Dressage European Championship, held in Riesenbeck, Germany, in September 2023, served as a qualification opportunity with Sweden earning their ticket to the Games.

While host country France has already secured its place at the Paralympic Games, the remaining six team qualification slots will be distributed as follows: the highest ranked team from the regions of Africa, Americas, Asia and Oceania, and the two highest teams from the FEI Paralympic Team Ranking List as of 31 December 2023.

Goalball

Paris 2024 will feature eight teams, including Paralympic Games hosts France, each in both the men’s and women’s tournaments. Four teams – Brazil and China (men), and Republic of Korea and Turkiye (women) - secured their place in Paris through the IBSA Goalball World Championships in December 2022.

The USA, Japan, Islamic Republic of Iran, Egypt and Ukraine have also qualified for the men’s competition. Canada, Japan, China and Israel have qualified for the women’s tournament.

Para judo

Qualification in Para judo is based on the IBSA Judo World Ranking List to close on 24 June 2024. Slots for 54 male athletes and 48 female athletes will be allocated based on the rankings list, while France will receive slots as the host country.

The Paralympic year for Para judo will kick off with the 2024 IBSA Judo Grand Prix, which will be held from 14-19 February in Heidelberg, Germany.

Para powerlifting

The top eight athletes in each medal event on the World Para Powerlifting Paralympic Ranking List closing on 26 June 2024 will each obtain one qualification slot.

Para athletes are required to compete in two of the six World Para Powerlifting sanctioned competitions (World Cups) held between February and June 2024. The first World Cup of 2024 will be held in Dubai from 28 February-7 March.

Para rowing

The 2023 World Rowing Championships, which took place in Belgrade, Serbia, in September, served as the largest qualification event of 2023. The highest ranked boats in each medal event secured slots for the Paralympics. The Africa Continental Qualification Regatta also took place in Tunisia, in October.

In 2024, three Continental Qualification Regattas will be held between March and April, followed by the 2024 Final Paralympic Qualification Regatta that will take place in Lucerne, Switzerland, from 19-21 May.

Shooting Para sport

Five qualifying opportunities took place in shooting Para sport in 2023. A total of 33 athletes earned direct qualification slots for their NPCs at the 2023 WSPS World Championships in Lima, Peru. Athletes can also secure slots this year by competing at the 2024 WSPS European Championships in Granada, Spain, and the New Delhi 2024 WSPS World Cup.

Para swimming

The highlight event in Para swimming last year was the 2023 World Para Swimming World Championships, which took place in Manchester from 31 July to 6 August. The top two ranked athletes in each medal event included in the Paris 2024 Paralympic programme secured slots for their respective NPCs. Twenty-two new records were created in the swimming pool over the seven days, building excitement for the Paralympics next year.

Most remaining slots will be distributed after 31 January 2024 based on the fastest times recorded by Para swimmers over the previous 16 months.

Para table tennis 

In 2023, a total of 47 male and 32 female athletes, including reigning Paralympic champions, secured slots for Paris 2024. They secured tickets to the Paralympic Games through the 2023 Regional Championships and the VIRTUS Global Games.

An additional 71 male and 24 female athletes will earn qualification slots through the ITTF PTT Male Ranking Lists and Female Ranking Lists as of 1 April 2024. The Doubles Ranking Lists on the same date will also generate another 17 male and 19 female slots. And finally, there will be a Paralympic Qualification Tournament in May 2024.

Para taekwondo

In Para taekwondo, 60 qualification slots will be given out to NPCs based on the World Para Taekwondo Paralympic Ranking list released in January 2024. The top six athletes in the K44 sport class in each weight category will earn slots for their NPCs.

Athletes not qualifying through the World Para Taekwondo Paralympic Ranking will still have a chance to secure slots for Paris. At the five Continental Qualification Tournaments, to be held between February and April 2024, winners in each medal event will earn one slot for their NPCs. 

