Last stop on the Olympic Qualifier Series begins Thursday in Budapest

The second and final stop of the Olympic Qualifier Series (OQS) begins this Thursday in Budapest with over 460 athletes competing to qualify for a spot in the Paris Olympics. The OQS is the International Olympic Committee’s new multi-sport festival-style series to determine which athletes will go on to represent their respective countries in BMX freestyle, breaking, climbing and skate. Its inaugural four-day event in Shanghai was attended by 45,000 spectators, including the IOC’s president, Thomas Bach, who praised the event’s organisers.

Now it’s the Hungarian capital’s turn to host some of the biggest athletes in the series’ sports, including Czech legendary climber Adam Ondra, reigning Olympic champion in men’s skateboarding street Horigome Yuto and defending BMX champion Charlotte Worthington, from Britain, among others.

B-girl Ayumi of Japan is on the brink of realising her dream of going to the Olympics. The 41-year-old won her first OQS stage in Shanghai and is a favourite among break fans to qualify for the Games. Ayumi will need to finish in the top seven of the OQS standings and as one of the top two Japanese breakers to obtain a spot.

Another veteran, Korea’s legendary B-Boy Hongten is also vying for the chance to compete in the Olympics in his 40s. Entering the race for Paris 2024 quotas last April in what was a last-minute decision, the B-Boy finished fourth at the Olympic Qualifier Series (OQS) in Shanghai.

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American skateboarder Jagger Eaton, who won the men’s street and finished third in park in the last OQS, will compete alongside compatriot Nyjah Huston for an Olympic berth. Eaton rose a dramatic 10 places up the rankings into second after his Shanghai win, ahead of compatriot Huston, in third.

While Olympic quotas for other sports will be obtained based on an overall ranking of performances at both OQS stops in Shanghai and Budapest, the Olympic World Skateboarding Ranking (OWSR) is thrown into the mix for skateboarders and some big names are on the verge of missing out on making it to Paris if they don’t do well enough in Budapest.

Horigome Yuto, who won gold in the men’s skateboarding street event on home soil in Tokyo three years ago, finds himself in 11th —and the fifth Japanese man on the list with each National Olympic Committee limited to a maximum of three skateboarders in each event. Fellow Japanese skater Nishiya Momiji also needs to stay ahead of the pack: the Tokyo champion is third behind Nakayama Funa, the bronze medallist in Tokyo, and world champion Oda Yumeka.

Women’s BMX freestyle winner in Tokyo 2020, Charlotte Worthington, finished 12th in Shanghai With only six quota spots available through the OQS, Worthington needs to make up multiple positions in Hungary, including Chinese trio Sun Sibei, Sun Jiaqi, and Deng Yawen, who swept the women’s event.

In sport climbing, German world lead bronze medallist Alexander Megos also finds himself in 12th in the men’s Boulder and Lead event after Shanghai, while Mickaël Mawem’s hopes of a home Games are hanging by a thread after the Bouldering world champion didn’t make it past the first round in Shanghai.

The Budapest edition of Olympic Qualifier Series promises to be a treat not only for sports fans, but music connoisseurs alike, with some of the biggest names headlining the entertainment roster as well: including hip-hop trailblazers, a professional footballer-turned-musician and the biggest names on Budapest’s bustling clubbing scene. The last stop on the road to Paris is promising to be one of the biggest celebrations of sport and culture that Olympic qualifying events have ever seen.