Around 6,500 athletes who have already earned their spots for the Tokyo Games have been confirmed for 2021 under the redrawn qualifying regulations published by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
It released a rewritten roadmap for qualifying for the Olympics which will be held from July 23 to August 8 next year.
The new deadline for qualifying is June 29, 2021, and entry lists are due a week later.
Individual sports federations will be in charge of their qualifying procedures.
The IOC urged the federations to find a balance between protecting athletes who were close to qualifying based on the 2020 deadline and also ensure that the best athletes compete at Tokyo by taking into consideration performances in 2021.
It also clarified a number of points, including the need for boxing to relax a rule that sets the top age at 40 and gymnastics to decide whether to allow those who would’ve been too young to compete in 2020 but will be eligible for 2021.
