For many athletes, the European Para Championships are a ‘battle within a battle’. They will be giving it their all for the title of European Champion, but in the back of their head they’ll possibly already be thinking of the next battle: qualification for the 2024 Paris Paralympics. Here’s how athletes from the ten sports featured at EPC 2023 can qualify, or aid their qualification, at EPC:
1. Wheelchair Basketball
In Wheelchair Basketball, there’s two spots available for both the men’s and women’s teams. This means, simply put, that any team winning their semi final and qualifying for the final, also qualify for the Paralympics next year. This should mean the semi finals will feature four teams playing their very best basketball in an effort to win a double reward at the end of the match!
The women’s semi finals are scheduled for 16th August, 17:30 & 20:00.
The men’s semi finals are scheduled for 17th August, 12:30 & 15:00.
2. Para Badminton
As for para badminton: their system of qualification for Paris 2024 is through point collection during the qualification period. So, players competing at the European Para Championships have an extra opportunity to collect points to aid their bid for their Paralympics participation.
3. Boccia
During the Boccia tournament, it will be the gold medalists in Teams and Pairs competitions, who will qualify for Paris.
The finals are scheduled for Sunday 13th August and will be played in the centre of Rotterdam, at the Schouwburgplein!
4. Para Judo
For Para Judo, a similar process to Para Badminton is in effect. During the EPC, judoka’s will be able to collect points counting towards the world ranking, which will determine whether they will participate in Paris next year.
5. Para Archery
For Para Archery, specific qualification matches will take place at EPC that will grant points towards qualification for Para Archery athletes. The following matches, all planned for 16th August, count towards their qualification chances:
09:00 – 12:00 Women’s Compound Open & Women’s Recurve Open & Men’s W1 & Women’s W1 (Ahoy Field 1)
14:00 – 18:30 Men’s Compound Open & Men’s Recurve Open (Ahoy Field 1)
6. Shooting Para Sport
In the Shooting Para Sport tournament, the winners of the R1, R2, R4 and P1, P2 events will earn a qualification spot for their national Paralympic committee. In further detail:
Rifle
In the R1 and R2 events, the top one (1) ranked athlete (not otherwise qualified) in each medal event obtains one (1) qualification slot for their national Paralympic committee. This applies to 1 male and 1 female spot.
In the R4 event, the top one (1) ranked male athlete and the top one (1) ranked female athlete (not otherwise qualified) in each medal event obtains one (1) qualification slot for their NPC.This applies to 1 male and 1 female spot.
Pistol
In the P1 and P2 events, the top one (1) ranked athlete (not otherwise qualified) in each medal event obtains one (1) qualification slot for their NPC. This applies to 1 male and 1 female spot.
7. Wheelchair Tennis
The qualification conditions for the Wheelchair Tennis tournament are quite simple: both the men’s and women’s singles champions will earn a direct qualification spot for the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games.
The finals are played on Sunday 13th august.
8. Para Taekwondo
Like Para Badminton and Para Judo, the Para Taekwondo system of qualification for Paris 2024 is through point collection during the qualification period. So, players competing at the European Para Championships have an extra opportunity to collect points to aid their bid for their Paralympics participation.
9. Para Cycling
To be able to qualify for the Paris Paralympics in Para Cycling, athletes must compete and score points at both the 2022 and 2023 European Championships. These points will combine and count towards a ranking where the qualification will be based upon.
10. Goalball (Division C Championship)
The top 3 teams at the end of the goalball tournament at EPC are promoted to Division B.
