Despite High Profile Absences, Doha 2024 Worlds to Set Athlete Record
The 2024 World Aquatics Championships in Doha is set to feature the largest number of athletes in the 21-event history of the competition, World Aquatics revealed this week.
Doha 2024 is set to play host to more than 2,600 athletes from 201 countries and the World Aquatics Refugee Team. While many high-profile swimmers will be absent, many others will be vying for spots at this summer’s Paris Olympics. In all, 75 medals events will be contested over six aquatic sports. Full list of swimming entries is available here.
The number of athletes is the most in the 21 editions of the meet dating back to the inaugural 1973 meet.
Participation will hit a record in four of the six aquatic disciplines, including swimming, which will offer direct qualification to the Paris Olympics in the relays. The Aspire Dome, the biggest aquatic sports complex in the world, will be the home for swimming, water polo and artistic swimming. Diving will be held at Hamad Aquatic Centre, while Old Doha Port will provide the backdrop for open water swimming and high diving.
“We are delighted to be in Doha for the World Aquatics Championships,” World Aquatics President Husain Al Musallam said in a press release. “Qatar has proven itself as an excellent host of major sports events and we are very confident that athletes will be provided with the very best conditions to compete. Already we have received positive feedback from athletes who are excited for competitions to get underway. As the first time this region has hosted the World Aquatics Championships, we are also excited by the role the event can play in extending our reach and ensuring everyone can participate, compete in and benefit from aquatic sports.”
Qualification for the Paris Olympics is available for the top five finishers in the women’s team artistic swimming event, to join five already qualified nations, as well as three women’s duets to round out the field of 18. Doha 2024 will serve to allocate the four remaining synchro pairs in each of the four Olympic events (men’s and women’s 3-meter springboard and platform). It’s also the final qualifier for individual spots.
In water polo, four men’s teams and two women’s teams remain to be penciled into the Paris field. Eighteen of the 22 spots in the Olympic open water race will be set by competition in Doha.
“The World Aquatics Championships – Doha 2024 will be a unique celebration of aquatics sports and Qatar’s rich heritage,” Doha 2024 director general Khaleel Al Jabir said. “It is fitting that these Championships are set to break records for participation reinforcing the importance of this event. We are humbled that more athletes, and more countries, than ever before have opted to compete in these Championships. We have no doubt that they will entertain the thousands of spectators in attendance and inspire the next generation of aquatic athletes.”