Reason why some country's boats have much smaller groups of athletes during Paris Olympics opening ceremony parade

There's a very good reason behind why some countries have bigger boats than others during this evening's 2024 Olympics opening ceremony in Paris.

Tonight (26 July), boats have made their way down La Seine with athletes aboard, bearing the flag of the country they're representing at this summer's games.

But in front of the eager crowd, one thing is quite clear - some countries have enough athletes to fill a large boat, while others are sharing or have their own, smaller boats to sail in on.

But why is this?

Canada have brought 337 athletes to the 2024 Olympics. (Steph Chambers/Getty Images)

The Olympics is known as the pinnacle of sports competition, so you can imagine that you'd have to be pretty good to get there.

Athletes work and sacrifice things their whole lives to get the opportunity to compete, never mind win, a medal at the games, with the whole world watching.

It's a hunger, and you'll need some skill to get there too, as qualifying to compete at the games isn't easy.

Depending on the sport you're competing in, there is a qualifying time/result that the athlete must achieve in order to make the plane to Paris.

Some are easier than others, but the reason why so many athletes can compete for certain countries also has something to do with how much the country invests in sports and focuses on developing athletes, with links being made between a country's GDP and the number of athletes they have at the games.

However, host Olympic nations automatically qualify in all events, allowing the whole team to compete, regardless of times.

There is still the limit of the number of athletes per event, but it's why the French boat looked even more packed than the US.

As always, Team USA was packed out with 592 athletes. (Carmen Mandato/Getty Images)

So, let's focus on some of the big sports and how to qualify for them.

Athletics

In athletics, each event (100m, 1500m, javelin throw, etc...) has a time/requirement that needs to be achieved by an athlete in a verified competition, to secure their Olympic place, called entry standards.

For the 100m for example, male athletes must achieve a time of 10.00 seconds or less while female athletes must get 11.07 seconds.

Male javelin throwers must look to throw past 85.5 metres, while female javelin throwers must get at least 64 metres from their throw to qualify.

Every nation can enter a maximum of three qualified athletes in each individual event.

But what if a nation has no athletes that qualify for an athletics event?

Well under the Universality rule, a nation can send their highest-rated male or female athlete to any of the 100 m, 800 m, or the marathon.

Kenya and Kazakhstan shared a boat in the opening ceremony. (Maja Hitij/Getty Images)

Swimming

Swimmers qualify in a similar way to those doing athletics.

There is a time in each event that must be met, called the Olympic Qualifying time (OQT), that will guarantee an athlete's place at the Olympics.

Essentially, a nation can enter two qualified athletes in each individual event if they make the OQT, though a nation can enter one athlete per event if they make the OCT, or if the maximum number of 852 athletes has not been reached.

For example, women looking to qualify in the 800m freestyle need to get a time of 8:26.71 as an OQT, while the time of 8:29.24 is the OCT.

Athletes must hit difficult qualifying times/results to qualify in their events. (Markus Gilliar - GES Sportfoto/Getty Images)

Gymnastics

Finally, how do gymnasts qualify?

This is a lot more simple, but it is also based around qualifying at previous, verified events.

Teams and athletes that perform the best and place high in their respective events are given a place at the Olympics, with 317 gymnasts making the cut.

Of course, there are 29 other events that have their own qualifying methods with their own caveats, but the bottom line is, you need to qualify.