Skeleton at the 2026 Winter Olympics – Qualification

The following is about the qualification rules and the quota allocation for skeleton at the 2026 Winter Olympics. ^[1]

Qualification system

A total of 50 quota spots (25 per gender) will be available to athletes to compete at the games. A maximum of six athletes (three per gender) can be entered by a NOC. Additionally, for the first time, mixed teams can be entered with a maximum of two per NOC and total of twenty teams. ^{[2] [1]}

The World Ranking list as of January 18, 2026 will be used to distribute the quotas. Athletes will be ranked by their best seven results. At total of two countries in each gender will qualify the maximum of three athletes, while six countries will qualify two men, (four for women), seven countries will qualify one quota in the men's event and 11 for the women's. If the host nation Italy fails to qualify in an event, the highest ranked sled from the country will take the last qualification slot. For the mixed team event only already qualified individual athletes may compete, with a maximum of two teams per NOC. ^{[1] [3]}

An athlete must be ranked in the top 70 (men) or top 55 (women) to be eligible to compete at the games in Italy. ^[1]

Qualification timeline

The IBSF ranking list uses races from the 2025–26 Skeleton World Cup, but also includes results from Asia, Europe, and America cup races. Athletes must have competed in at least eight races across at least three different tracks in the past two seasons, to be eligible. ^[2]

Quota allocation

The following summary is a provisional breakdown of Olympic qualification after World Cup six of seven, based on the IBSF rankings and adjustments. ^{[4] [5]}

Summary

Updated to races on 10 January 2026.

Nations	Men	Women	Mixed team(s)	Athletes
Australia	1	0		1
Austria	2	1	X	3
Belgium	0	1		1
Brazil	0	1		1
Canada	2	2	2X	4
China	3	2	2X	5
Czech Republic	0	1		1
Denmark	1	0		1
Estonia	0	1		1
France	1	0		1
Germany	3	3	2X	6
Great Britain	2	3	2X	5
Israel	1	0		1
Italy	2	2	2X	4
Latvia	1	1	X	2
Netherlands	0	1		1
Puerto Rico	0	1		1
South Africa	0	1		1
South Korea	2	1	X	3
Switzerland	1	1	X	2
Ukraine	1	0		1
United States	2	2	2X	4
Total: 22 NOCs	25	25	16	50

Men

Sleds qualified	Countries	Athletes total	Nation
3	2	6	Germany (10th)   China (14th)
2	6	12	Great Britain (4th)   Italy (12th)   South Korea (18th)   Austria (27th)   Canada (33rd)   United States (40th)
1	7	7	Ukraine (11th)   France (16th)   Denmark (19th)   Latvia (22nd)   Australia (24th)   Israel (32nd)   Switzerland (33rd)
25	15	25

Women

Sleds qualified	Countries	Athletes total	Nation
3	2	6	Germany (7th)   Great Britain (11th)
2	4	8	United States (17th)   Italy (18th)   China (21st)   Canada (26th)
1	11	11	Belgium (1st)   Austria (3rd)   Czech Republic (5th)   Netherlands (8th)   Brazil (10th)   South Korea (19th)   Estonia (27th)   Latvia (29th)   Puerto Rico (30th)   Switzerland (32nd)   South Africa (34th)
25	17	25

Next eligible NOC per event

Only NOCs not already qualified are considered. Bolded nations accepted a reallocated quota.

Men's	Women's
Japan (37th)   Malaysia (39th)   Chinese Taipei (41st)   Spain (45th)   Brazil (48th)	Denmark (36th)   Colombia (42nd)   Virgin Islands (43rd)   Finland (44th)   Malta (45th)

References

1. "Qualification Systems for XXV Olympic Winter Games, Milano Cortina 2026" (PDF). IBSF.com. 12 December 2023. Retrieved 11 November 2025.
2. "Skeleton: How to qualify for the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026". Olympics.com. Retrieved 18 November 2025.
3. "How team Canada can qualify for Milano Cortina 2026". Olympics.ca. 19 August 2025. Retrieved 18 November 2025.
4. "Men's skeleton rankings". IBSF.com. Retrieved 30 November 2025.
5. "Women's skeleton rankings". IBSF.com. Retrieved 30 November 2025.