Chad le Clos and Cameron van der Burgh will lead the charge as South Africans try, over the next six months, to qualify for the Rio Olympics in August in a number of sports. Already 87 have effectively booked their seats for the first ever Games in South America, and that includes the bulk of the country's medal hopes from track and field, rowing, triathlon and rugby Sevens.story_article_left1And you can push it up to 89 if you assume that two of South Africa's top three golfers - Branden Grace, Louis Oosthuizen and Charl Schwartzel - will stay ranked inside the world's top 60 - although the cut-off will work out closer to the top 85 because the rankings are peppered with 20 to 30 Americans, Englishmen and Australians who will lose out to higher-ranked compatriots.Barring injuries, South Africa's total will probably grow close to the 105 initially projected by the SA Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (Sascoc), but it's unlikely to get close to the 125 who went to London 2012, let alone the record 136 at Beijing 2008.Already some sports are certain of missing out, such as hockey and boxing.Outside of swimming, only a handful of medal hopes from athletics and cycling have yet to secure their places.They include Commonwealth Games 400m hurdles champion Cornel Fredericks, who struggled with injury for most of last season; Johan Cronje, the 1500m bronze medallist at the 2013 world championships; and the men's 4x100m relay team.They have until July 11 to attain the stipulated times.The men's and women's road cycling teams will also be contenders, given the star status of riders like Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio, Daryl Impey and Louis Meintjes.full_story_image_hleft1Swimmers will have just one chance to make the Olympic team - they must achieve specified times at the national championships in Durban from April 11-16.And for most it won't be easy.At the trials for the 2015 world championships, where the Olympic times were in effect, only five South Africans qualified, including reigning Olympic champions Le Clos and Van der Burgh.Among those who failed was veteran Roland Schoeman, bidding to become the first South African Olympian to compete at five Games.Relay teams - the men's 4x200m freestyle outfit is probably South Africa's strongest - have until May 31 to post a time that effectively puts them in the top 16 in the world.Chad Ho, the 5km open-water world champ, must finish in the top nine at the 10km Olympic qualifying race in June.Different codes have different qualifying requirements, and one of the big misconceptions is that Sascoc is selecting only medal contenders.All international federations have qualifying agreements with the International Olympic Committee, and with the exception of football, they offer international and continental qualifying options.mini_story_image_vleft2Sascoc has refused to accept African qualifying routes, with the exception of football, which had no international alternative. The result is that the standards required by the different international criteria can vary significantly.South Africa's third-fastest male marathon runner at the moment, Sibusiso Nzima, has a lowly world ranking of 548, although he's likely to drop out as favourites like Lusapho April come through.Super-heavyweight boxer Paul Schafer, beaten in the quarterfinals at the 2014 Commonwealth Games, needed to win gold at his world championships last year just to get to the Olympics - an impossible ask.Sailor Stefano Marcia, on the other hand, is safely on board for Rio despite a world ranking of 63. Aspirant archers must achieve stipulated scores at World Archery events.Those doing sports like beach volleyball and fencing must attain specified rankings by specified dates. The same is true of judo, where they need to be in the top 22 by May 30; Commonwealth Games middleweight (90kg) champion Zack Piontek ended 2015 as the top-ranked SA fighter at 25.Other codes like wrestling and rowing offer last-gasp Olympic qualifying events in the course of 2016.Rowing already has four crews qualified, and the men's heavyweight fours will bid to make it five at their qualifying regatta in April.Lee-Anne Pace, ranked 52nd in women's golf, is among those on track to qualify.sub_head_start South Africans who've already qualified sub_head_endAthletics (26 spots so far): Wayde van Niekerk, Justine Palframan (both 400m), LJ van Zyl and Wenda Nel (both 400m hurdles), Anaso Jobodwana (200m), Henricho Bruintjies, Carina Horn (both 100m), Akani Simbine (100m and 200m), Antonio Alkana (110m hurdles), Caster Semenya and Rynardt van Rensburg (both 800m), Stephen Mokoka (5000m, 10000m and marathon), Lebogang Shange (20km walk), Marc Mundell (50km walk), Sunette Viljoen and Rocco van Rooyen (both javelin), Ruswahl Samaai and Zarck Visser (long jump), Willem Coertzen (decathlon), Khotso Mokoena (long jump, triple jump), Men's and women's marathons have three spots each, held by Lungile Gongoa, Michael Mazibuko and Sibusiso Nzima, and Lebo Phalula, Christine Kalmer and Mapaseka Makhanya.Soccer (36 spots): Banyana Banyana and men'sUnder-23s (18 spots each)Rugby (12 spots): Men's Sevens teamRowing (eight spots): Men's lightweight double sculls (James Thompson and Jon Smith); Women's lightweight double sculls (Ursula Grobler and Kirsten McCann); Men's heavyweight pair (Shaun Keeling, Vince Breet, David Hunt and Lawrence Brittain are vying for the two places); Women's heavyweight pair (Naydene Smith and Lee-Ann Persse).Sailing: 470 men (Asenathi Jim and Roger Hudson); Laser (Stefano Marcia).Triathlon: Richard Murray.Canoeing: Bridgitte Hartley (K1500m)...