US men get short end of stick as Olympic qualification concludes

Photo: U.S. Ski & Snowboard

With the conclusion of the Olympic qualification period on Sunday, the reallocation process kicked into gear, bringing us closer to the final quota numbers awarded to each nation. As explained in an earlier piece by Ski Racing Media, the process works something like a draft, whereby available spots move down the mixed gender Olympic Winter Games 2022 Allocation List and nations choose to accept or refuse them.

Sixteen spots were reallocated to women, and only three spots to men. Germany and Canada accepted their additional spots for men, and if Norway refuses their spot (as they did with the women) it goes to Austria. That would bring Austria’s total team size to 21, one short of a full team, which only Switzerland will enjoy.  

For the women, it is a very different and more forgiving landscape. So far, of the 16 spots reallocated to women, Germany, Norway, Great Britain, Croatia and France have turned them down (France and Croatia each accepted one additional spot and also turned down additional spots). As it stands now, the U.S. women will gain two additional spots, maxing out their 11-person quota per gender, though only nine U.S. women have scored World Cup points this season. Eight men have scored World Cup points, but only six can make the trip to Beijing. In previous Olympics, the 17 U.S. quota spots could be spread across the men’s and women’s team. 

Looking at it qualitatively, the last man to get a quota spot will be ranked 45th on the allocation list, while for women, if all the nations accept the remaining reallocations, the last woman to make the cut will be ranked 159th. Depending on how many nations refuse spots and how far down the list the selections move, that ranking could be even higher. 

Put simply, the men, who are complaining that the system is exceedingly unfavorable for them, have a point. 

Whoever wrote the new rules of @olympic spots allocated to nations and genders has completely missed the boat. Your rules are leaving out a lot of the top contenders on the mens side across several nations to make room for random competitors from small nations. @fisalpine #ioc

— Steven Nyman (@Steven_Nyman) January 18, 2022

Once more, why did this happen?

In PyeongChang, the 322 alpine skiers included 188 men and 134 women from 80 nations.

In Beijing, 306 alpine skiers from 85 nations will compete. Of the expanded list of nations that are eligible for quota spots, 22 do not have eligible women. Nevertheless, the total number of athletes is even, and limited to 153 per gender – 35 less for men and 19 more for women compared to PyeongChang.

The reallocation process concludes Jan. 20. However, Jan.16 was the cutoff for competitions to factor into the quota, and for athletes seeking to achieve the minimum qualifying criteria, some nations (looking at you, Switzerland) have a selection criteria that incorporates the races this weekend in Kitzbuhel for men and Cortina for women.

The U.S. ended its selection period on Jan. 16. All Olympic teams will be named by the final sport entry deadline of Jan. 24.