Learn › Track 08 · Road to the Olympics
From quota to Olympian
You won your nation’s only men’s air pistol place at Doha in November 2026. Eighteen months later, in the national selection trials, your teammate outshoots you three matches out of three.
Think first: Who goes to LA28?
- You. You won the place.
- Whoever the NOC selects under its own selection rules
- Both of you: the ISSF adds a place for the trial winner
From quota to start list
Between winning a place and walking out at the Games there are several steps. Most of them happen at home, not at an ISSF event.
- The nation wins places at qualifying events during the window, which closes on 1 May 2028.
- The NOC applies its selection rules to decide which athletes fill those places.
- Each selected athlete must hold the MQS: 565 for men, 560 for women, shot at an approved event inside the window.
- NOCs confirm which places they will use by 21 May 2028.
- Unused places are reallocated by 11 June 2028.
- Mixed teams are formed from athletes already entered in the individual events.
Ask for your NOC’s selection policy early, ideally before the qualification window opens. You need to know what counts: trials, ranking, specific events, or a panel decision. Then plan your season around it.
Two kinds of place
Most places belong to the NOC. Two kinds belong to a person.
- NOC places — World Championships, World Cups, continental events, host · The NOC chooses who fills them · Any athlete with the MQS can be selected · One quota may be swapped, within the same sex
- Named-athlete places — Olympic Ranking place · Universality place · Go to the athlete who earned or was invited for them · The NOC cannot hand them to a teammate
Think first: You earned your country’s place through the Olympic Ranking. Your NOC would prefer to send a teammate. Can it?
- Yes. All places belong to the NOC.
- No. Olympic Ranking places go to the named athlete.
- Yes, but only if the teammate has a higher ranking
Swaps stay within one sex
An NOC may swap one quota place, but only within the same sex. A men’s place can never become a women’s place, or the other way round.
Think first: Your NOC holds a women’s air pistol place but has no woman with the MQS. It has two strong men. Can it use the women’s place for a man?
- Yes. A place is a place.
- No. Swaps are only allowed within the same sex.
- Yes, if the IOC approves it
The exact swap rules (which events a place can move to, and the deadlines) are in the LA28 Qualification System. Check the current version with your NOC before relying on a swap.
The host place
The USA, as host, gets one place per event if a US athlete has the MQS and the USA has not qualified any other way in that event.
Think first: After every qualifying event, the USA has no women’s air pistol place. One US woman shot 562 at a World Cup in 2027. What happens?
- The USA has no entry in the event
- The host place can be used, because a US athlete has the MQS
- The USA receives two places as host
Mixed teams come last
Mixed teams are not a separate selection. They are built from athletes already entered individually. An NOC can enter at most two mixed teams, so it needs a man and a woman in the individual events for each team. See Mixed team.
- Most places belong to the NOC, which picks athletes under its own selection rules.
- Olympic Ranking and universality places go to named athletes and cannot be transferred.
- One quota may be swapped, only within the same sex.
- Every Olympian needs the MQS. NOCs confirm places by 21 May 2028; unused places are reallocated by 11 June 2028.
- Host: one US place per event if a US athlete has the MQS and the USA did not qualify otherwise.