USA Triathlon Announces Selection Events for 2008 Olympic Games
Beijing in September 2007, Honolulu in April 2008,

Des Moines in June 2008 to Decide Team
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (August 9, 2007)

USAT Press Release dated August 9, 2007 offers strong outline of complex qualifying process and a highlight of those athletes in contention -- including our own Margie Shapiro.  Click on the link below for the full press release.

USAT Press Release

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Olympic Distance Triathlon Competition
Qualifying Process for Major Races in 2007 and 2008

As the Olympic qualifying process outlines below, Margie’s first goal as the early season gets underway is to establish herself in the World Cup rankings by finishing in the top-20 in a World Cup race. Of course, to qualify to participate in the well sought-after World Cup races, she must maintain a top-6 US ranking (she is fifth as of March 1, 2007 due to a strong finish in an early-year Continental Cup). Therefore, Margie will spend the early part of 2007 striving for the highest US ranking possible with a priority of finishing top-20 in as many World Cups as possible and with a second priority of finishing very high in the US National Championship in May. Based on those early season results she will shift gears and focus on the second part of the season (June-August) in hopeful preparation for the World Championship and Beijing World Cup.

Below is a detail of the race qualifying processes and a link for further details that will better your understanding of why such support is needed to help Margie with this amazing effort.

ITU World Championship 2007 – Hamburg, Germany

First and second US finisher at Honolulu ITU Continental Cup (US National Championship) May 20, 2007 (must finish top 8 overall and must be ranked top 75 in World Cup standings by July 30, 2007)
First US finisher at June 17, 2007 Des Moines ITU World Cup and top 15 overall in that race (with roll-down to next US finisher if first (or first and second) finisher also finished first (or first and second) at the Honolulu race (must be ranked top 75 in ITU World Cup standings by July 30, 2007)
First US finisher at July 29, 2007 Salford ITU World Cup and top 15 overall in that race (with roll down as described above and must be ranked top 75 in ITU World Cup standings by July 30, 2007)
Two remaining spots will be awarded to the next two highest ranked athletes as of July 30, 2007, and must be top 75 in World Cup standings (to have a World Cup ranking, athlete must have finished top 20 in a World Cup race that year).

ITU & USAT Standards for Olympic Qualification

You must be ranked top 125 in Olympic Qualifying rankings or top 125 in World Cup rankings (two different systems) or else finish top 3 at the World Championship in 2008 or top 3 in the Pan-Am Games in 2008 in order to be eligible for the Olympics.
Then, assuming the US earns 3 total slots, there will be 3 qualifying events:

1. Beijing ITU World Cup (September 2007)
2. Honolulu ITU Continental Cup/National Championship (April 2008)
3. Des Moines HyVee ITU Triathlon World Cup (June 2008).

The winner of the first race is the first automatic Olympic qualifier.
The winner of the second race is the second automatic Olympic qualifier (with roll-down to second place if the same person wins both races).

The third Olympic qualifier will be determined based on the sum of the score (place) in each qualifying race; the athlete with the lowest score will win the third Olympic qualifying slot.

To learn more, click here