Para triathlon 

Para triathletes have been collecting qualification points since the 12-month Paralympic qualification period started on 1 July 2023. Most of the 120 slots will be allocated to NPCs based on the World Triathlon Paralympic Qualification Rankings as of 1 July 2024.

The Road to Paris for Para triathletes will continue in 2024 with the qualification race calendar (including all World Triathlon Para Cup and World Triathlon Para Series races) up until and including the 2024 World Triathlon Para Series Montreal.

Sitting volleyball 

Eleven of the 16 teams have been named for the men’s and women’s sitting volleyball tournaments in Paris. In the men’s event, hosts France will be joined by Tokyo 2020 gold medallists Islamic Republic of Iran, Brazil, Kazakhstan, as well as Bosnia and Herzegovina. Reigning Paralympic champions USA, France, Brazil, China, Italy and Canada have qualified for the women’s event.

Two qualification events will take place in 2024 to determine the remaining slots. The Africa Zonal Championships will be held in Lagos, Nigeria, from 29 January to 3 February before the Final Paralympic Qualification Event takes place in China, in April 2024.

Wheelchair basketball 

Paris 2024 will see eight teams each in the men’s and women’s tournaments. Last year, three teams from each gender secured direct tickets to Paris. Bo Kramer and Mariska Beijer helped reigning Paralympic champions Netherlands earn a slot in the women’s event by winning the European Para Championships. European silver medallists Great Britain and Parapan American Games champions USA have also qualified. Great Britain, Spain and the USA have direct tickets to the men’s competition.  

The 2024 IWBF Asia Oceania Championship, scheduled from 12-20 January, will determine the fourth direct ticket to Paris 2024 for both the men’s and women’s competitions. Following that, the final four spots for each gender will be determined in the Men’s and Women’s Repechage Tournaments. The men’s tournament will take place in Antibes, France, from 12-15 April, while the women’s tournament will be held in Osaka, Japan, between 17 and 20 April.

Wheelchair fencing

Most qualification slots will be allocated based on the Individual Paralympic Ranking List, to close on 31 May 2024. It covers results achieved over the previous 20 months. The top-ranked male and female athletes from each region in each individual medal event from the top 30 will earn slots in their best weapon. Following this, the three highest-ranked athletes in each medal event will also earn qualification slots to the Paralympic Games.

As the host country, France can directly qualify three male and three female athletes if they have not already qualified. After allocation of all individual slots and to secure the viability of the team events, a maximum of eight eligible male and eight eligible female athletes will be allocated one slot each. These slots will be allocated to athletes who can complete in a team together with other athletes from the same NPC.

Qualified athletes with a slot are allowed to participate in a second or third weapon if they are ranked in the top 30 in these weapon(s) and the maximum number of athletes for these events is not exceeded.

Wheelchair rugby 

Five of the eight teams have been selected for the wheelchair rugby tournament. France has earned a slot as host country of the Games while four teams earned slots through zonal championships that took place in 2023. The USA qualified by winning the Parapan American Games Santiago 2023, Japan by topping the Asia-Oceania Championship and Great Britain and Denmark through the European Zone Championship Division A.

The three highest-placed teams from the 2024 WWR Paralympic Qualification Tournament in Wellington, New Zealand, in March 2024 will also qualify for the Games.  

Wheelchair tennis 

While most of the qualification slots will be given out based on the Wheelchair Tennis Singles World Ranking List that will be released on 15 July 2024, several athletes have already booked their tickets by winning the men’s or women’s singles at one of the four Regional Games this year.

Dutch reigning Paralympic champion Diede de Groot earned a slot in the women’s singles by winning the event at the European Para Championships. Tokyo 2020 silver medallist Yui Kamiji (Japan), Najwa Awane (Morocco), and Dana Mathewson (USA) have qualified for Paris 2024.

Japan’s teenage sensation Tokito Oda has captured a slot for the men’s draw, along with Gustavo Fernandez (Argentina), Alwande Sikhosana (South Africa) and Ruben Spaargaren (Netherlands).