How athletes qualify and get selected
Selecting the Australian Olympic Team involves three distinct stages:
- Qualification controlled by the International Olympic Committee and International sporting Federations
- Nomination by the National sporting Federations
- Selection by the Australian Olympic Committee
All Athletes and Officials must sign and adhere to the Team Agreement.
Below is a high-level summary to explain how Australian athletes will qualify and then be selected for the 2012 Australian Olympic Team.
Step 1: Qualification (IOC/ International Federations)
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) recognises an International Federation (IF) for every Olympic sport. For example, athletics is controlled by the IAAF, the UCI manages all forms of cycling, and FIFA is the well-known international body that governs football.
Together with the IOC, respective IFs establish the Olympic qualification systems for their individual sports. The qualification window generally opens approximately 18 months before the Games- from January 2011 for most sports on the London Olympic program (the Games begin on 27 July, 2012).
The host nation enjoys an automatic entry into all events. Therefore, much like Australia’s most successful Team in Sydney 2000, Team Great Britain is poised to be one of the largest with over 500 athletes. Aside from this continuity, the IOC/ IF minimum qualifying standards vary between sports.
Achieving a specific ranking at a designated world championship event/s (or equivalent) in the lead up to the Games will often guarantee Olympic quota places. For example, the top three synchronised diving teams at the 2011 FINA Diving World Championships secure an Olympic berth for their nation. Other athletes can qualify by meeting objective criterion. This may involve “A standard” qualifying times in swimming and athletics, collecting sufficient points in ITU races in triathlon or placing in recognised qualification competitions.
However, the IOC’s “Sport for All” approach limits the number of athletes from each country per event. Continental quota places ensure all five continents (Africa, America, Asia, Europe and Oceania) are represented in most Olympic sports. Therefore as an example Australia may boast the world’s top three riders in a track cycling event, but only one athlete per nation may compete in each event at the London Olympic Games. For swimming it is a maximum of two athletes per nation.
But this approach can be a double-edged sword for Australia. Many Australian positions are secured through continental quota allocations with Australian teams among the strongest within the Oceania region.
If a National Olympic Committee does not accept an Olympic quota place or there are unclaimed positions, any remaining places are re-allocated. This generally occurs in the months or weeks immediately before the Games, often through Olympic Qualification Events.
In some sports, the athlete who qualifies the place, takes the place. In other sports one athlete’s performance may qualify the place for Australia but the athlete who will take the place is up to the National Federation. It is up to the National Federations to nominate to the AOC the athlete/s who meet the criteria and they believe should compete at the Games.
Step 2: Nomination (National Federations)
Once Australia has reached the qualifying standard and successfully earned an Olympic quota place, the National Federations become involved. The Australian Olympic Committee recognises a National Federation for each Olympic Sport. These include bodies such as Athletics Australia, Cycling Australia and the Football Federation of Australia.
Each federation develops their own selection process in consultation with the AOC and in line with the International Federation criteria to determine which athletes will take up the positions earned by Australia. Nominations are occasionally allocated to the person that won the place, but more often involve comparing athletes based on a hierarchy of recent world championship rankings, world cup points and national championship results.
Alternatively, sports such as swimming hold an Olympic Selection Event to determine the Team. This raised an interesting problem when Ian Thorpe tumbled off the blocks at the 2004 Athens Olympic Trials. It was only when Craig Stevens withdrew that Thorpe was then nominated to the AOC by Swimming Australia and subsequently able to go to Beijing to defend his 400m freestyle title.
Step 3: Selection (AOC)
The National Federations then submit their nominated athletes to the Australian Olympic Committee. Contractually, the AOC is the final authority for selection to the Australian Olympic Team.
The AOC applies its selection criteria and the selection committee comprising Team Chef de Mission Nick Green, Deputy Chef Chris Fydler and Chief Operating Officer Craig Phillips to officially select each athlete. The athlete must first sign the Team Agreement and then is Olympics bound.
Appeals
Throughout the Team selection process athletes have a right of appeal. Appeals may be made to the International Federation Appeals Tribunal for inconsistencies with the Olympic qualification system or the National Federation Appeals Tribunal for a dispute about nomination. For disputes about selection by the AOC, they can be reviewed by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). Athletes and Federations can seek review of the Tribunal decisions at the CAS.
Olympic Appeals Consultant
The AOC appoints Olympic Appeal Consultants for the Australian Olympic Teams.
The position has been established following review of our Olympic Team Selection process for the past few Games. This role as described in Clause 9 of the AOC Olympic Team Selection By-Law, is to be available to discuss with athletes contemplating an appeal, the reasons for their non-nomination by their National Federation (NF) to the AOC or non-selection by the AOC.
The Olympic Appeal Consultant will not provide legal advice to Athletes but ensure that the Athlete fully understands the reasons for the decision in question. The Olympic Appeal Consultant is to facilitate a consultative process between the Athlete and the NF or the AOC as the case may be.
The AOC and the NF are required to fully co-operate with the Olympic Appeal Consultant in this regard. The Olympic Appeals Consultants appointed for the 2012 Australian Olympic Team athletes can be contacted through their National Federation.
The details for the two consultants for the 2012 Australian Olympic Team are below:
Bruce Collins (Sydney) Brian Collis (Melbourne)
02 9232 3508 03 9225 8187