The United States has qualified athletes in 10 sports for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, including six sports and 12 Olympic slots earned at the Pan American Games.

Shooting used the Pan Am Games to pick up three spots in its final opportunity to earn Olympic quota slots. USA Shooting earned 24 of the 28 available quota slots for Beijing.

Andy Potts (Princeton, N.J.) and Julie Ertle (Placentia, Calif.) won team spots for the sport of Triathlon with gold medal performances in Rio de Janeiro for both the men and women in 2008.

Two athletes earned spots in Modern Pentathlon with gold medals at the Pan Ams. Eli Bremmer (Monument, Colo.) qualified by winning the men’s competition while Mickelle Kelly (Chatham, N.Y.) qualified by winning a bronze medal and finishing as one of the top two North Americans in the event.

The U.S. women’s water polo team clinched a berth for Beijing by wining the gold medal at the Pan Ams. Earlier in the year, the team had won a world championship but that performance didn’t result in a spot in the Olympic Games. The U.S. men’s water polo team also claimed a spot in the Olympic field with a win in Rio de Janeiro.

Synchronized swimming qualified both the duet and the eight-person team for Beijing at the Pan American Games. The duet will feature Christina Jones (Missoula, Mont.) and Andrea Nott (San Jose, Calif.)

Jun Gao (Gaithersburg, Md.) won the women’s singles title in table tennis and qualified for a spot in her home country of China. She represented China in the Olympic Games in Barcelona, Spain, in 1992 and will now compete for her new country, the United States 16 years later.

Four sports had already qualified for Olympic berths before coming to the Pan American Games. Equestrian has qualified a complete team for 2008 in all three disciplines. The team won four spots for Team and Individual Eventing, three in Dressage and four in Show Jumping. The team won those slots at the 2006 FEI World Equestrian Games in Germany.

Sailing has qualified spots for 10 sailing events at the ISAF Combined World Sailing Championships in Cascais, Portugal. The events are Finn, 49er, 470 men and women, Laser, Laser Radial, RS:X men, Star, Tornado and Yngling.

The Women’s Softball Team won a spot in the Olympic Games by winning the 2006 World Championships.

USA Baseball secured its spot in Beijing by winning the 2006 Tournament of the Americas Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Havana, Cuba.

Diving has qualified six of a possible 12 spots for Beijing as a result of the 2007 FINA World Championships in Melbourne, Australia. The U.S. has qualified in men’s 3-meter synchro, 10-meter synchro, two spots in women’s 3-meter, one spot in women’s 10-meter and one spot in men’s 3-meter.

One Year Press Release