It's an Olympic year — here's what's coming up on the road to Paris

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The 2024 Summer Games officially open on July 26 in the French capital. That's a little more than 200 days away. In the meantime, Canadian athletes will compete in several key events where they can either qualify for the Olympics or boost their hopes of contending for a medal.

Here, in chronological order, are some of the things to look for over the next few months:

Olympic field hockey qualifiers (Jan. 13-21): Canada has never won an Olympic medal in this sport. But the men's team can clinch its third straight trip to the Games and the women's squad can earn its first appearance since 1992 by finishing in the top three at their respective eight-team global qualifying tournaments. The Canadian men play in Oman, while the women are in Spain. For both teams, it's their last chance to qualify for Paris.

World Aquatics Championships (Feb. 2-18): These are not normally held in an Olympic year. But, after a series of pandemic-related cancellations, the world governing body decided to cram the Doha-hosted worlds into a window less than six months from the Games. As a result, most of the world's top swimmers are staying home, including Canadians Summer McIntosh, Penny Oleksiak, Maggie Mac Neil, Kylie Masse and Josh Liendo. But Canada is still expected to send a strong team of divers, led by world-championship medallists Pamela Ware, Caeli McKay, Mia Vallée, Rylan Wiens and Nathan Zsombor-Murray. Plus, the Canadian women's water polo team will compete for one of the two remaining Olympic spots in their event.

Olympic women's basketball qualifiers (Feb 8-11): The 10 remaining